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Online support information for students with disabilities in colleges and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to remote instruction. This may have caused particular challenges for students with disabilities.
Objective
We aimed to describe the availability of remote instruction and counseling resources on the disability/accessibility websites of colleges and universities in the greater New York City area. At the time this study was conducted, this region was the global COVID-19 epicenter.
Methods
All colleges/universities in the New York City metropolitan area were identified using Petersen’s online search guide. Descriptive information (institution’s name, size, and location) was recorded. The disability/accessibility pages of websites were located and examined for remote instructional resources for both educators and for students, a way to make an appointment with the counseling center (phone number and/or email address), and a link to the counseling center. Descriptive statistics were recorded (percentages of small, medium, large size institutions, mean, median, range and standard deviations of enrollments, and number and percentage of institutions that provided online accessibility resources) and one-sided Chi square tests were conducted to test the relationship between school size and the availability of resources.
Results
17% of the colleges/universities had no link to disability/accessibility services on their websites. Of the remaining 127 institutions, few made the aforementioned resources available on the disability/accessibility page. The most prevalent resource observed was providing students with remote instruction assistance. The association between school size and the aforementioned resources was not statistically significant.
Conclusion
Making information available to students with disabilities is a fundamental part of accessibility in higher education. Doing so is all the more necessary given the challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges which are likely to continue for years to come.
... In addition, national spending on disability management should be increased, and policies, programs, and laws to promote the rights of persons with disabilities should be generally improved. In addition to the general committees and international agencies, there are sometimes special committees in each mental and physical health institution and hospital, which usually meet as needed when certain issues related to the rights of persons with disabilities arise to gather thoughts and develop strategies for lawful action (Jumreornvong et al., 2020;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). These committees also assist government agencies in monitoring, inspecting, and evaluating the quality of health service. ...
... These committees also assist government agencies in monitoring, inspecting, and evaluating the quality of health service. Such a committee should be established in every private or public disability center to ensure that the human rights of persons with disabilities are respected (Fong, 2009;Gu, 2021;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Pettersson et al., 2023). ...
... It is important to stop the brain drain from the country. As the young population cannot find suitable programs in psychiatry, such as forensic, geriatric and liaison psychiatry, and others, students are opting for western education, and training at the national level should be improved in terms of teaching skills (Fernández-Batanero et al., 2019;Lebeničnik and Istenič Starčič, 2020;Sarasola Sanchez-Serrano et al., 2020;AlHadi and Alhuwaydi, 2021;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
Studies show that it makes sense to reduce the prevalence rates of disability in the world through appropriate and timely practical measures. Proper mapping and documentation of people’s physical and mental disabilities could help provide a roadmap for reducing the prevalence of such impairments. In addition, the inclusion of people with disabilities in the community could have a positive social impact and contribute to the improvement of living conditions in the community. The aim of this study is to focus on the period that contributed to the decline in the prevalence rates of disabilities specifically in Saudi Arabia and make a general comparison with the rest of the world. Second, the study will attempt to capture various aspects that could further reduce the prevalence rates of disability in the coming years. In collecting data for this review article, a methodological approach has been adopted that considers the most recent and up-to-date articles in order to present the most relevant data to readers. The findings section highlights various practical steps that have been taken in the past and present that could be helpful in addressing and reducing disability in the Saudi population in the future. It also discusses the causes and outcomes associated with such disabilities or positive development. However, the focus is on analyzing the social impact of disability data in Saudi Arabia, especially in the last 5 years. In addition, international standards and successful programs that contribute to reducing disabilities in the Saudi Arabia will be discussed comparatively. The updated data analyses will help researchers, policy makers, and social analysts to deduce what steps have been successful and what more should be done to achieve the long-term goal of reducing the disability rate in the Saudi population.
... Poverty is widespread, but Bangladesh has, in recent years, reduced population growth and improved the health and education systems (BBC, 2023;The World Bank, 2022). In developing countries such as Bangladesh, the impact of vision impairment on student access to education is substantial (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). Although some argue that Bangladesh has introduced several policies and legislation regarding the education of children with disabilities (Ahsan & Burnip, 2007;Ahsan & Mullick, 2013), they do not seem to have had a positive effect because only 4% of Bangladeshi school-going-age children with disabilities attend school (Disability Rights Watch Group Bangladesh, 2009, p. 4). ...
... All people have the right to non-discrimination and equality in education. However, despite the legal right to accommodations, SWDs across the world continue to face barriers in higher education (Hong, 2015;Konur, 2006;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). Over the past few decades, various international declarations have been made to promote education for all. ...
... We had to develop instruments for this study because no suitable scales were available to examine the unique needs of students with visual impairments in higher education in Bangladesh during a major public health crisis. Following an extensive literature review on higher education administration, disability, assistive technology, and social justice (e.g., Ahsan & Mullick, 2013;Cho & Kim, 2022;Dianito et al., 2021;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Miller, 1999;Salimi et al., 2021), we compiled a preliminary list of statements. A panel of experts in Bangladesh and the United States, consisting of faculty members, disability specialists, and university students, reviewed the list and provided feedback for improvement. ...
Students with disabilities face myriad barriers and hurdles to success in higher education settings. Institutions in developing nations often lack the necessary resources to provide accessible instruction, and the absence of clearly defined policies further impedes upholding the educational rights of such a special population. The purpose of this study was to examine how undergraduate students with visual impairments in Bangladesh felt about their experiences related to social justice and challenges in learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A convenience sample of 133 students was recruited from two public universities. The authors developed two instruments, namely, the Social Justice Experiences in Higher Education Scale and the Social Justice Challenges in Higher Education Scale, to measure how the participants felt. The results showed that most of the participants experienced some sort of difficulty in receiving social justice in higher education. However, the differences in the group mean score on social justice experiences and challenges in higher education were not statistically significant between the male and female participants of this study. The outcomes of the study and their implications for rehabilitation research and practice have also been addressed in this paper.
... Esta transición hacia una educación en línea provocada por la situación pandémica del covid-19, hizo que los docentes y estudiantes se enfrentaran a múltiples desafíos, que no sólo abarcaba la falta de formación de los docentes en competencias y habilidades tecnológicas (Smith, 2020) sino que, también, provocó situaciones estresantes entre docentes y estudiantes e incertidumbres sobre cuestiones relativas a la equidad, calidad e igualdad de los procesos educativos, entre otros aspectos (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). En este sentido, la pandemia del covid-19 ha puesto de manifiesto múltiples brechas de exclusión y segregación que numerosos colectivos en situación de vulnerabilidad han experimentado, como es el caso del estudiantado con discapacidad (Kaden, 2020;Kantamneni, 2020). ...
... Estas dificultaron notablemente los procesos de comunicación con los docentes y otros estudiantes, así como el acceso a los contenidos y materiales del curso en el formato adecuado (McKeown y McKeown, 2019). Ante esto, la grabación de las clases, generar subtítulos, facilitar el material por adelantado, ampliación en los plazos de entrega, ayudas en la comunicación o tutorías específicas para estudiantes con discapacidad, podrían ser algunas medidas que paliaran estas barreras identificadas (Alkahtani, 2021;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
... A su vez, sugirieron que es importante diseñar actividades de evaluación que vayan en consonancia con lo desarrollado durante el curso y que permitiera reflejar lo aprendido (Cotán, 2022;Ibarra-Sáiz et al., 2021). Aspecto indicado, también, en el estudio de Meleo-Erwin et al., (2021), quienes proponen ofrecer tiempo extra en los exámenes o diferentes modalidades de evaluación. Acciones destacadas para poder ajustar el sistema de evaluación a las necesidades de los estudiantes con discapacidad. ...
La pandemia originada por el covid-19, alteró todos los sectores de la sociedad a nivel mundial. En el caso de este artículo, se abordarán los cambios ocasionados en el ámbito educativo, concretamente en las instituciones de Educación Superior. Para ello, el objetivo principal que se persigue en este estudio es analizar los facilitadores y obstaculizares que los estudiantes con discapacidad identificaron durante los dos primeros cursos pandémicos. A tal fin, se analizarán las experiencias de tres estudiantes con discapacidad. Desde un enfoque de estudio de casos, la entrevista semi-estructurada ha sido el instrumento de recogida de información. Los resultados obtenidos plantean numerosos desafíos y oportunidades para poder desarrollar procesos educativos en línea que sean accesibles y equitativos para todo el colectivo estudiantil.
