Distance Education with Students with CVI: Sharing Experiences from Turkey

Submitted by Derya Uyar on Sep 16, 2020

This week summer vacation ended and schools have started with distance education in Turkey. We continue online classes with our students.

I have 3 students this year. All of them are with MDVI (multiple disabilities and visual impairment).  This year I am the only teacher for these students and there is no teaching assistant or other teacher.

I have planned some online classes for distance education. I also prepared an individual schedule to each student for home practice.

Week One of Distance Education

For the first week, I prepared a multi-sensory story about distance education. After the summer break, the students will study on the computer, not at school. I wanted them to understand this different situation, so I planned the class to be functional for them.

Preparation before the lesson

Before the lesson, I asked the parents to prepare an object for each page. For example soap for 1st page, fork for 2nd page, toothbrush for 3rd page. I let them know what to do in the online class and I sent the story pages to them ahead of time.

During the lesson

During online class, I showed the pages of the story by screen sharing. Because one of my students has CVI, the story pictures are also in red, with a high contract background.  I also invited the parents to follow the story on the screen.

In the online class, I read a sentence for a student, then his mother showed her child the object related to the sentence. Later I did the same with the other student. It continued like this.

I did a few lessons (individual and group classes) with this story. I got good feedback from the parents about this classes. I cannot save the online classes, because the online class platform of the Ministry of Education does not allow recording. 

I will continue online classes until face-to-face education begins with my students.

Story for Online Lesson

Here are the pages of the story:

School time

Red bell on black background

Zeynep awoke with excitement in the morning. She washed her hands and her face.

Red hand sanitizer on black background

Zeynap ate her breakfast.

Red plate, fork and cup on black background

Zeynap brushes her teeth after breakfast.

Yellow toothbrush on black background

Zeynep's mother turned on the computer.  The teacher started the lesson.

Red laptop computer on black background

Zeynep was very happy to be back again with her friends and teachers.

Red laptop with drawings of people on screen

 

Screenshot of lesson on digital platform

 

It would make me happy to hear examples of online classes from you. Also, this will help to inspire each other!  You can share your ideas in the comments below.

Collage of distance education with students with CVI