WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City “MODULAR LEARNING APPROACH AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: ITS EFFECTIVITY TO DISTANCE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM IN PUBLIC SCHOOL” By: Ms. Recy Beth M. Escopel I. Paradigm Most educational systems worldwide have temporarily closed due to Coronavirus disease (COVID 19). The United Nations Human Rights (2020) has expressed concern that while the crisis has threatened access of learners to education, persons with disabilities, including those with autism, are disproportionately affected due to ecological constraints that are replicated in the pandemic reaction. As such, efforts to improve home education modalities for children with disabilities have been exerted. As for the Philippine setup, the Department of Education (DepEd) has worked with the local government as to the educational modes of learning of children given with the burden with technology, content, and major shift in enrollment patterns (Briones, Manila Bulletin, 2020). Home education, also known as homeschooling, is an educational reform around the world, in which parents educate their children at home and various places. There are many reasons why parents prefer home education. Some are not satisfied with the current educational opportunities while others believe that children are not gaining an advantage with the traditional school arrangement (Martin 2020). Ray (2015) observed home education as one of the emerging modalities of instructional implementation today. It has also been adopted by parents who have children with disabilities. The number of children with disabilities undergoing alternative instruction at home has significantly increased since the emergence of home education (Cook et al. 2013). WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City In the Philippines, while there is a challenge to the provision of a structured home education program for around five million children with disabilities, Calica (2020) reported efforts of various organizations and individuals to highlight the condition of a vulnerable group of children with disabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a call to curb the impacts of school disruption through home school methods such as module-based, radio online learning. However, such an approach would have serious implications for some parents whose skills in home education need to be further improved. It should be noted that structured home education programs for children with disabilities are just being developed in the country and mostly by private institutions. Thus, this paper describes how parents home educate their children with autism during the COVID-19 period in the Philippines. Also, it aims to provide insights on the opportunities and challenges for parents as they home educate their children with autism amid the global health emergency. II. Statement of the Problem This study aims to answer the following questions: 1. How do parents home educate their child with autism? 2. What particular challenges do parents of children with autism experience in helping them be educated? 3. What choices or mode of learning have they decided for their children with autism? III. Hypothesis This study reveals the researchers’ hypothesis in response to the problems drawn: 2 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City 1. Most parents follow instructions from their teachers and ask for some of their related health service to do online video conferencing to see whether they are doing it right. 2. They have struggled with how to balance their work from home and transition of their children’s schedule, tantrums and the trigger from exposure of technological equipment. 3. They have decided to use online video class and modular based education with assistance over the phone. IV. Definition of Terms In this study, the following terms are conceptually and operationally defined for better understanding: Distance learning-- also referred to as “distance education” and sometimes simply as “online learning” or “distributed learning,” is a term used to describe the practice of learning at a distance. (Lowenthal, et. al, 2020) In this study, distance learning is primarily the educational set-up of students during the pandemic. Home schooling-- is also known as “home education” and the process of educating schoolaged children at home rather than at a school. (Mendoza, 2019) In this study, homeschooling has become the sole option of parents to protect their children from the dangers of COVID19. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) -- is defined as illness caused by a novel coronavirus now called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly called 2019-nCoV), which was first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness cases in 3 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. It was initially reported to the WHO on December 31, 2019. (Cennimo, et.al, 2021) In this study, education was greatly affected by the dangers and risks of COVID19. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-- is a complex developmental condition that involves persistent challenges in social interaction, speech and nonverbal communication, and restricted/repetitive behaviors. (Copeland, 2018) In this study, parents of children with ASD experience different challenges with the current shift brought about the pandemic. Pandemic-- is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents. It affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic. (Robinson, 2020) In this study, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic when it became clear that the illness was severe and that it was spreading quickly over a wide area. New normal-- a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has become standard, usual, or expected. (Tumapon, 2020) In this study, the shift from the classes in the classroom to online learning has been called the new normal education. LMS-- is an online education hub that provides a large and indispensable set of features to support educational activities such as classroom learning, distance education and continuing education. (Merriam Webster, 2019) In this study, the students learn through the LMS without physically reporting to school. 