... Content area teachers, on the other hand, claimed that they experienced difficulties in the e-learning process with students with special needs in inclusive classes, and that students with special needs faced participation problems in e-learning (Myers et al., 2021). One of the major problems in distance education was reported as inaccessibility of the websites for individuals with special needs in several universities and schools (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
... On the other hand, these participants stated that they provided support for parents to conduct domestic activities during the quarantine, and they developed special daily schedules for the students. Similar applications were developed in previous studies (Heyworth et al., 2021;Hughes et al., 2022;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
... The findings on the theme of education revealed that distance education could be not conducted due to infrastructure problems and the capacity of the distance education platform. Similar studies emphasized infrastructural problems, the impossibility of distance education due to the inaccessibility of school websites (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021), problems associated with distance education platforms (Buchnat & Wojciechowska, 2020;Carey et al., 2021), and low digital literacy across students and parents (Myers et al., 2021). On the other hand, previous research emphasized that special distance education applications should be developed for children with special needs and that parents, teachers, and students should be supported in the process (Carey et al., 2021;Hurwitz et al., 2021;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Stenhoff et al., 2020;Tsibidaki, 2021). ...
The Covid-19 pandemic affected all areas of life, including the education system. Extraordinary conditions induced by the pandemic necessitated a sudden transition to distance education, which had significant effects on students, parents, and teachers. While all students were negatively affected by this development, the difficulties experienced by students with developmental disabilities were different from their peers with typical development. It has been reported that the individuals with developmental disabilities experienced the highest difficulty in the management of the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and their needs were primarily ignored in distance education. The current study was conducted with a phenomenological and qualitative approach to investigate the related data in depth. The study participants included 10 special education teachers and 10 special education school principals. The study findings revealed that it was extremely difficult to conduct special education online; schools were not only a learning environment for the students with developmental disabilities, but also a sphere of socialization.
... The main problems faced by students with hearing disabilities in accessing online continuations are primarily those related to the lack of accessibility of audio and video materials or messages [14]. Also, the inaccessibility of educational content for students who frequently use the distance learning platform [23]. No specific technologies are needed, but the content could be improved by adding simple captioning/caption captcha and interpretation in Romanian Sign Language (LSR). ...
... The results are not surprising since a recent study that analyzed the accessibility of Babes-Bolyai University, by using both automated and manual evaluation, found similar accessibility problems, most of them being related to the lack of text describing link purpose, improper heading ordering, and navigation issues [26]. The results of this study are in line with the findings from other studies and highlight the challenges to meeting the needs of students with disabilities: making information accessible on the university webpage, structuring the content, reducing the complexity of forms and tables, and training of teaching staff [4,8,15,23]. This study is exploratory and has inherent limitations. ...
Equal access to education is an important objective of the
Digital Agenda for Europe. To ensure accessibility of the
public web, systematic evaluation and monitoring measures are
needed. This paper reports on a case study that targeted the
accessibility evaluation of a Romanian university website. The
approach to evaluation is user-centered. An evaluation
instrument that consists of two sets of questions has been
administered to students with various kinds of disabilities. The
results show that web accessibility issues affect not only
visually impaired students but also students with hearing and
motor disabilities.
... The pandemic has intensified existing inequalities for disabled people, including life expectancy, income, employment, relationships, education, and progression (DSUK 2020;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). This included being more likely to experience financial hardship, being less likely to access a computer and reliable internet, some students needing to shield, restrictions in health and social care due to risk of infection, some being unable to access regular medication or receive hospital care, some students experiencing food insecurity, for instance people with visual impairments who may have relied on online food shopping before the pandemic, and some students needing additional mental health support (Disabled Students UK, 2020). ...
... There is also evidence of regression in terms of disabled students' positive education experience and academic achievement (Hunnam-Swain and Bailey, 2021;Meleo-Erwin, 2021;Zhang et al., 2021). Several reports have been published detailing disabled students' negative experiences. ...
This paper details the persistent and continuous struggles disabled students experience studying in HE, and how these were exaggerated during the Covid-19 pandemic (DSUK, 2020, 2022). We critically consider progress made by Widening Participation and related equality policy, determining that higher education (HE) continues to be an ableist system and space because inclusion is not understood, nor prioritised, at either strategic or practitioner levels. Furthermore, orthodox pathological positions on disability continue and are recreated via hegemony, ignorance, and fear (Madriaga, 2007; Gibson, 2020). Attempts at practices for the inclusion and equality of disabled students take place within the constraints of other policy objectives such as recruitment, standards, internationalisation, graduate outcomes and financial capacities (Gibson et al., 2016; Williams-Brown et al., 2022). The paper details key findings from a study by the authors, comparing them with national studies to consider consistent themes and implications for the future of an inclusive HE sector. The work determines what actions need to be taken in order to move forward effectively and inclusively for the progression and success of all students (DSC, 2020; DSUK, 2022; HEPI, 2020). We evidence that disabled students continue to have negative experiences of accessing, learning and progressing at university, which has longer term implications in terms of graduateoutcomes. The paper concludes with Educationalfutures Gibson, Williams-Brown, Shuite and Anwar-Westander Vol.15(1) June 2024 Higher Education and ableism: Experiences of disabled students in England during Covid-19 __________________________________________________________________________________________ e-journal of the British Education Studies Association, ISSN: 1758-2199 4 Published under Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC) recommendations including moving inclusion policy objectives on from their traditional ideological framing to focus on user-informed, user-led tried, tested and experienced inclusive education. It is argued that this move is taken in collaboration with senior leaders. We advocate for the position and expert knowledge of disability, as understood by disabled students to lead and evaluate change for inclusion, to inform what and how the HE sector evolves. Universities must be accountable for promoting inclusive changes in practice, geography and culture.
... The pandemic has intensified existing inequalities for disabled people, including life expectancy, income, employment, relationships, education, and progression (DSUK 2020;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). This included being more likely to experience financial hardship, being less likely to access a computer and reliable internet, some students needing to shield, restrictions in health and social care due to risk of infection, some being unable to access regular medication or receive hospital care, some students experiencing food insecurity, for instance people with visual impairments who may have relied on online food shopping before the pandemic, and some students needing additional mental health support (Disabled Students UK, 2020). ...
... There is also evidence of regression in terms of disabled students' positive education experience and academic achievement (Hunnam-Swain and Bailey, 2021;Meleo-Erwin, 2021;Zhang et al., 2021). Several reports have been published detailing disabled students' negative experiences. ...
This paper details the persistent and continuous struggles disabled students experience studying in HE, and how these were exaggerated during the Covid-19 pandemic (DSUK, 2020). We critically consider progress made by Widening Participation and related equality policy, determining that higher education (HE) continues to be an ableist system and space because inclusion is not understood, nor prioritised, at either strategic or practitioner levels. Furthermore, orthodox pathological positions on disability continue and are recreated via hegemony, ignorance, and fear (Madriaga, 2007; Gibson, 2020). Attempts at practices for the inclusion and equality of disabled students take place within the constraints of other policy objectives such as recruitment, standards, internationalisation, graduate outcomes and financial capacities (Gibson et al., 2016; Williams-Brown et al., 2022). The paper details key findings from a study by the authors, comparing them with national studies to consider consistent themes and implications for the future of an inclusive HE sector. The work determines what actions need to be taken in order to move forward effectively and inclusively for the progression and success of all students (DSC, 2020; DSUK, 2020; HEPI, 2020). We evidence that disabled students continue to have negative experiences of accessing, learning and progressing at university, which has longer term implications in terms of graduate outcomes. The paper concludes with recommendations including moving inclusion policy objectives on from their traditional ideological framing to focus on user-informed, user-led tried, tested and experienced inclusive education. It is argued that this move is taken in collaboration with senior leaders. We advocate for the position and expert knowledge of disability, as understood by disabled students to lead and evaluate change for inclusion, to inform what and how the HE sector evolves. Universities must be accountable for promoting inclusive changes in practice, geography and culture.
... With the strict regulations that all students had to comply with, students with disabilities, in general, and deaf students, in particular, were the most to suffer from them [193,295,208,305]. The goal of this paper is to review and expose the major challenges that deaf students faced during the pandemic. ...
