scholarly journals Loneliness in online students with disabilities: qualitative investigation for experience, understanding and solutions

Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Kotera ◽  
James Chircop ◽  
Lucy Hutchinson ◽  
Christine Rhodes ◽  
Pauline Green ◽  
...  

AbstractOnline learning has given access to education for diverse populations including students with disabilities. In our university, the ratio of students with disabilities is substantially higher in the online programmes than face-to-face. Online learning provides high accessibility though it can result in a lonely experience. Accordingly, this study aimed to appraise the first-hand experience and understanding of loneliness in online students with disabilities (OSWD), and to discuss possible solutions. Thematic analysis on semi-structured interviews attended by nine OSWD identified: ‘Self-paced study can reduce stigma but cause loneliness (Theme 1)’, ‘Loneliness and social difficulties relate to misunderstanding of disability (Theme 2)’, and ‘Activities, events and staff for informal socialisation are needed (Theme 3)’. As the demand for online learning is further expanded due to the current global pandemic, our findings will be helpful for online learning institutions worldwide to establish effective strategies to reduce loneliness in OSWD.

Author(s):  
Novrika Nartiningrum ◽  
Arif Nugroho

Covid-19 pandemic brings changes in many aspects of peoples’ lives throughout the world. The spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia affects the education system in this country. Face-to-face instructions are shifted into full online learnings from home. Despite this quite drastic change, the literature on students’ insights of this matter has still been silent. Thus, the present study elucidates 45 EFL students’ challenges, suggestions and needed materials during these online classes. Rely on qualitative data analysis from written responses and semi-structured interviews, the findings disclosed that these EFL students’ main challenges in attending online courses were the unsteady networks and the less direct interactions. These students mainly suggested the use of video conferencing applications such as zoom or Google meet, though some students chose assignments over those applications. The students also mentioned that they basically needed grammar related materials within the online classes. The findings bring forward the picture of full online learning condition during Covid-19 outbreak on EFL setting in Indonesia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4755
Author(s):  
Víctor H. Perera ◽  
Anabel Moriña ◽  
Nieves Sánchez-Díaz ◽  
Yolanda Spinola-Elias

Currently, the development of new virtual environments as a complementary tool to face-to-face teaching and the increased presence of students with disabilities at university classrooms are changing the landscape of university teaching. This article analyses the actions of faculty members who carry out inclusive practices in the context of technological platforms. The research was based on the assumptions of the qualitative paradigm, using individual semi-structured interviews with 119 faculty members from 10 Spanish public universities. The results show the reasons for inclusive learning with technological platforms, the use that faculty members make of these platforms in their inclusive educational practices, and the influence of these on the learning of students, especially students with disabilities. The conclusions give a good account of the conditions that determine the pedagogical use that faculty members make of virtual environments to facilitate the inclusion of students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 168-174
Author(s):  
Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga

The importance of maintaining connections and relationships across tertiary education for students is discussed as a way of examining the nature of Pacific education in challenging times, particularly in terms of fractured face-to-face learning. Universities have been thrust into an unpredictable time of remote/distance/online learning in a short period of time. The process has been unsettling and challenging for people across the world. As Pacific students and staff experience the unchartered waters of Covid-19 and global disturbances, they are searching out ways to build purposeful connections, shape-shifting and ways to maintain communities of academic togetherness while harnessing the tools of their knowledge trajectories in research. This article will focus on four key principles: valuing personal and academic connections beyond the textbook; discovering heart-warming methods of connection; and connecting for growth and wellbeing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-115
Author(s):  
Dhion Meitreya Vidhiasi

The change in life continues to change quickly. The 4.0 industry has been examined, marking a development in IT, including the Internet, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. Everyone was not distinguished from technology by the development of IT in the 21st century. Different opinions from various parties to online learning come from face-to-face shifting paradigms. This sort of learning paradigm has multiple advantages and disadvantages to reach the aim of learning itself. This study seeks to assess the perspective of learners of online learning in this context in a COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on students of the English conversation of Akademi Maritim Nusantara Cilacap. The instruments used are semi-structured interviews. The researcher asked the students about the Covid-19 outbreak via the WhatsApp service. The research design employed in this research was a case study. The online study is unbelievably advantageous in the heart of the pandemic. AMN Cilacap has selected the Google Classroom Service as its Learning Management System. They will receive new terminology, knowledge, and technical skills. Thus, when they graduate in the future, students will no longer have problems using their primary app for education. Online learning is more effective than offline learning for a particular objective, information, skills, and students. Combining the benefit of online and offline teaching approaches known as combined learning will help overcome the potential limitations of online learning in the professional school of AMN Cilacap. But a mix of online and offline learning, notwithstanding the volatility of online, may be the best option to maximize its worth.


