Impacts of Online Learning for Filipino Children with Disabilities in the Context of COVID19

A Research Proposal by Ermianne Casaclang, 1 BSNED

Introduction

When COVID19 hit the country in 2020, a massive disruption on the social and economic state of the Philippines
took place. To adapt to the changes brought by the pandemic, systems and processes were revised and updated into
“New Normal” following health and safety protocols. The standards were set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the
Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolutions (ITAF) and the Local Government Units (LGUs). Aside from the
disturbance on various procedures and undertakings both in the government and private sector, the field of education
was also greatly affected. The challenges created a massive alteration on the traditional lecture style in the classroom
setting. And because the Philippine government has implemented varying degrees of quarantine restrictions depending
on critical indicators, proactive policies for the continuance of education despite the closure was made and online
approach as a part of distant learning was instigated by the Department of Education (DepEd).

Distance education is the umbrella term for any learning that takes place across distance and not in a traditional
classroom. It is broadly characterized as any form of learning experience where the learner and the instructor are
physically separated from each other (not only by place but also by time). Arguably, such a dislocation is “the perfect
context for free-flowing thought that lets us move beyond the restricted confines of a familiar social order” ( hooks,
2003). Moreover, this type of education is a way of providing learning opportunities to every learner, whatever their
circumstances might be. This means that distance education may extend access to education through distribution and
economies of scale (Guri-Rosenblit, 2005; Owusu-Agyeman and Amoakohene, 2020). Online learning on the other hand
is a form of distance education that takes place over the Internet and by far the most popular approach today. It is often
referred to as “e-learning” among other terms. Aside from online learning, several types of distance education are also
available, including: Correspondence Courses: conducted through regular mail with little interaction; Telecourses: where
content is delivered via radio or television broadcast; CD-ROM Courses: where the student interacts with static
computer content; and Mobile Learning: by means of devices such as cellular phones, PDAs and digital audio players
(iPods, MP3 players).

While some countries like the United States have since adapted and seen evidence of this rapidly growing trend
among K-12 students, the Philippines was dubbed as a “newbie” who is just starting to redefine the pedagogy. For
DepEd, reopening classes through online learning is a peak of hope amidst the pandemic however, it has also posted
major challenges in the lives of many Filipino children. According to the data from DepEd, 4 million students were not
able to enroll for the last school year. This figure will keep growing unless there’s an upgrade in the educational system,
or the government’s action to provide funds for students’ mobile learning. An alarming number of students struggles to
attend online classes, and are thus forced to drop out of school. On the other hand, parents are left to find work and
daily source of income just to feed their families and provide for their children’s tuition fees. Aside from the students
who come from the poorest and most vulnerable rural communities, disease outbreak like the COVID19 also
disproportionately affect those who have social disadvantages at the outset (United Nation’s Children’s Fund, 2020). In
2018, Philhealth, a government-owned and controlled corporation implementing universal health coverage in the
Philippines, recorded around 5.1 million Filipino children who are living with disabilities. Having a little information on
the prevalence of disabilities among these children creates an assumption on the possible predicaments that they face.

Considering the predictable disruption in the provision of both mainstream and services for children with
disabilities, the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) through an online survey which gathered 39,534 respondents
in the Philippines, have found out that education services and learning resources which comprises 52%, has been a
major concern among the children and their families. In another survey conducted by the World Bank in collaboration
with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), it was found out that the top three concerns related
to distance learning included limited or no access to gadgets or devices for learning such as mobile phones, tablets, and
laptops, (45%); learning losses or a general decline in knowledge and skills (42%); and limited or no learning guidance
from household members (36%). In both surveys, a decline in mental health and wellbeing of students with or without
disability was reported in the face of inability to access mental health and psychosocial services and absence or limited
physical communication with friends. The decline in mental health and wellbeing was described by some respondents as
“higher levels of aggression”, “more tantrums” for younger children, and “sadness” for older children. This gives the idea
on the correlation of education services and mental health of students with disabilities given the restrictions brought by
the COVID19. Teachers on the other hand also face various challenges while serving students with disabilities in the
virtual school programs. This includes not being adequately prepared to serve students with disabilities, having to revise
the curriculum to meet accessibility requirements, and not being able to meet the needs of students with severe
disabilities. The lack of communication between the student’s school of residence and the virtual public school, being
able to ensure that students with disabilities were receiving sufficient support, providing sufficient numbers of support
staff to be able to provide services to all enrolled students with disabilities, and lack of adequate funding were also big
challenges for the educators.

In the Philippines, there is a little information on the occurrence of disabilities while in general, research in online
teacher preparation is limited (Archambault & Kennedy, 2014; Rice & Dawley, 2007) and teacher preparation that is
specific to online learning and specific to students with disabilities is even more scarce. The fact that we are hard up in
terms of major information regarding these children even before the pandemic came shows a clearer picture of their
current situation.
The purpose of this study is to show current state of Filipino children with disabilities in the new learning set-up by
answering the following questions:

1. What are the difficulties faced by the children with disabilities while undergoing distance learning?
2. How are the children with disabilities coping with the negative impacts of online learning in the midst of
pandemic?
3. What is the degree of readiness of teachers in serving students with disabilities online?