... This made the studentinstructor communication poor and inaccessible. Physical distance also became a significant obstacle between students and faculty only because this unconventional communication reduced speech audibility and intelligibility [199,208]. ...
Context: Today, mobile devices provide support to disabled people to make their life easier due to their high accessibility and capability, e.g., finding accessible locations, picture and voice-based communication, customized user interfaces, and vocabulary levels. These accessibility frameworks are directly integrated, as libraries, in various apps, providing them with accessibility functions. Just like any other software, these frameworks regularly encounter errors. App developers report these errors in the form of bug reports or by the user in user reviews. User reviews include insights that are useful for app evolution. These reports related to accessibility faults/issues need to be urgently fixed since their existence significantly hinders the usability of apps. However, recent studies have shown that developers may incorporate accessibility strategies in inspecting manually or partial reports to investigate if there are accessibility reports that exist. Unfortunately, these studies are limited to the developer. With the increase in the number of received reviews, manually analyzing them is tedious and time-consuming, especially when searching for accessibility reviews.
Objective: The goal of this thesis is to support the automated identification of accessibility in user reviews or bug reports, to help technology professionals prioritize their handling, and, thus, to create more inclusive apps. Particularly, we propose a model that takes as input accessibility user reviews or bug reports and learns their keyword-based features to make a classification decision, for a given review, on whether it is about accessibility or not. To complement this goal, we aim to reveal insights from deaf and hard-of-hearing students about Blackboard, which is one of the most common Learning Management systems (LMS) used by many universities, especially in the current COVID-19 pandemic. This occurs to explore how deaf and hard-of-hearing students have challenges and concerns in e-learning experiences during the sudden shift to online learning during COVID-19 in terms of accessibility.
Method: Our empirically-driven study follows a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. We text mine user reviews and bug reports documentation. We identify the accessibility reports and categorize them based on the BBC standards and guidelines for mobile accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). Then, we automatically classify a large set of user reviews and bug reports and identify among the various accessibility models presented in the literature. After that, we used a mixed-methods approach by conducting a survey and interviews to get the information we needed. This was done on deaf and hard-of-hearing students to identify the challenges and concerns in terms of accessibility in the e-learning platform Blackboard.
Result: We introduced models that can accurately identify accessibility reviews and bug reports and automate detecting them. Our models (1) outperform two baselines, namely a keyword-based detector and a random classifier; (2) our model achieves an accuracy of 91% with a relatively small training dataset; however, the accuracy improves as we increase the size of the training dataset. Our mixed methods with deaf and hard-of-hearing students have revealed several difficulties, such as inadequate support and inaccessibility of content from learning systems.
Conclusion: Our models can automatically classify app reviews and bug reports as accessibility-related or not so developers can easily detect accessibility issues with their products and improve them to more accessible and inclusive apps utilizing the users' input. Our goal is to create a sustainable change by including a model in the developer’s software maintenance pipeline and raising awareness of existing errors that hinder the accessibility of mobile apps, which is a pressing need. In light of our findings from the Blackboard case study, Blackboard and the course material are not easily accessible to deaf students and hard of hearing. Thus, deaf students find that learning is extremely stressful during the pandemic.
... Following the immediate transition to online education due to the COVID-19 lockdown, special needs students were expected to adjust to the new system (Del Pilar Oviedo-Cáceres et al., 2021;Denisova et al., 2020;Sabatello et al., 2020;Shakespeare et al., 2021;Toquero, 2020) in an absence of the infrastructure necessary for meeting their needs as students (Krishnan et al., 2020;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Toquero, 2020). Reader support, access to online course records and materials, communication with classmates and staff members, exams, project submission dates, and social isolation were among the concerns reported by students (Krishnan et al., 2020). ...
... Perhaps the most important finding was participants' preference for traditional over online education, in that most claimed campus life to have enhanced physical and social well-being together with academic achievement. Finding readers, taking exams, completing homework, and access to study materials were the most frequently reported academic problems, and, with the exception of finding a sighted reader, these issues were found to be the major concerns of students with differing disabilities in other countries (Krishnan et al., 2020;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Shakespeare et al., 2021;Toquero, 2020). Finding a reader may thus be considered a critical situation that specifically affects people with visual impairments and, as many participants stated, when readers are not available, academic achievement can be hindered to an important extent. ...
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the academic life, psychological well-being, social relations, and physical health of university students with visual impairments via their personal judgments. Methods: A qualitative research design was utilized with 19 participants studying at 10 Turkish universities located across seven cities. Personal online semi-structured interviews were held in January 2021. The audio-taped qualitative data were analyzed deductively in light of four predetermined themes: academic life, physical health, psychological well-being, and social relations. Results: Findings revealed the negative effects of the lockdown on daily and, specifically, campus life. Most participants claimed their preference for traditional over online education due to certain academic, psychological, and social difficulties, stating also that campus life had many academic and social advantages compared to online education. Physical health issues including access to medical treatments and lack of activity/mobility were also stressed. Discussion: It was interesting to observe that despite the interviews’ focus on daily life, students provided views on the benefits of traditional education and how and why their individual needs should be met by universities, much more than expected. Implications for Practitioners: It may be concluded that several developmental domains of students with visual impairments are affected by attendance at a university and that offices of disability services of higher education institutions and university counseling centers should take thoughtful actions to meet the specific needs of this student population tailored to both online and traditional education.
... The term disabilities can cover a wide range of conditions, including physical, psychological, sensory, or cognitive impairments, that affect an individual's daily behaviors and functioning (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). It must also be noted that people with disabilities may have two or more conditions comorbidly, and thus may have a highly diverse range of accessibility needs, both physically and in terms of how they can access academic material (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
... The term disabilities can cover a wide range of conditions, including physical, psychological, sensory, or cognitive impairments, that affect an individual's daily behaviors and functioning (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). It must also be noted that people with disabilities may have two or more conditions comorbidly, and thus may have a highly diverse range of accessibility needs, both physically and in terms of how they can access academic material (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
The number of students with disabilities, which covers a range of conditions including physical and cognitive impairments, is on the rise. Further and higher education institutions are obliged to ensure that teaching and assessment is inclusive. This is particularly pertinent since the pandemic as many students have missed social opportunities that may have offered academic capital. We conducted a systematic review of relevant United Kingdom literature on how assessment for distance education in further education and higher education can be made inclusive in practical and purposeful ways. Assessment is the fundamental way that we measure students’ understanding and progress; it is only through demonstrating knowledge against the set criteria and learning outcomes that students can pass assessments and earn credits toward completion of their degree. We found three key themes in promoting student potential: (a) purposeful and accessible feedback, (b) online group work opportunities, (c) student agency over assessment format.
... In addition, many schools in rural areas lack qualified teachers, and online learning can provide students in these areas with access to high-quality urban or international educational resources (Stenman & Pettersson, 2020). Online learning also makes it possible for people with disabilities to be educated at home, promoting equity in education (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). Online learning has gradually become an indispensable part of the education system, and its impact is profoundly shaping the face of future education. ...
The relationship between individual personality types and academic performance during online learning remains poorly understood. This study analysed extensive sampling data from 4,340 first-year high school students during semesters of face-to-face and online learning, respectively, to investigate the influence of students’ Myers‒Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) types on their academic performance in Chinese, mathematics, English, and overall score during online learning. We observed that the online learning environment conferred disadvantages to extroverts, intuitives, thinkers, and perceivers. Specifically, the dimensions of extroversion-introversion and thinking-feeling significantly affected mathematics, while sensing-intuition and judging-perception significantly affected Chinese and English, respectively. Several significant interaction effects between different MBTI dimensions on online learning performance were also found. Girls outperformed boys in online learning performance. However, no sex difference in the effect of personality type on online learning performance was found. Student personality type identification could proactively identify students who may require additional support in the online learning environment and aid in designing effective tools for online education platforms to improve their learning performance. In particular, AI teaching assistants can be integrated into online classrooms as they could help these students address challenges posed by traditional online learning by offering personalised support. These supports include interactive dialogue for extroverts to foster engagement, creative discussion for intuitives to encourage exploration, performance feedback for thinkers to help them adjust their learning strategies, and time-management assistance for perceivers to ensure they stay organised.
