Implications of distance education on children with disabilities

Abstract

Once the COVID‐19 was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization at the beginning of 2020, almost all countries around the world shifted from traditional face to face education to distance education to prevent the spread of the virus. Türkiye implemented distance education practices through a web‐based platform named education information network (EBA) and EBA TV channels. However, the rapid shift from traditional face to face education to distance education was challenging especially for students with disabilities, their parents and teachers because these students needed individualised education and some services which were impossible to implement remotely. The purpose of this study was to explore (a) the challenges that teachers and students faced during distance education; (b) the implications of distance education on students with disabilities. Further, this study explored opinions of special education teachers regarding how to make distance education more effective for students with disabilities. A semi‐structured interview was conducted with 12 special education teachers. Findings demonstrated that distance education through EBA was neither sufficient nor convenient for most students with disabilities. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were discussed.