Distance Education Through the Eyes of Disabled Students and Their Teachers: Advantages, Problems and Suggestions

The purpose of this study is to examine the distance education experiences of visually, hearing, and physically disabled middle school and high school students and their teachers. A case study from the interactive designs of qualitative research methods was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. The study group consisted of 10 physically disabled, 10 visually impaired, 10 hearing impaired students and 25 branch teachers enrolled in 18 middle and high schools in a large city in Turkey, totaling 55 people. Visually impaired students stated that they did not find online content sufficient, that their motivation decreased when they could not communicate face to face with their teachers and friends, but they found the course videos interesting. Hearing impaired students stated that they could not benefit from distance education because the voices of the students attending the live lesson were mixed and that they had difficulty in learning because the video lectures were not prepared in sign language. Students with physical disabilities find it advantageous to receive education comfortably from home, but they stated that distance education negatively affects their health. Teachers stated that there are various problems in distance education, as well as various advantages for students with disabilities. Distance learning has been found to offer limited advantages and more disadvantages for students with disabilities. In this context, comprehensive efforts can be made to address these disadvantages through suggestions submitted by students with disabilities and their teachers.