... The percentage of the population with access to the Internet is increasing, although 33.7 % of the world's population still does not have access to the Internet [6]. Therefore, a significant proportion of the population experienced serious barriers in coping with the exceptional situation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown [7,8]. The closure of COVID-19 presented an unprecedented challenge, particularly for higher education institutions, which had to turn to online platforms to continue their activities. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to close and led to a radical transformation of the global education system. This process of change had to take place in a short period of time and, as a result, methodologies and learning tools were adapted. The closure of educational institutions and the disruption to learning impacted all students. However, vulnerable students, including those with disabilities, were particularly affected due to the lack of preparedness for inclusive learning during the rapid transition to emergency online learning. One of the many challenges faced by educational institutions during this transition was ensuring web accessibility for students with disabilities. However, it appears that some of the positive changes that took place in the education system during the pandemic, such as the enhancement of web accessibility, have been declining recently. The aim of this article is to review how a group of universities responded to the closure caused by the pandemic from the point of view of web accessibility, whether they improved the accessibility of their websites and whether this improvement has been maintained over time. To achieve this, the web accessibility of the home pages of selected universities around the world was evaluated against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, for the period from 2018 to 2024. The results show that there was an improvement in web accessibility immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak, but this trend has not been maintained.
... Other studies illustrate that general students and students with disabilities adapt by following regulatory instructions from educational institutions to take part in online or hybrid learning processes (Lestari et al., 2021;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Jia et al., 2022). However, this study does not capture the dynamics and obstacles felt by students with disabilities as part of the educational subject in participating in the learning process. ...
The Covid-19 pandemic has had negative implications for the education sector, including Special Schools. This study was conducted to analyze formal pedagogical practices in Special Schools and the adaptations made by students with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study was conducted using qualitative research methods and a phenomenological approach. Robert K. Merton's adaptation theory is used to analyze the types of adaptations made by students with disabilities to formal pedagogical practices during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study finds that the Covid-19 pandemic reproduces formal pedagogical practices in two formats, namely online and hybrid. Apart from that, the form of adaptation of students with disabilities is largely determined by their physical, cognitive, and mental conditions. Among them are students with intellectual disabilities who have the innovation adaptation type, then students with deaf-speech impairments who have the conformity adaptation type, and students with autism have the ritualism adaptation type. This type of adaptation reflects the dynamics and complexity of students with disabilities when carrying out the learning process during the Covid-19 pandemic.
... Captioning, subbing, and dubbing must be rightly utilized in various apparatuses that work on the principal video programming as the aid of captioning helps greatly in accessibility and understanding for people with various disabilities (Witney and Brown, 2016;Ferreras et al., 2017;Ramsetty and Adams, 2020;Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). This can be achieved by the installation of decoder chips within modern TV sets apart from embedded captioning options in the video programming designs (Reid, 2020;Gu, 2021). ...
Technology provides a way forward to bringing improvements in every sphere of life. The issue of disabilities is common throughout the world and the practical implications of information and communication technology (ICT) help people with such disabilities to acquire basic physical and learning support. The purpose of this review is to identify the development of information and technologies for disabled people and to bring into account a broad-spectrum descriptive analysis of the prevailing technologies from a socio-economic perspective. This paper also covers the various shades of ICT practices for disabilities, including future direction related to such practices. The methodology adopted for this purpose was the gathering of the latest and updated data from the scientific platforms to bring to the readers only the relevant and up-to-date information. The results generated illuminate the potential benefits of digital technologies for disabled persons. The article discusses the way these technologies overcome the barriers among digital beneficiaries that may suffer from certain disabilities. It also illustrates how technologies are being improved from time to time as per emerging needs. Moreover, the paper is also a directive for the increasing need for inclusive information and technology spread beyond the barrier of disabilities to truly bring about the digital revolution of the world.
... Prior to the pandemic, students relied on university services like libraries, computer laboratories, and campus wi-fi to complete their educational requirements; however, these were lost due to school closures [14]. Considering that young people with disabilities do better in supportive environments, preliminary reports indicated that they struggled during the pandemic [18]. These multiple and interacting challenges during the pandemic caused several U.S. institutions to implement the pass/fail option so students could maintain good GPAs. ...
... For example, our data did not offer information on the availability of disability services and disadvantage compensation, which, however, previous research suggests are factors influencing the study success of students with disabilities (Fisseler, 2016). This is especially important considering the potential initial lack of online information for students with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). ...
We examine the mechanisms explaining the dropout intentions of students with disabilities by integrating Tinto’s model of student integration, the student attrition model, the composite persistence model, and insights from social stratification research. The resulting theoretical model posits that not only students’ academic and social integration, but also their private resources (financial, home learning, and personal resources) are crucial for academic success. Analysing data from a 2020 Germany-wide student survey, we find that students with disabilities are substantially more likely to intend to drop out of higher education than students without disabilities. Linear regressions and Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions show that their lower academic integration and fewer personal resources are most relevant for explaining this difference, while their lower social integration, home learning, and financial resources play subordinate roles. Further analyses reveal that dropout intent is highest among students with psychic disabilities, followed by students with learning disabilities and students with physical disabilities. Regarding all three disability groups, less academic integration and fewer personal resources are most relevant for explaining their higher dropout intent (compared to students without disabilities). However, the disability groups differ regarding the importance of the different explanatory factors. Overall, our results highlight the importance of considering both students’ integration into higher education and their private resources for understanding student-group-specific dropout intent.
... The rapid adoption of digital learning and the growth of the remotehybrid learning community in art education during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased forms of accessibility for students with certain disabilities. Yet, online learning spaces and institutional websites have only partially bridged the disability divide through assistive technologies and universal design (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Smith, 2020). While accessible features do exist in online learning spaces, website designers often place these assistive tools to the side of the screen, thus obscuring them from view. ...
Despite the growth of remote learning, many online art education space designs still overlook the learning experiences of students with disabilities, merely offering baseline assistive technologies. Drawing upon crip technoscience from critical access studies, this article defines current online learning spaces as virtually-built environments embedded with compliance-centered logics and ableist assumptions about access. I suggest that art educators challenge such preconceptions by engaging students in cripping, which entails (1) disrupting ableist designs and (2) crafting alternative designs for online learning spaces. Introducing projects by artists Elisa Giardina Papa, Shannon Finnegan, and Bojana Coklyat as exemplary practices of such disruption and reconstruction, I emphasize collaborative cripping as an anti-ableist practice informed by crip technoscience. This practice empowers students to counter the pervasive assimilation of people with disabilities into ableist online learning environments. In its conclusion, this article advocates for constructing collective access in online learning spaces toward disability justice.
... Shifts to online delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated concerns of equity (e.g. Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Scott & Aquino, 2020) and stressed the need to consider how students with disabilities can feel included, and catered for, in a range of learning environments. ...
... There is a need for a thorough handbook for educators and administrators due to the complexity of the situation, which is exacerbated by legal uncertainties and inconsistencies in educational regulations among jurisdictions [5]. It is a continuing issue to find a way to manage disruptions in the classroom while still protecting students' rights and fostering an environment conducive to learning. ...
Objective: An effective framework to balance the rights of students and the obligations of educational institutions is necessary since education plays a crucial role in moulding persons and society. This research emphasizes the need to comprehend, apply, and uphold these legal parameters in order to cultivate equitable and efficient educational settings. Student rights, access to quality education, and fostering an environment conducive to learning and development are among the many of the issues examined in this research. At the same time, it deals with issues like balancing discipline, meeting the needs of students with varying backgrounds, and protecting students' right to free speech while adhering to educational requirements, all of which pose difficulties for schools navigating a complex legal landscape. Method: The paper presents the concept of inclusive mobile integration learning education (IMILE) and offers practical recommendations for educators, administrators, policymakers, and legal practitioners by integrating legal analysis, case studies, and comparative frameworks. This method provides a wealth of resources for avoiding legal conflicts, fostering an inclusive learning environment, and correctly interpreting and applying the laws governing education. Result: In addition, the research uses simulation analysis to foresee the probable results of various legal scenarios, giving stakeholders a head start in foreseeing and comprehending the effects of their decisions and actions within the legal framework. This research aids in a better understanding of the interdependence of students' rights and schools' obligations by integrating theoretical underpinnings, empirical evidence, and expert opinion. Conclusion: The results could be used to guide policymaking, teacher training, and other institutional practices, all of which contribute to making schools places where students not exclusively exposed to new information, however where they can grow into independent thinkers and contributing members of society.