Methodology

In the advent of technological development, gathering data using online platforms has become a useful tool. Aside from
the fact that many are still bounded by the threats of the COVID19, the use of online platforms presents a faster
collection of data and a broader coverage without having to conduct a face-to-face interview with the respondents. In
this specific research, a non-probability/convenience sampling method through an online survey will be used. The target
respondents will be children with disabilities, their parents or guardians, teachers and educators, those who live with or
take care of a child with disability, parent organizations of children with disabilities, and government agency or other
NGOs working and advocating for the same purpose.

To guide all respondents, a child shall be defined as:

 Every human being below the age of 18 years (United Nations, 1989); and
 Persons below 18 years old or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves from abuse, cruelty,
neglect, exploitation, or discrimination, because of a physical or mental disability or condition (Republic of the
Philippines, 1992)

Information regarding the survey will be disseminated online using various social media platforms. The survey containing
close-ended, multiple choice, and checkbox questions with pre-defined options to choose from will be administered
online through Google forms. The questions will be divided into five sections, namely:

A. Section A will gather the category of the respondents. Depending on the response, a respondent will be piped
into other sections;
B. Section B will be intended to a respondent who is self-identified as a child with disability. This section will gather
the respondent’s administrative information as well as his/her education level;
C. Section C is intended for teachers or educators involved in the online instruction, supervision or any work which
involves the development of children with disabilities since the imposition of distant education due to COVID19;
D. Section D is for a respondent who is either a parent, family member, guardian, or a caregiver of a child with
disability;
E. Section E is for the respondent who is a member of a government agency, CSO or NGO; or an individual working
and advocating for disability rights and inclusion; and
F. Section F is open for all respondents and gathered information about the situation of children with disabilities
and their families when online learning/ distant education began

Proposed Actions

Finally, this survey looks into surfacing the challenges and gaps of the government´s distance learning
modalities, which a majority of the people found to be ineffective for learners. In particular, there is a need for the
government to look into the basic challenges that learners encountered, including the lack of access to learning gadgets
and equipment, access to free internet service, and adult support for the learners. Common suggestions on how to
improve the situation of children with disabilities include (1) providing essential goods and financial assistance, (2)
supporting home-based interventions and capacity building for parents, including providing support to online education,
and (3) ensuring access to essential services, including transportation.

Benchmarking could also be useful. One good example is Hallmark Inc., a private, family-owned American
company based in Kansas City, Missouri and is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United
States. Hallmark practices in special education teacher preparation in traditional settings include strategies for direct
instruction, behavior management, and social skills that will lead to increased inclusion for students with disabilities
(Brownell, Ross, Colon, & McCallum, 2005). There are also suggestions for major skills that high quality online teachers
should have when working with students with disabilities (Rice, Pace, & Mellard, 2016) such as monitoring student
progress through the online course and intervene as early as possible when problems arise (Rice & Carter, 2015);
providing instructional strategies and other specific support to students with disabilities that includes, but moves
beyond, Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) when appropriate (Collins, Green, Nelson, & Madahar, 2015;
Marteney & Bernadowski, 2016); assisting students in learning important vocabulary and meeting other textual
demands (Rice, 2017b; Rice & Deshler, 2018); extending opportunities for learner-learner engagement and general
social skill development via the internet (Borup, 2016; Marteney & Bernadowski, 2016); and advocating with vendors
and support in-house course designers in making curriculum appropriate for students with various exceptionalities
(Smith, 2016; Rice, 2018).

And while the research base regarding children with disabilities and teacher response is small, supplemental trainings in
responding to children with disabilities for teachers and educators is a must. As highlighted in Article 24 of the United
Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) Convention, the government should provide
avenues and opportunities for teacher and educators to train themselves the importance of Braille, sign language and all
other alternative methods of communication to promote deaf people's language. The education of people who are
blind, deaf or deaf blind should use the language and communication that is best for the individual concerned and
maximize people's academic and social development.

In summary, aside from the lack of information on the occurrences of disabilities among Filipino children, teacher
preparation and subsequent professional development support for online learning undercuts the intentions which
directs schools to provide K-12 students with disabilities with a free and appropriate Public Education in the least
restrictive environment possible. More direct research regarding the difficulties being face by children with disabilities
and preparation of online teachers were also necessary to better understand their situation and provide better
solutions.
References

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/media/2476/file/Situation%20of%20Children%20with%20Disabilities%20in%20the
%20Context%20of%20COVID-19.pdf

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/reports/situation-children-disabilities-covid-19

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/no-child-left-behind-study-calls-better-care-children-disabilities

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1094580.pdf

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1018283.pdf

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1184994.pdf

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/bridging-distance-for-learners-with-special-needs/2020/09

http://www.wlac.edu/online/documents/otl.pdf