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Remote learning of mathematics for visually impaired students during COVID-19: Exploring online intervention, resources, challenges and issues
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Accepted Version
Date
2024-01-30
Authors
Shoaib, Muhammad
Fitzpatrick, Donal
Pitt, Ian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature
Published Version
Abstract
Due to COVID-19, several dramatic changes have appeared all over the world i.e., travel restrictions, healthcare shortages, self-isolation, economic crises, social distancing, increases in food demand, job losses and closure of educational institutions. This led to a rapid transition from face-to-face to remote teaching. Most remote learning platforms are designed primarily for sighted students and are less useful for visually-impaired students. Especially in mathematics, it's quite difficult for visually-impaired students to access rich visual information, such as graphs, algebraic notations, geometric shapes and statistical formulas. This article provides an overview of mathematics learning resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores assistive technology-based interventions which enable visually-impaired and blind students to actively participate in remote teaching and enhance their learning skills. It was noted that solutions are available for various platforms (i.e., smartphones, tablets, laptops & desktop PCs) to support visually-impaired students. Assistive Technology in remote learning also plays a key role in enhancing the mathematical skills of visually-impaired students. Furthermore, we have investigated the important COVID-19-related resources of different institutes which are very beneficial for the online education of visually-impaired students. Moreover, some challenges and issues are discovered such as internet connectivity, lack of interaction, inadequate support, one-way communication and less effective learning. Finally, some future directions are suggested for research i.e., parents should be a part of remote learning.
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Keywords
Learning , Mathematics , COVID-19 , Visually impaired e-Learning
Citation
Shoaib, M., Fitzpatrick, D. and Pitt, I. (2024) 'Remote learning of mathematics for visually impaired students during COVID-19: Exploring online intervention, resources, challenges and issues', in Arai, K. (eds) Intelligent Systems and Applications. IntelliSys 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 824. Springer, Cham. pp. 145-156. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47715-7_11