... The result was that many students took lightly the safety precautions from teachers. Despite repeated exhortations, some students were found habitually not following prevention rules [33]. To address this issue, some schools invited professionals from local health services to educate the students on the severity of and self-protection measures against the coronavirus disease, in the hope of raising students' awareness of the COVID-19. ...
In times of such public health crisis as the COVID-19, staying well-informed can not only help people get prepared and make wise decisions, but also relieve anxiety. Students with disabilities, however, face great difficulty in keeping up-to-date on the pandemic. Using a qualitative research method, this study explored the experiences and perceived difficulties of special education teachers in trying to keep their students informed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Semistructured focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 24 teachers from seven special education schools in China. The results showed that teachers adopted various measures to improve students’ information access, such as holding weekly class meetings, making use of posters and LED displays, working with families and collaborating with local health institutions. Despite these efforts, teachers reported facing multiple challenges and much remains to be desired. This research highlights the need for a holistic approach to providing information for students with disabilities, one that is tailored to their special needs and that involves other players in addition to teachers.
... On the surface, e-learning may support tactics that appear to be inclusive, such as offering fully captioned videos and written transcripts of classes, but in reality, the written language's complexity may be inaccessible to pupils (McKeown & McKeown, 2019). Studies on online education experiences of SEN students in the process of pandemic were quite limited (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021;Mohammed, 2021;Yazcayı & Gurgur, 2021). Yazcayı and Gurgur (2021) investigated the process of pandemic and how SEN students maintained their learning via distance education provided by Turkish Ministry of National Education through a television channel called EBA and the official website of the Ministry. ...
While inclusive education (IE) is embraced at the conceptual level and desired at the classroom level, successful IE implementation remains highly complex. COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) outbreak which necessitated a quick switch to remote instruction made IE even harder to put into practice. Despite several studies regarding inclusion during face-to-face education, there has been quite limited research on online education and inclusive practices. This exploratory case study of qualitative nature took place at a state university in the southeast of Turkey with three participants: a hard of hearing (HH) English as a foreign language learner who is a freshman enrolled at the English Language Education Department and his two instructors. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews, journals, and narrative reports. Interviews were conducted with the student about the challenges he had and instructors’ practices during distance education, and with instructors about their general opinions towards IE and their online education practices regarding the inclusion of that student. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The analyses of student data revealed one major theme as “rechallenge” of an already challenging life and subthemes as nature of online education, instructors’ practices, delayed/ limited feedback, and lack of interaction. Instructors’ data revealed themes as beliefs and attitudes towards IE and need for training. Findings presented the challenges of online education for a HH pupil with significant implications, suggesting many solutions to the problems HH learners face, and raising public awareness on IE.
... Research highlights that students with disabilities enrolled within the higher education environment have endured aggrandized barriers during the pandemic [22][23][24][25], with the experiences of specific disability groups, including mental health-related conditions, further exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19-related restrictions [26,27]. The rapid transition to remote instruction [28] and the fluctuating student support services available during the shift to online institutional environments [29,30], may have also negatively influenced students' mental health related-conditions due to the disruption of daily routines, access to life necessities, and other associated factors [21,31]. ...
Utilizing national survey data, this paper details the academic and access challenges created by the pandemic for students with disabilities, as perceived by disability resource professionals. Data included in this paper capture disability support service challenges at two unique timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic—May 2020 [n = 535] and January 2021 [n = 631]. Disability resource professionals reported there was difficulty in the initial months of the pandemic for students to provide documentation of a disability to receive accommodations, use assistive technology in the new remote academic setting, and receive testing accommodations within the remote environment. While access and resources improved for students with disabilities over time, a portion of the surveyed disability resource professionals noted no observed improvement in students’ with disabilities communication with instructors as well as a worsening of conditions for students with disabilities throughout the pandemic related to access to counseling and mental health services. In addition to highlighting key obstacles faced by this student group during the pandemic, this paper provides recommendations and implications for institutions to better serve this student group, including how institutions of higher education can coordinate a holistic approach to support student mental health.
... It is crucial to increase the prospects of university education for students with disabilities along with appropriate social support, psychological counselling, and rehabilitation services, and it is considered a humanitarian and social duty. Recent studies have underlined the need to provide psychological and informational support to students with disabilities studying in universities during the COVID-19 pandemic [21,22]. ...
University students with disabilities face an increased risk of experiencing negative implications in educational, psychological, and social spheres during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed at assessing various dimensions of social support and its sources during the COVID-19 pandemic that availed university students with disabilities. This cross-sectional descriptive study collected data from 53 university students with disabilities. We administered the Social Support Scale (SSC) to assess five dimensions: informational, emotional, esteem, social integration and tangible support, and access to social support from four sources: family, friends, teachers, and colleagues. Multiple regression analysis showed that university students with disabilities mainly relied upon their friends for informational support (β = 0.64; p < 0.001), emotional support (β = 0.52; p < 0.001), and social integration support (β = 0.57; p < 0.001). Family members (β = 0.406; p < 0.01) and colleagues (β = 0.36; p < 0.01) provided esteem support to students with disabilities. Support from teachers demonstrated an association with informational support (β = 0.24; p < 0.05). The findings from the current study suggest that students with disabilities primarily sought informational, emotional, and social integration support from their peers. Although teachers were the primary source of informational support, emotional and esteem support were not found to be significantly associated with them. These findings necessitate exploring the underlying factors and how to enhance them during unusual circumstances such as online distance education and social distancing.
... The challenges varied from one country to another but the common finding was that the barriers they experienced before COVID-19 have remained while new ones emerged. In America, one of the new barriers was that those students had difficulties in transitioning to online remote learning and in New York particularly, students with disabilities were no longer able to receive the support they used to get in the form of having their lectures and notes recorded [41]. It is reported that the challenges confronted by students with disabilities during COVID-19 increased the stress and anxiety because of sudden changes in the way things were done when learning was taking place in institutions of higher education [42,43]. ...
The present study utilised the systematic review method to report on the learning challenges faced by students with disabilities as a result of inadequate preparedness for COVID-19 and the response to the pandemic in the context of institutions of higher education in South Africa. The studies reviewed indicated that, although there were variations between institutions, South African higher education institutions were inadequately prepared for COVID-19 and, as a result, the response to the pandemic involved emergency remote teaching. For students with disabilities, it was revealed that the limited support and the changes to the way learning was taking place in institutions posed challenges during the pandemic. Limited access to content knowledge was an issue even before COVID-19, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic. Conclusions reached showed that there were challenges imposed by the pandemic in addition to those that existed before, which were only exacerbated and magnified by COVID-19. Practical ways are suggested in which anticipative and transformative resilience could be utilised by all stakeholders in institutions of higher education, to pre-prepare for pandemics. Ways of applying a universal design for learning in the “new normal” to enhance learning for all students, including those with disabilities, also contributed in a practical way to the conclusions.
... University students' views and attitude levels regarding these variables did not make a significant difference. This result is frequently mentioned in the literature and predicted in this research (Meleo-Erwin et al., 2021). Disabled individuals face various problems and disabilities in their lives. ...
In this research, the effects and reflections of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Higher Education were examined. 1166 people (university students studying in different departments) who were determined with appropriate sampling and snowball sampling method participated in the study. The survey method, which is one of the quantitative research approaches, was used in the research process. As the data collection tool, a Likert-type scale with 5 factors and 45 questions was employed by the researchers. Research data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 24.0 and IBM AMOS 24.0. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used in the analysis of the research data. Independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA test, and correlation test were performed in inferential statistical analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out for the construct validity of the scale. The mediation effect for scale dimensions was tested with serial multiple mediation effect analysis using HAYES's model number 6. As a result of the research, the opinions of university students showed a significant difference apropos of gender, grade level, and department variables. The highest attitude tendency was in the CVEP (COVID-19 Vaccine and Education Process) dimension and the lowest in the ATDE (Attitude towards Distance Education) dimension. The attitudes of university students toward distance education indirectly affect the mediating impact of the variables viz. faculty members’ activities, technical infrastructure as well as the variables of measurement evaluation system, Covid-19 vaccine and education process.