4 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City V. Review of Related Literature Regardless of differences in approach and confidence when it comes to face-to-face classes, online learning has become a critical part of the education system everywhere, and it has in fact suddenly become a pillar to all plans. It is safe to say that education as empowered, unleashed, and improved by digital platforms has long been part of most countries’ Vision, but COVID-19 accelerated the disruption, to different degrees of success and pain. Indeed COVID-19 and the education sector’s pivot to distance and remote learning at first merely underscored already existing divides within and among different societies. Distance Education Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Complex Needs during COVID-19 and School Closures For individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schools can serve a range of essential functions from the delivery of academic instruction to the development of effective communication and social skill repertoires. Furthermore, schools may be the only available source of access to specialized and evidence-based programming, especially in rural settings. Researchers have emphasized the importance of this specialized programming for students with ASD and repeatedly have demonstrated its relation to positive outcomes across numerous skill domains (National Autism Center, 2015; Wong et al., 2015). These specialized programs for students with ASD often involve explicit instruction across a range of skills areas, repeated practice across environments, environmental arrangements and supports to facilitate interactions and independent performance of daily routines, and function-based assessment and treatment of problem behavior (Pennington et al., 2016; Simpson, 2005). When 5 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City implementing these high-quality and individualized programs, schools are poised to maximize positive outcomes for individuals with ASD. Unfortunately, recent events have illuminated the complexity of providing a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with ASD in the face of local and national crises (e.g., COVID-19, natural disasters, school shootings). During these events and for a period afterward, students often are precluded from access to brick and mortar facilities. Students and their families are faced with potential trauma related both to the crisis event and the resulting abrupt change in daily routines. For many students with ASD, especially those with extensive support needs (i.e., comorbid intellectual disability, complex communication needs, intensive behavior support needs), these events may produce a more difficult transition from school to home routines than for their peers without ASD. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Education (2020) advised school districts that they must continue to provide FAPE to students with disabilities through “. . . distance instruction provided virtually, online, or telephonically” (p. 2). As a result, many school districts shifted educational programming to online formats that may not be accessible by students with ASD, especially those with limited skill repertoires. These formats require students with ASD to attend to online instructional content, apply a range of traditional and digital literacy skills, and remain engaged in the presence of a limited set of reinforcers, which may be even more difficult if a student’s home computer or tablet is typically used for other purposes (e.g., playing games, watching videos). Furthermore, online instructional delivery may limit students’ opportunities to respond 6 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City as teachers may be unable to effectively deliver some types of prompts from a distance (e.g., physical, positional). Barriers to accessing education extend into the home as many caregivers may have little knowledge of and experience in the delivery of educational programs. Furthermore, some caregivers’ work schedules, child care responsibilities, or efforts in caring for an ill family member, may prohibit a consistent routine of educational programming. While some families are able to access instruction from other entities that can be delivered at home (e.g., applied behavior analysis, speech-language pathology), many of these therapies require an assessment and waiting period prior to the onset of intervention and may only be provided a few hours a week. In addition, in-home service providers may be restricted in their capacity to deliver intervention due to the nature of the crisis event (e.g., state-mandated social distancing). Finally, these therapies do not circumnavigate the students’ need to access FAPE from their teacher. Distance education has been used for over a century and can be defined as education directed by an institution (e.g., K–12 schools), where the teacher and students are geographically separated, and interactive telecommunication systems (e.g., synchronous, asynchronous, postal service) are used to share information between the teacher and students (Schlosser & Simonson, 2010; Simonson et al., 2008). One of the earliest accounts of distance education was in 1898 when Hermods of Sweden offered a correspondence course to teach English (Simonson et al., 2008, 2019). Subsequently, correspondence courses proliferated as a way to provide instructional content to learners at a distance. Following the development of fiber-optic 7 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City technology in the 1980s and 1990s, educational institutions began using two-way audio and video communication (Simonson et al., 2008, 2019). Most recently, technology and distance delivery has continued to evolve generating a multitude of learning management systems (LMSs) for instructional delivery (e.g., Canvas, Google Classroom, Schoology, Webex, Zoom). Unfortunately, teachers in rural and remote areas might face unique challenges when shifting to distance delivery. In the classroom, teachers have access to curricula and materials that are used across multiple students with “in the moment” adaptations, whereas in a distance format, they may need to commit additional time to prepare materials that are modified for each student. In addition, they must plan for at least a partial transfer of responsibility for instructional delivery to caregivers (e.g., parents, siblings, grandparents). Again, this might be difficult due to caregiver responsibilities, such as, work, child care, or other duties. This requires careful consideration of caregivers’ knowledge and experience in working with their child. Teachers might need to train caregivers to use specific instructional strategies in addition to preparing curricular materials and sharing those with family members. Although teachers and caregivers might not be face-to-face, observations and trainings of caregivers can be successfully conducted at a distance with opportunities for feedback (Wainer & Ingersoll, 2015). Furthermore, teachers also must prepare to help caregivers engage in problem-solving strategies related to students’ challenging behavior or a lack of response to instructional procedures. Challenges in the delivery of distance education are often exacerbated when teachers are faced with the increased responsibility of caring for their own families at home, including teaching responsibilities for their own children, and tending to those with emotional 8 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City and medical needs. Thus, the need of instructional delivery collaboration between teachers and caregivers becomes more acute. Finally, the best laid plans for distance education delivery can be disrupted by a lack of access to online distance education. Some rural districts may not be adequately prepared to shift to a virtual format resulting in unexpected and extensive transition periods without access to online LMS. Furthermore, rural districts may have difficulty delivering online instruction due to insufficient bandwidth to carry teleconferencing signals or nonexistent cellular service (Croft & Moore, 2019), and some families may be restricted access to instruction due to their inability to afford internet services (Moore et al., 2018). While rural students have somewhat less access to laptops or desktops at home, almost twice as many rural students compared with nonrural students indicate that their home internet access is unpredictable (Croft & Moore, 2019). Students’ limited access to quality internet combined with teachers’ attempt to teach in a new format presents barriers to distance instruction in rural areas. Back to School for Filipinos: Old Inequities, New Challenges Inequities, between those who have computers and Internet access and those who could not afford either or both, simply became more glaring. But it also gave starting point and center to what has become the biggest challenge to the education sector and their constituent students and households - from those completely shifting to online classes, to those still left with the dilemmas of face-to-face learning and any other form of distance education that is not necessarily delivered digitally. 