Instructional Digital Model to Promote Virtual Teaching and Learning for Autism Care Centres

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to temporary school closures affecting over 90% of students worldwide. This has exacerbated educational inequality, particularly for students with learning disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), whose routines, services, and support they rely on have been disrupted. To address this issue, it is important to investigate virtual teaching and learning (VTL) strategies that can provide a more effective learning experience for these unique learners. The main objectives of this research are twofold: to investigate the challenges faced by teachers and students with ASD in Malaysia when adapting to online education, and to explore how the learning process occurs during the pandemic. Additionally, the study aimed to identify suitable VTL technology for autism care centres. Four autism care centres were visited for on-site observation activities, and interviews were conducted with the care centre principals. Two sets of online questionnaires were distributed to 10 autism care centres, where 6 principals and 16 teachers provided feedback. The data collected through on-site observations, interviews, and online questionnaires, were then analysed to construct an instructional digital model (IDM) for VTL. The model is very significant as a guide for the development of VTL platform for autism care centres. Finally, a VTL platform development framework was created, which provides a structure for system developers to conduct further research on the development of VTL platform based on the IDM. The framework aims to facilitate the successful implementation of the VTL.