... While the focus is on pedagogical challenges in the South African context of higher education, it is important to highlight that, not only in South African higher education are students with disabilities negatively affected in pedagogy largely during the pandemic, but even in developed countries, which have always had better support structures for students with disabilities. Meleo-Erwin et al. (2020) argued that in New York, students with disabilities did not have access to support in the form of recording of lectures and notes and deadlines were not extended for their projects, during the 212 pandemic. When students with disabilities in developed countries such as the United States, confront pedagogical challenges during the pandemic, the results could be positive; however, the worst-case scenario could be possible for similar students in developing countries, including South Africa. ...
The unexpected emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse effects on diverse students’ epistemic access in the context of South African higher education. While this has seen an increasing urge for research to understand epistemic access and success of disadvantaged students, there has not been a specific focus on the issue as it specifically relates to students with disabilities, who are unique in their own way, thereby requiring an intervention that considers their differences. Using the decolonial analytical framework, the article explored the challenges in the pedagogic domain, and their implications for the epistemic access of students with disabilities during the pandemic. Data were collected through the synthesis of international and South African literature on the issue, as it specifically relates to students with disabilities during the pandemic. The key finding was that the pandemic exacerbated the pedagogic challenges already confronted by students with disabilities, thereby gravely affecting their access to learning. The objective of the article was to present the pedagogic challenges and how they have limited students with disabilities’ epistemic access, as exacerbated by the pandemic. This was so that interventions that could assist their learning in the “new normal”, could be thought about, in the South African context, in Africa and globally.
As universities and colleges around the world moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, questions were raised about the impacts of this transition on institutional commitments towards and capacity to provide equitable learning environments: access to all students, inclusive experiences within courses and/or programs, and achieve equitable outcomes across all intersections of diversity—including, but not limited to, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socio-economic background, levels of parental education, access to technological resources, and geographic location. In this chapter, we report on our systematic review of institutional policies and communications in response to the pandemic at four different Canadian universities to explore how they attended to issues of equity and student success in an online/remote environment. As part of a larger data set, the research team analysed existing institutional policies related to online learning, the public institutional communication (particularly to students) about the transition online, and the explicit commitments made to support the creation of equitable learning environments for students. This examination of how equity has been framed and addressed during a time of global crisis will have implications for the future development of equitable learning environments in higher education.
COVID-19 pandemic has caused the greatest unsettling in education history, from preprimary to the highest institutions of learning. Owing to lack of cure and effective treatment, several containment measures were implemented, leading to prolonged closures of educational institutions. This created numerous challenges for both educators and students, particularly in higher education where institutions struggled to maintain the continuity of learning. The introduction of online learning across diverse platforms became a necessity, yet it presented a myriad of challenges for both institutions and students. Among those most adversely affected were students with disabilities (SWDs). Delivering instruction through online platforms proved to be not only different but also particularly challenging for SWDs, and their instructors. However, despite these difficulties, the pandemic has also highlighted opportunities for improving educational practices to better accommodate SWDs. This paper therefore examines the challenges and opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has created for SWDs, drawing on a systematic synthesis of literature. During this pandemic, instructors in higher education institutions are unable to adequately meet the educational needs of SWDs through on-line platforms. The findings reveal that instructors in higher education were often unable to meet the educational needs of SWDs adequately through online platform also struggled with the lack of a structured learning environment and reduced peer interactions, which are critical to their educational experience. Specific challenges included the absence of sign language interpretation for the deaf and hard of hearing, and a lack of screen readers for students with visual impairment. The findings underscore the importance incorporating the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into educational technologies, as UDL accommodates a diverse range of learners, including SWDs
In the course of this study, using the theoretical method of comparative analysis and the empirical method of questioning, the level of adaptation of students with different types of disabilities in the educational process is revealed. The discrepancy between the rights of disabled people as declared by the state and the lack of implementation in practice is revealed. Conclusions are made about the main barriers to the adaptation of students with disabilities, consisting in their marginalization and stigmatization by, firstly, their peers; second, on the part of the teaching staff (unpreparedness of teachers to work with disabled people); third, on the part of relatives and friends. Conclusions are formulated and a set of recommendations proposed.
Background:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in all areas of public life. The ADA contributes to equal opportunity across policy areas, including the interconnected domains of higher education and employment. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, emerging research has begun to document the disparities in impact on people with disabilities, among other marginalized groups. However, no research to date has reviewed and synthesized literature that addresses disability discrimination related to COVID-19 that has implications for application of the ADA.
Objective:
This rapid evidence review aims to increase understanding about how COVID-19 has resulted in challenges for people with disabilities in the domains of employment and higher education that may be resolved through application of the ADA.
Methods:
Keyword searches were conducted in five electronic databases. Title, abstract, and full text screening was conducted followed by a thematic analysis of key ADA themes.
Results:
Twelve final articles were included in this review, eight categorized within higher education and four within employment. In relation to the ADA and COVID-19, five studies revealed findings related to web accessibility, eight related to effective communication, and four related to reasonable accommodations.
Conclusion:
The findings provide a broad overview of the current research on how COVID-19 has affected accessibility, communications and accommodations in employment and higher education and identify gaps in the literature within these policy domains.
This paper focuses on inclusive higher education in the United Kingdom. It details international literature, research studies and national reports, including findings from the authors’ study, ‘Working with disabled students to address unequal outcomes in UK HE during the pandemic’ where we critically explored inclusive practice in Higher Education (HE) and disabled students’ learning experiences. Our national study was carried out as a collaboration between the University of Plymouth, University of Wolverhampton, and Disabled Students UK (DSUK). Data collection took place in 2021 with an extensive literature-based investigation alongside the dissemination of a questionnaire to DSUK members resulting in 14 responses from across a variety of UG and PG programmes. This research took place whilst DSUK were completing a complementary national study asking disabled students about their experiences of Higher Education during lockdown periods, they received more than 300 responses. Alongside these studies, the Disabled Students’ Commission (DSC) (2021/2022) were compiling their annual report. Findings from our research corroborate the aforementioned investigations, contributing evidence that disabled students across undergraduate and postgraduate courses continue to experience perceived discriminatory and exclusionary practices (DSUK, 2020; NADP. 2020; NMHP, 2020). Findings from our research project ‘Working with disabled students to address unequal outcomes in UK HE during the pandemic’, will be explored in this paper and theysuggest too many disabled students studying in HE today, experience integration, which results in frustration, course transfers and failure, as opposed to the progressive and transformational learning that is associated with successful inclusion. The paper concludes by proposing HE policy makers and practitioners ‘partner-up’ with disabled students to reconsider what is understood, envisaged, implemented, experienced and evaluated as inclusive HE. Furthermore, that this collaboration and partnership is led by disabled students and takes place at both macro eg- Government, OfS and DSC) and micro levels (lecture theatre, online learning).
Di berbagai daerah, konseling online merupakan hal yang penuh tantangan, meskipun sangat dibutuhkan di masa pandemi. Studi bertujuan untuk memberikan gambaran tentang pelaksanaan konseling online. Terdapat tujuh pertanyaan penelitian, yaitu: 1) Bagaimana konseling online selama pandemi COVID-19, 2) Siapa saja pihak yang membutuhkan konseling online, 3) Bagaimana model konseling online yang dibutuhkan, 4) Kesulitan yang ditemukan pada saat menerapkan intervensi konseling online di masa pandemi, 5) Bagaimana kualitas helper yang dibutuhkan untuk bisa melakukan konseling online di masa pandemi, 6) Bagaimana tingkat keberhasilan layanan, & 7) Upaya apa yang bisa dilakukan untuk meningkatkan keterampilan helper dalam melakukan konseling online. Studi ini menelaah dua puluh sembilan literatur yang berasal dari Indonesia & luar. Rekomendasi penelitian SLR lanjutan dengan spesifikasi yang berbeda, penelitian kualitatif tentang pandangan konselor untuk menyelenggarakan konseling online, penelitian pengembangan untuk menyusun panduan konseling online, & penelitian kuantitatif eksperimental untuk melatihkan model konseling online pada penyelenggara layanan konseling.
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 and remote learning on education for college students with disabilities. A qualitative research method, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), was used to investigate participants’ learning experiences during the pandemic. A total of 10 participants were divided into three focus groups for data collection. Data were analyzed using the standard IPA process, and four themes were identified. Discussion of and implications for online instruction and related policies are presented.
