The Impact of Online Education as a Supplementary Tool for Special Education Needs (SEN) Students: Teachers’ Perspectives

This study explores the challenges of providing special education needs (SEN) education in impoverished regions of China. It proposes a hybrid education model that combines traditional and online education to address these challenges. In this hybrid model, traditional face-to-face education dominates, and online education exists as a supplementary tool. This study focuses on teachers’ perspectives, aiming to improve the educational environment for students with special needs. Qualitative research methods, specifically semistructured interviews, were employed to collect the data. A total of six special education teachers participated in the interviews. This study employed thematic analysis to categorize the data, resulting in the identification of six themes through the generalization of the coding of textual content. Among the six themes examined, poverty emerged as the most influential factor affecting online education. The findings indicate that the hybrid education model performs well in addressing the identified challenges.