Author(s):  
Suha Abdulrazzaq Slim

This study attempts to investigate the willingness of Jordanian EFL teachers to endure taking Online Professional Development Programs (OPD) rather than face to face learning in both private and public schools. Therefore, a qualitative research methodology was carried out to examine the extent to which Jordanian EFL teachers are willing to endure taking Online Professional Development Programs (OPD) rather than face to face learning. Data were collected via online interviews with teachers through e-Learning forums as well as other means of interactive social Medias such as Zoom, Facetime and Microsoft teams during COVID-19 Pandemic in the second semester of the scholastic year 2019-2020. Ten EFL teachers were randomly chosen from forty public and private EFL school teachers to respond to the interviews. The sample consisted of ten teachers who were selected randomly for the interview. The interview content focused on two domains which are: the challenges faced teachers in online learning and the good learning practices experienced by EFL teachers during online learning regarding their experiences through the pandemic. The interviews were taking the form of semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of EFL teachers are unwilling to continue taking online professional development programs as they faced many troubles and obstacles through experiencing distant learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic as part of their first hands on experience. Two teachers showed a tendency to continue Online Professional Development Programs in parallel with face to face programs.


Author(s):  
Michelle Kilburn ◽  
Martha Henckell ◽  
David Starrett

Identifying the positive attributes of students and instructors in the online environment will contribute to the understanding of how we can enhance the learning experience for the student and the teaching experience for the instructor. This article will assist students and instructors in understanding the differences that may be experienced in the online environment versus the face-to-face environment and provide the opportunity to consider whether online learning and/or teaching is a “good fit” for them. Understanding why students and/or instructors might choose the online environment will also assist administrators in developing successful, quality online programs that enrich the experiences for both students and instructors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Laura E Mullins ◽  
Jennifer Mitchell

Following the World Health Organization’s announcement of the global pandemic because of the Coronavirus Disease 2019, most Canadian universities transitioned to offering their courses exclusively online. One group affected by this transition was students with disabilities. Previous research has shown that the university experience for students with disabilities differs from those of their non-disabled peers. However, their unique needs are often not taken into consideration. As a result, students can become marginalized and alienated from the online classroom. In partnership with Student Accessibility Services, this research revealed the impact of the transition to online learning because of the pandemic for university students with disabilities. Students registered with Student Accessibility Services completed a survey about the effects of online learning during a pandemic on the students’ lives, education, and instructional and accommodation. It was clear from the results that online education during COVID-19 affected all aspects of the students’ lives, particularly to their mental health. This research provided a much-needed opportunity for students with disabilities to share the factors influencing their educational experience and identified recommendations instructors should consider when developing online courses to increase accessibility and improve engagement. 


Author(s):  
Debora Herold ◽  
Tina Chen

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted higher education during Spring 2020 by forcing all face-to-face classes to unexpectedly transition to online learning. To better understand how switching to remote learning affected students and the factors that impacted their ability to successfully complete classes, 168 undergraduate students in three different psychology classes (six sections total) were asked in the last week of the semester about their experiences from before and after the switch. Students reported some decreased access to technology, changes in work responsibilities, some amount of physical illness, and the need to care for others who were physically ill. Notably, students consistently reported increased stress and decreased ability to focus. Students varied in how much they prioritized classes after the switch, which predicted their performance in the class, measured by exam grade, overall grade, and completion of attendance before and after the switch. Importantly, survey respondents significantly differed from non-respondents in their class performance, which suggests that results from voluntary surveys may capture a limited perspective and possibly underestimate the detrimental effects of the shift to online instruction. Implications for planning for future online classes in a global pandemic are discussed.