Enhancement the methodology for assessing the digital accessibility of e-learning is an important condition for improving the quality of modern educational services. In order to develop a basic algorithm for auditing digital accessibility, the expert data from 173 e-learning resources (56 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in mathematics, 65 MOOCs in computer science and programming, 22 intra-university online courses in mathematics, computer science and programming, 30 MOOCs in cardiopulmonary resuscitation) were systematized and analyzed. The paper considers: methods and process of collecting expert data, the content of data sets, the procedure for empirical analysis of the results of testing the e-learning content accessibility. The structure of the proposed algorithm of auditing the digital accessibility includes the following stages: preparation for examination; automatic and expert testing of digital accessibility and generation of data sets; data analysis; formulating a final conclusion and recommendations for improving digital accessibility. Further use of the basic algorithm and data sets of audits can be useful for the development of accessible education, the training of e-learning specialists, and the strengthening of regulatory and control mechanisms in the field of education.
The article deals with issues of standardization of e-learning digital accessibility. It aims to analyze the content of the current digital accessibility standards and to assess the possibility of their use to ensure the accessibility of e-learning and its components. International and Russian federal standards that are directly or indirectly related to the digital accessibility of e-learning were studied. The search for documents was carried out in October 2021 – February 2022 on the official websites of standardization bodies by thematic headings and keywords in the title or abstract of the document. A sample of 92 current standards was obtained, including: international (global) – 57 (62%); international (European) – 23 (25%); international (Commonwealth of Independent States) – 2 (3%); Russian federal – 10 (11%). Using the content analysis method, the standards were systematized according to the following parameters: publication date; publication language; full text access features; geographical coverage; digital accessibility standardized parameters; digital accessibility beneficiary groups. The corresponding data set was published in the Mendeley Data online repository. The obtained data were studied using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel. As a result of the study, five categories of digital accessibility standards were identified (by areas of application in elearning): digital content accessibility standards (39; 42%), software accessibility standards (26; 28%), Internet communications accessibility standards (10; 11%), standards for ensuring individual needs and preferences (20; 22%), standards for the development and interpretation of digital accessibility standards (15; 16%). Some standards (13; 14%) cover more than one category. It has been determined that the beneficiaries of applying the most digital accessibility standards are all e-learning users who may be in conditions that make learning difficult. The analysis has identified two key groups of standards that can be used as a basis for the implementation of universally accessible elearning – standards based on the WCAG and AccessForAll concepts. WCAG regulates the requirements for the development of accessible digital content, and AccessForAll methods for meeting the user’s personal needs and preferences. It was determined that both concepts together can form a unified system in which WCAG is a mandatory component, and AccessForAll is an optional one. The need to develop new combined standards for e-learning digital accessibility, taking into account the best standardization practices, has been identified.
Municipalities and nonprofit organizations play a major role in administrating services that support individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore how these organizations responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in regards to service delivery and programming for people with disabilities. This qualitative interpretative description study used semi-structured individual interviews for data collection. Recordings of the interviews were transcribed. Then the transcripts were analyzed qualitatively for themes following an inductive approach. Twenty-six individuals working for nonprofit organization or municipalities participated in the study. Six themes were identified: doing more with less; adapting rather than creating new services; ongoing consultation with stakeholders; feeling successful at adapting the services; being innovative with fundraising and embracing radical change. Flexibility and iterative user-centered approach appeared to be common coping strategies. Remote services were privileged to adapt service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BERA blog https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/nothing-about-us-without-us-urgent-changes-needed-in-he-inclusive-practice-to-address-widening-participation-failures
The text, based on the author’s own research, describes the case of a student with a hearing impairment in the context of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main aim of the research was to answer the question: how did a person with a hearing impairment function during the pandemic and in what dimensions is the pandemic situation a crisis for the examined student with a hearing impairment? The article begins with an introduction to the discussed issues, then takes into account a short description of the studied student and the results of the analysis of the research material obtained with the use of a free-form interview. The article ends with conclusions and a summary. It should be emphasized that the described case can only be treated as a pilot study and preparation of the ground for further explorations of a wider scope.
Digital accessibility of e-learning provides an opportunity to fully participate in the educational process for all students, including persons with disabilities. Each specialist involved in the development of e-learning content and resources should be competent in digital accessibility and universal design. The authors propose a methodological approach to the development of digital accessibility competencies and present the results of testing this approach in practice. In 2021, on the basis of one of the Russian universities, a methodology for the formation of digital accessibility competences was developed and tested, including a system of competences, tools for testing formed competences, a curriculum and an appropriate online course. In addition, a study sample was formed (177 undergraduate and graduate students), a training course was conducted, and training outcomes were analyzed. It is for the first time that a methodological approach to the formation of digital accessibility competences has been proposed in the Russian Federation. The training outcomes confirmed the efficiency of the proposed approach: 96% of the students successfully completed the training, of which more than 67% achieved intermediate and advanced levels of the competences. A significant positive correlation was found between the successfully completed current tasks and the results of the final tests of self-assessment and formal assessment. It was shown that the training efficiency did not depend on how (voluntarily or compulsorily) the students were enrolled in the course, whether there were pedagogical disciplines in their curricula and what was the level of their university education. The relationship found between the results of final self-assessment and the results of formal assessment can be interpreted as consistency between satisfaction with the training and its success. The developed methodological tools, including the online course, can be used for the professional training of teachers, the formation of professional competences of IT specialists as well as the improvement of the overall digital literacy of specialists involved in the development of digital content.
Background
Female long haulers deal with persistent post-acute COVID-19 symptoms that have serious health implications. This study aimed to identify resilience resources at multiple socio-ecological levels for female long haulers and describe how resilience resources affect their responses to long COVID.
Methods
Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit participants through social media from April to June 2021 followed by 15 semi-structured interviews. An inductive analytical approach was adopted to categorize themes by open and axial coding that were verified by peer review.
Results
Female long haulers relied on resources at various socio-ecological levels to foster their resilience in response to long COVID. At the individual level, they utilized cognitive and emotional resources to increase knowledge, learn new skills, set goals, and manage emotions; behavioral resources (e.g., internal motivation and executive functioning) to perform physical, creative, and recreational activities, and adopt healthier eating habits; and spiritual resources to perform spiritual rituals and connect with God. At the social level, the support from existing relationships and/or online social support groups enhanced their social identity and provided material and informational resources. At the health systems level, the guidance from counselors and physicians and availability of clinics, medicines, and health equipment assisted them in symptom management and medication adherence.
Conclusion
The resilience of female long haulers can be enhanced through (1) offering financial and health-related resources, (2) developing online social-support groups, (3) counseling and care service training for healthcare professionals, and (4) implementing more psychosocial interventions by labor organizations.
I artikeln utforskas hur universitetslärares pedagogiska praktik har påverkats av den digitala omställningen under pandemin. Vi diskuterar särskilt kunskapsområden som digitala medier, design av fysisk och digital lärandemiljö, arbetsmiljö, riskbedömning, tillgänglighet och sociala relationer. Resultatet, som bygger på pilotstudien ”The Corona Crash Course” och aktuell forskning, visar att de kunskapsområden som tydliggjorts under den digitala omställningen främst handlar om genomförande av undervisning. Två nya kunskapsområden har identifierats: arbetsmiljö och riskbedömning. Nu behövs tid för reflektion och stöd så att universitetslärare kan utveckla en postpandemisk praktik som vilar på vetenskaplig grund.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore online teaching experiences of educators in Fiji National University (FNU). Although they quickly adapted to online teaching, their experiences are yet to be explored and documented, hence the relevance of this study.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used phenomenological research design to understand the lived experiences of participants' regarding online teaching. A total of 58 in-depth interviews were conducted among educators, at various levels and analysed thematically using an inductive approach.
Findings
The findings show online teaching challenges including difficulties maintaining students' engagement, teaching practically oriented courses, assessing students and embracing change, limited knowledge impact and output, anxiety and stress, inadequate teaching environment, increased workload and unstable Internet. The facilitators and enablers were flexibility, free Internet, creating conducive environment, Moodle training, skills acquisition and support from faculty members' and information technology team. Recommendations for improvement ranged from modifying course outline, summarising previous lessons, reducing course load, adequate assessment tools, incentives, guidelines enforcement to regular training.
