Case Study of a Student with Disabilities in a Vocational School during the Period of Online Virtual Classes due to Covid-19

Abstract

In this research we will get an insight into the achievements in mastering foreign languages for one specific student with difficulties. The student with disabilities, the foreign language teacher, the student's mother and the educational rehabilitator participated in the research. The teacher states the support of the inclusive secondary vocational school that the student attends and copes with all challenges. One of the methods used in teaching was mobile learning during the three-month online teaching period of pandemic situation caused by Covid-19. During this period Croatia was forced for the first time in history to implement online teaching. For the purpose of this study all of the students besides this student attended classes in the virtual classroom called Edmodo. Edmodo is the mobile application which is considered as a tool for mobile learning. Mobile learning means that students use their portable devices in order to learn. The interview, used as a method of data collection, was written by participants via email due to the required physical distancing. The materials were then transcribed and a quantitative data analysis was performed. Difficulties in the work of foreign language teachers have been identified, such as lack of experience, lack of teaching assistants as well as lack of additional teaching aids and specific materials and the specific teachers’ training for teaching in the contemporary inclusive school. At the end, the authors suggest guidelines for teachers in vocational schools in adopting new skills and competences in their teaching process in an inclusive school.