The Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on students with disabilities' academic performance: A case study in a Fully Online University

Abstract

The Covid-19 crisis has affected Higher Education around the world in different ways. In most countries, face-to-face universities had to move immediately their academic activities to online because of the lockdown. Such abrupt change could cause difficulties for specific populations such as those with disabilities. This investigation has aimed to explore the experiences of learners with disabilities who were studying in a fully online learning environment before lockdown to see how this event affected their academic performance. This qualitative study is based on a case study involving semi-structured interviews with a sample of students with different types of disabilities. Our results suggest that covid19 lockdown largely enabled students with disabilities to work at their own pace and have more and better institutional support. However, we highlight the need to improve the support mechanisms to accompany these learners both in their pedagogical performance and emotional well-being.