Originality/value
This is an original work carried out by the researchers in a specific context. The findings suggest the need to address various challenges for effective online teaching. School managers' and relevant key stakeholders need to understand educators’ teaching experiences as well as their recommended improvement strategies, to enhance online teaching.
This study examines the implications of the coronavirus pandemic for college students' health and education, with special attention to variation by disability status. Disaster research supports the hypothesis that students with disabilities will experience higher-than-usual levels of pandemic-related stress, which could lead to re-evaluations of their educational expectations and declines in health. We evaluate this hypothesis by modeling changes in students’ (1) mental and physical health and (2) educational expectations during the first year (spring of 2020 to spring of 2021) of the pandemic, using survey data collected from a population-based sample of college students in the state of Indiana. Although we observe across-the-board declines in both domains, students with disabilities were especially vulnerable. Mediation analyses suggest that differential exposure to financial and illness-related stressors is partially to blame, explaining a significant portion of the group differences between students with and without disabilities. We interpret these results as evidence of the unique vulnerabilities associated with disability status and its wide-ranging importance as a dimension of social stratification.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic affect all groups in society. People with intellectual disability are especially vulnerable to the physical, mental and social effects of the pandemic. Cognitive impairments can limit understanding of information to protect them relying on carers to be vigilant on their behalf during quarantine. Restrictions on usual activities are likely to induce mental stress especially among those who are autistic leading to an escalation in challenging behaviours, risk of placement breakdown, and increased the use of psychotropic medication. People with intellectual disability are vulnerable to exploitation by others where the usual community supports no longer function to protect them. In future pandemics, it is important that lessons are learned from the impacts COVID-19 has on people with intellectual disability. Collecting the evidence through a rigorous approach should help to empower people with intellectual disability and their carers to face future outbreaks of infectious diseases
Purpose:
The increase in the number of individuals with disabilities in general education has led to an increased interest in how to best provide support. Despite an emphasis on inclusion and participation in policy and practice, defining and describing the support provided for these learners is still an important task.
Method:
This multisite, mixed method collective case study reports on 125 education and other staff from seven schools who took part in interviews and focus groups to reflect on a range of topics related to learners with disabilities in high schools. We focused on what the participants did, what they considered to be successful and what their "best" practices were.
Results:
Descriptions of practices were rich, nuanced and complex. The analysis identified over 200 "strategies" which were synthesized into two meta-themes and eight subthemes. We discuss the results in the context of an ecological perspective, and the importance of focusing on the full range of influences and outcomes for young people in designing supports.
Conclusions:
We have drawn on evidence from this study as a basis for professional development activities and identified that focusing on the environment and the role of practitioners has a potential to improve the inclusion outcomes for older learners with disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Inclusion is influenced by the physical environment, attitudes, expectations and opportunities, in addition to a learner's skills and abilities. Schools should focus on the environment and teachers' practices, rather than on what an individual learner can or cannot do. The practices discussed in this study reflect those that a range of educators and related services personnel agree are realistic, appropriate and effective. Change may be led by the school management team; however, there are many ways in which all staff can contribute; indeed, approaches will not work effectively unless they are understood and implemented by everyone.
Students with disabilities are increasingly enrolling in colleges and universities. However, many institutions are still unprepared to support them beyond the basic federal mandate of equal access and reasonable accommodations. This qualitative study utilized a nontraditional media of reflective journaling to capture the anecdotal experiences of 16 college students with disabilities for a 10-week period. Four major themes emerged concerning barriers and frustrations these students encountered on a daily basis: (a) faculty perception, (b) fit of advisors, (c) college stressors, and (d) quality of support services. Recommendations for higher education administrators and disability personnel to become more vigilant in improving support for this population are discussed.
Disability is an emerging field within public health; people with significant disabilities account for more than 12% of the US population. Disparity status for this group would allow federal and state governments to actively work to reduce inequities. We summarize the evidence and recommend that observed differences are sufficient to meet the criteria for health disparities: population-level differences in health outcomes that are related to a history of wide-ranging disadvantages, which are avoidable and not primarily caused by the underlying disability. We recommend future research and policy directions to address health inequities for individuals with disabilities; these include improved access to health care and human services, increased data to support decision-making, strengthened health and human services workforce capacity, explicit inclusion of disability in public health programs, and increased emergency preparedness. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 17, 2015: e1-e9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302182).
The threat of an international pandemic captivated much of the news media in 2009. The spread of H1N1 in the United States ultimately prompted President Obama to declare a state of national emergency. It was predicted that hospitals would be overburdened and shortages would occur, necessitating difficult decisions about who should get access to scarce medical resources, such as ventilators and critical care beds. Few questions are more ethically or legally loaded than determining who will receive scarce medical resources in the event of a wide-spread public health emergency. The answer will often mean the difference between life and death for affected Americans. Despite this reality, or perhaps because of it, there has been little guidance from the federal and state governments on how to prioritize distribution of those resources among individuals. To fill this gap, some public health and medical organizations promulgated protocols that set forth a hierarchy of resource allocation in response to the predicted H1N1 pandemic. Although these efforts at advance planning are to be lauded, they raise a number of troubling civil rights issues. Several of the protocols exclude some people with disabilities from receiving care even when their disabilities do not affect the likely success of the medical interventions at issue. Both the legality of such plans and the ethical implications of promoting the health of the community at the expense of people with disabilities are highly problematic. Although the H1N1 threat appears to be waning in 2010, similar public health emergencies will certainly arise in the future. This paper explores the legality of the proposed allocation protocols under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. It also evaluates their compatibility with the ethical principles that guide public health decisions and discusses their implications for people with disabilities in the pre-planning of public health emergencies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority groups, with high rates of death in African American, Native American, and LatinX communities. While the mechanisms of these disparities are being investigated, they can be conceived as arising from biomedical factors as well as social determinants of health. Minority groups are disproportionately affected by chronic medical conditions and lower access to healthcare that may portend worse COVID-19 outcomes. Furthermore, minority communities are more likely to experience living and working conditions that predispose them to worse outcomes. Underpinning these disparities are long-standing structural and societal factors that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed. Clinicians can partner with patients and communities to reduce the short-term impact of COVID-19 disparities while advocating for structural change.
This Note explores the legal responsibilities that local governments have toward marginalized communities in a time of crisis and argues that people with disabilities (PWDs) have a “right to be rescued”: a legal right to have their unique needs accounted for and addressed in emergency planning. Exploring a series of cases that have established this right, the Note focuses on an innovative class action lawsuit in which the court held that the City of New York failed to ensure that PWDs have meaningful access to the City’s emergency services. As the nation continues to rebuild after Sandy and faces a future in which disasters will become the norm, this Note argues that the story of this case and the man-made disaster that surrounded it should serve as a call to action for other urban areas that have yet to adequately plan for the needs of PWDs in emergencies. Such planning is not merely morally correct; it is legally required, and it is critical that local governments get their plans in order before the next storms, and lawsuits, come.
This article briefly reviews Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and identifies the criteria that are used to determine whether a student is both "disabled" and "qualified." Then, specific areas of admission, accommodation, and dismissal are examined. Finally, guidelines are presented that may be used by professors and administrators in their efforts to provide qualified students with disabilities with nondiscriminatory access to higher education.
This article reports the findings from a survey of all self‐reported disabled students in a single UK higher education institution. Undertaken as the initial phase of a project that focuses upon students' experience of learning in higher education, it is one of the first systematic analyses to be undertaken of the experience that disabled students in higher education have of barriers to learning. The article reports both statistical data about the quality and variety of 173 students' experience of learning as well as qualitative comments from the students about learning and assessment. Analysis of the survey points to the need for attention to be paid to issues of parity and flexibility of provision and to staff development in making the ‘reasonable adjustments’ required by recent disability legislation.
The rise in numbers of students with disabilities entering higher education necessitates stronger transition programs between high schools and postsecondary institutions. Under current transition plans, many students with disabilities leave high school without the self-advocacy skills they need to survive in college. Further, although some universities understand their legal obligations in serving post-secondary students with disabilities, the litigation suggests that more needs to be accomplished. It appears that in some cases both university professors and administrators lack full awareness of their legal obligations. This manuscript examines the challenges students with disabilities face in college, reviews relevant case law regarding the transition for students with disabilities from high school to higher education, and provides suggestions to assist high schools and universities in forging programs to better serve students with disabilities.
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