E-learning during COVID: Teachers’ and Visually Impaired Students’ Perceptions

Abstract

The widespread of Covid-19 has led to a dramatic and inevitable change in education— the expansive switch to e-learning. Besides the obvious advantages, online learning did raise various issues for students. Problems that have been reported include technical issues, communication breakdown, lack of skills to operate online tools, lack of learning motivation, etc. For Visually Impaired (VI) students, the problems could be multiplied many times over. However, to date, there is not yet any study that looks at the experiences of VI students in online classes. This paper, thus, aimed to examine the perception of teachers and VI students regarding e-learning in inclusive classrooms by conducting a case study qualitative research design. Specifically, online semi-structured interviews were conducted with two VI students and their teacher. After that, thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data. Findings indicated that despite receiving numerous support from the teacher, peers and the university, VI students still experienced challenges in (i) interacting online, (ii) managing online platforms and apps, (iii) understanding the visual aids that teachers use in the lessons. These obstacles, along with hesitation and being overwhelmed feelings, caused significant challenges to the VI in their online learning. Meanwhile, VI students highlighted numerous benefits of online learning namely saving travelling, and beauty expenses, inspiring society and receiving various support and motivation from peers during online classes. Findings from the study might have important implications for numerous stakeholders who want to enhance the learning experience of visually impaired students in an inclusive online class.