Sains Insani ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Syed Salim Syed Shamsuddin

This article investigates the role of learning Jawi classical book as one of the important teaching and learning methods in Islamic sciences especially in the study of Islamic Jurisprudence in Malaysia. The method of using the classical Jawi texts has been in place in the Malay Archipelago since a long period of time. However, it is no longer becoming the primary teaching and learning methods nowadays. Thus, this study will look into the effects and significance of learning the classical Jawi texts in understanding the Islamic sciences, particularly the Islamic Jurisprudence. The analysis will also focus on the implementation of learning classical Jawi texts through the talaqqi (face to face) method in several academic faculties at the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. For this purpose, descriptive qualitative method is utilized as well as questionnaires and coupled with semi-structured interviews. The study concludes that the learning of classical Jawi texts through talaqqi method is extremely essential in Malaysia specifically to Shariah students. These texts are considered the main sources in the study of Islamic sciences in this region. The understanding of such primary sources in Islamic studies empowers students with well-grounded knowledge before they embark into the study of other modern discipline of knowledge. With such well-grounded knowledge students are able to withstand themselves from other influences which may affect their understanding of their religion. The tradition of studying of classical Jawi texts should be reintroduced to the Malay Muslim communities in Malaysia especially to the students at higher learning institutions in the country.Keywords: Islamic Turath; Islamic Education; Malay Civilizaton; Pondok System; Jawi Classical Book. ARTIKEL: Artikel ini meninjau peranan pengajian kitab turath Jawi sebagai satu bentuk kaedah pengajaran dan pembelajaran ilmu-ilmu Islam yang penting terutama kepada pengajian ilmu fiqah di Malaysia. Tradisi pengajian yang menggunakan teks turath Jawi telah lama dipraktikkan di Alam Melayu. Namun begitu, sistem pengajian moden tempatan dilihat kurang memberi penekanan kepada pengambilan teks turath Jawi sebagai teks utama dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Oleh itu, artikel ini cuba melihat kesan dan kepentingan pengajian teks turath Jawi untuk memahami ilmu-ilmu Islam, khususnya ilmu fiqah. Di samping itu, perbincangan artikel ini turut melihat perlaksanaan pengajian talaqqi kitab turath Jawi di beberapa buah fakulti di Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. Untuk tujuan ini, kaedah kualitatif deskriptif digunapakai di samping soal selidik dan temu bual berstruktur separa. Hasil kajian ini mendapati bahawa pengajian talaqqi kitab turath Jawi merupakan satu kaedah yang sangat penting dalam dunia pendidikan di Malaysia terutama kepada pelajar aliran syariah. Kitab turath Jawi dianggap sebagai sumber utama dalam pengajian ilmu-ilmu Islam di rantau ini. Kefahaman terhadap teks turath Jawi ini dapat memantapkan para pelajar dengan ilmu-ilmu asas Islam yang kukuh sebelum mula mempelajari ilmu-ilmu moden. Dengan itu, mereka dapat mempertahankan diri daripada pelbagai pengaruh luar yang boleh menjejaskan kefahaman mereka terhadap Islam. Tuntasnya, tradisi pengajian kitab-kitab turath Jawi perlu diketengahkan semula dalam masyarakat Melayu di Malaysia khususnya masyarakat kampus di institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi tempatan.Kata Kunci: Turath Islami; Pendidikan Islam; Tamadun Melayu; Sistem Pondok; Kitab Jawi.


Author(s):  
Shushita Gokool-Ramdoo

<P>This paper examines how online distance education acts to democratize access to, and suit the ontologies of, Mauritian women who seek to empower themselves for development. Data from semi-structured interviews of 30 middle class couples are presented in this paper. Interviews and analyses are premised on a feminist perspective and conducted within the social relations analysis framework. The objective of this research was to understand what types of supportive environments (social spaces) enable Mauritian women to engage in educational endeavours that promote their personal potentials and creativities which, in turn, advance democracy for all citizens of Mauritius. Husbands were also interviewed to provide ground for analysis and to decrease bias, which can be generated by women-only data. (1) Marriage/ family and (2) occupation, represent the ‘social spaces’ selected for this study. Discretion, degree of learner control, and the outreach capacity inherent in distance learning makes the online modality a natural choice to democratize women’s access to education. Based on interviewees’ experiences and perceptions, this study concludes that online learning can enhance and democratize women’s access to education for personal development – but only if the power relationships in the two ‘social spaces’ are well understood and well negotiated by these women. The findings in this paper shed light on the importance of understanding ‘learner spaces’ when establishing and setting-up open learning organisations. <BR> </P>


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