Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought changes to the scenario of teaching and learning in schools and higher institutions of education. The shift from face-to-face traditional mode to online platforms has brough many challenges along with it. This ‘new norm’ of pedagogy has also posed challenges to disabled students in higher learning institutions across Malaysia especially when using online platforms to study. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the mental and emotional challenges and learning problems faced by disabled students in online classes during the current pandemic. Fifteen disabled students of various disabilities from universities participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were employed to interview the participants and the collected data was analysed qualitatively using the self-determination theory. The findings showed that most of the disabled students faced mental stress challenges as they were not familiar with Skype, Zoom and Google Meet. They were also not familiar with modern electronic and sophisticated gadgets. The findings further revealed that disabled students were not ignorant in their learning and their disabilities were not obstacles to excel in education. However, they do need help to overcome their fears and challenges. The present study hopes that higher learning institutions assign special task force to facilitate disabled students. The task force should recognise the prospective requirements of disabled students plan and carry out counselling to provide fundamental preparations for online learning. These measures would better prepare them physically and mentally to face unpredictable challenges in the future.
Highlights
The effects of coronavirus have been felt by everyone ever since it was declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020
This study aims to explore challenges faced by disabled students in online learning
Analysis and Discussion Analysis based on Self-Determination Theory There were several mental health challenges encountered by the disabled students as indicated below: 1. isolation 2. emotional setback 3. exacerbated mental health 4. anxiety without knowing the identity of lecturers 5. lack of confidence to attend online classes
Summary
The effects of coronavirus have been felt by everyone ever since it was declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020. The Malaysian Government issued a Movement Control Order (MCO) as a precautionary measure against the pandemic. There were approximately 80,000 Malaysian students on campus nationwide excluding those who stayed outside when the MCO was announced. The implementation of MCO leads to the restructuring of the education system, right from elementary level to tertiary level. This move affected educational institutions that relied on traditional, face-to-face learning (Ahmad et al, 2020). Many universities have started utilising blended learning platforms, many of them are still bound and tied to traditional teaching methods
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