Assessing Teachers’ Practices in Providing Inclusive Online Education: Development and Validation of an Instrument Based on Inclusive Practices among Teachers in Malaysia

Abstract

All students should have equal opportunities to pursue education. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, almost all teaching activities had to be switched from the traditional face-to-face format to digital platforms. Although it is now the post-pandemic period, many online teaching and learning practices have been maintained. It is, therefore, crucial to ensure that teachers are doing their best to make online teaching inclusive, and an instrument assessing their practices is essential. This study aims to develop this instrument and validate it. Referring to relevant works and universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines, we developed an instrument that consists of five domains: affective, behavioural, cognitive, competence and awareness. Through expert assessment of face, content and construct validity, a pilot study, and data analysis of 505 respondents teaching in different educational levels from primary schools to higher institutions in Malaysia, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and correlational testing, the findings show that the instrument has high validity and reliability in assessing teachers’ practices in delivering inclusive online education. While the instrument has implications for policymakers and researchers, it needs further validation in the context of different countries. Necessary amendments might be required to make it more context specific.

Digital Teaching Competence and Educational Inclusion in Higher Education. A Systematic Review

“…Cabero-Almenara et al (2022) and Medina-García et al (2021) conclude that teachers, particularly in Higher Education, show medium to low digital competence with functional diversity, with variations by gender, education stage, and age. Deficiencies in teacher training, especially in content creation for diverse students, pose a priority (Belenkova, Skudnyakova and Bosov, 2022;Bong and Chua, 2023;Coker and Mercieca, 2023;Chorosova et al, 2021;Jiménez-Hernández et al, 2020;Masalimova et al, 2022).…”

“…Furthermore, several literature reviews from universities in Southeast Asia(Choudhary and Bansal, 2022; Kahanurak, Dibyamandala, and Mangkhang, 2022) and Poland(Kochanowicz, 2023) are associated with the development of digital competence and interculturality for the advancement of inclusive education. Additionally, quantitative studies(Bong and Chua, 2023) have been conducted to validate an instrument for advising teaching practices focused on the development of inclusive education.…”