9 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City Even teachers are challenged. In Philippine public schools, many faculty members either do not have, or are not comfortable with, computers and online platforms. On top of these, from South to Southeast Asia, especially in rural areas, very little of existing school curricula and materials were actually designed to be delivered and implemented over online platforms and digital gadgets. Teaching over Internet- and social media-based programs was imagined to signal a new and more powerful connection between schools and students, but in the first rollouts of these programs, they have also made more pronounced the distance between students and their formal schooling, and for that matter, the gulf between privileged students and the actual majority of their fellow learners. Mental health has also been of particular and rising concern throughout the pandemic, and the education sector again highlights specific challenges in this regard. A study by Nicholas Grubic et al, looked into the impact of COVID-19 on student mental health and well-being. Around 25% of their respondents reported symptoms of anxiety related to concerns about academic delays, economic effects of the pandemic, and impacts on daily life. Another survey by YoungMinds reported that 83% of young individuals say the pandemic worsened mental health conditions that already existed, the malaise aggravated by school closures, restricted social connections, and disrupted routines. This blend of online, broadcast, and modular learning is designed to ensure the safety of both the students and the teachers. But with the rushed adaptation and/or development of curricula and materials for the blended modalities, gaps and even risks (especially for the physical materials to be passed on) are unavoidable realities. 10 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Equity And Inclusion: Supporting Vulnerable Students During School Closures And School Re-Openings School closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic triggered significant challenges for education systems to respond to the needs vulnerable student groups whose learning and wellbeing tend to be the most impacted. Although substantial gaps remain, policy initiatives have been taken across OECD countries to support the educational, social and emotional needs of these students and their families. Most common practices to foster equity and inclusion have been the distribution of electronic devices with an internet connection in poor or remote areas, the distribution of free meals for eligible students, financial (emergency or in continuity with existing aid schemes) support for students and their families, and to a lesser extent, the availability of multi-language educational resources. Several countries also allowed some schools and other educational facilities to remain open for students with particular needs, such as students with SEN and students in VET. Regarding the emotional well-being of students, international organisations and NGOs have been dynamic actors, publishing guidelines, videos and organising webinars. Most often, countries shared these resources on official websites and created hotlines for counselling and psychological support. Finally, school leaders and teachers have been very active in supporting vulnerable students, often physically distributing material to families, creating online resources and organising WhatsApp groups to reach all families. However, data show that a significant percentage of students have been “lost” in the process of school closures and that learning losses might be severe. Specifically, educational gaps between vulnerable groups and others are likely to be exacerbated, generating higher dropouts and 11 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City absenteeism. Furthermore, the long-term social and emotional impacts on students may be the most lasting legacy of the COVID-19 crisis. As such, countries’ strategies to support these groups need to be clarified and strengthened during school re-openings in order to avoid lasting negative effects likely to generate both social exclusion and economic loss. VI. Research Methodology The researcher gained insight into how parents home educate their child with autism through interview procedures. Because of the restrictions of the current COVID-19 situation, personal interviews were not possible, thus an augmented form called online interview was individually conducted with the participants. An online interview is a research method conducted using communication mediated by computers. Just like the personal interview, online interview typically asks participants to describe what they think or feel about an aspect (Salmons 2014). Two stages of online interviews were performed for this study. The first stage involved an interview guide containing questions sent to the participants either through online chat or email. The questions were answered offline for a week, providing the participants enough time amid their busy schedule. The second stage involved the researcher arranging a time with each participant to be interviewed live through online chat to illuminate some responses gathered in the first stage. The data obtained from the interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a systematic process of coding, examining meaning, and provision of a description of the social reality through the creation of theme (Berg and Latin 2008). The researcher in this study examined the codes and interpreted them into concepts. The similar concepts were then 12 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Graduate School Iloilo City grouped into themes, structuring the results to answer the stated purpose of this research. The theme is the main product of this data analysis (Green et al. 2007). VII. Research Design This work entailed a qualitative research design. Creswell (1994) defined qualitative research as ‘an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting’ (p.15). This research design is found appropriate to attain the purpose of the current paper which is to describe the home education of children with autism. Furthermore, this research will include Filipino parents as participants. They will be selected through a combination of purposeful and convenient sampling techniques. The main criterion considered for the selection is that parents must have at least a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). REFERENCES Calica, A. 2020. From milk to reassurance, children’s special needs highlighted amid the COVID19 pandemic. The Philippine Star, 23 Mar. 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