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EOC-funded study found students with SEN face challenges in online learning
On 9 February, the Speech, Language and Reading Lab in the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) released an EOC-funded study, titled “Creating a Barrier-free Online Learning Environment for Primary School Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Hong Kong”, to shed light on the challenges and psychological impacts that students with SEN experienced in online learnings.
Collecting data from 932 participants, including caregivers, students and teachers through online questionnaires and in-depth interviews, the study found that students with SEN demonstrated lower online learning attitudes and effectiveness as rated by students, teachers and caregivers and exhibited difficulties in aptitude, online learning performance, interaction and learning transfer.
The study identified some major barriers in online learning for students with SEN, including (1) inadequacies and difficulties for schools to provide support; (2) lower self-discipline in learning; (3) more easily being distracted during online lessons; (4) lower willingness to learn; (5) more restricted interaction with teachers and classmates; and (6) difficulties in maintaining the knowledge learnt. Failure to address the barriers may affect the long-term learning outcome of the students with SEN and result in a negative learning experience, the researchers warned.
The researchers urge the Government, schools, teachers and caregivers to work together strategically to promote a socially inclusive online learning environment for SEN students, such as developing an online game-like platform for learning different subjects and encouraging teachers to attend SEN-related professional development.
