Hillsborough County · Education
Teaching Through A Screen
When COVID-19 closed schools in 2020, special educators in Hillsborough County, Florida, had to move students with disabilities online almost overnight, with limited training and tools. Through in-depth interviews with six educators, I uncovered how they adapted their teaching and found unexpected benefits in e-learning.
Problem
- Special educators were not equipped to teaching online.
- Little was known about how special educators adapted to e-learning.
Approach
Conduct an illustrative case study to shed light on special educators’ experiences.
Outcome
Teachers adapted with little support from administration, finding creative solutions and unexpected benefits along the way.
Section 1: ProblemWhat was the issue at hand?
In spring 2020, school closures across the United States cut nearly 60 million students off from the education and health resources schools provide. For students with disabilities, the loss went beyond lessons: therapies, accommodations, and one-on-one support also moved online, or stopped. Meanwhile, special educators had to keep these students learning, often without training or tools designed for them. Their decisions shaped whether students could keep making progress, yet little was known about their experience. How did they cope? What support did they receive? What challenges did they face?
Section 2: InsightsWhat did previous research show?
Students and faculty lacked the necessary skills and resources to succeed online.
E-learning required social support, professional training, and expensive tools that were lacking.
Brick-and-Mortar vs. E-Learning
Children require more physical, emotional, and mental support with online learning, which clinicians must be prepared to provide. Students from low-income families also lose resources like face-to-face interactions, meals, and health care, while facing new barriers like lack of devices and internet access.
Ramanujam (2020); Masonbrink and Hurley (2020)The education system did very little to support students and teachers with e-learning.
Problems with E-Learning
Laws like the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and IDEA promise equal access, yet technology is inaccessible to many students. Departments struggle to coordinate (like district technology and special education), and bureaucracy fails to provide new and effective solutions.
Rice (2015); Shaheen and Watulak (2019); Burdette et al. (2013)Teachers did not have the proper training and tools to deal with e-learning.
Special Educators' Experiences Online
80% of teachers who taught online courses had not considered the needs of students with disabilities when designing their curriculum. Special educators also lacked professional collaboration, and some couldn't complete IEPs once meetings were remote. Still, teachers were eager to improve.
Burgstahler (2015); Dunn (2019); Tremmel (2020); Smith (2016)Students lost access to assistive services and educational resources during disasters and outbreaks.
Disasters and Outbreaks
Disruptions hit students with significant disabilities the hardest: during Hurricane Ike, relocated students lost specialized equipment, familiarized settings, and routines. COVID-19 similarly cut off therapies and IEP services, though education was ongoing through online learning.
Ducy and Stough (2011); Dhawan (2020)
Section 3: ObjectiveWhat was the purpose of this study?
While there was growing research on how disease outbreaks affect education, little was known about the pandemic's impact on special education when classrooms moved online.
My goal was to understand how special educators navigated the sudden shift to e-learning, including the challenges they faced and how they adapted to support their students.
Research question
How did special educators in Hillsborough County navigate the shift from brick-and-mortar classrooms to e-learning, from Spring to Fall 2020?
Section 4: ApproachWhat was the plan of action?
Preliminary research was the first step to studying unfamiliar topics. I conducted an illustrative case study to understand the full scope of what happened during the online shift. This particular case was that of K-12 special educators in Hillsborough County, FL, from Spring to Fall 2020.
Case studies examine a single event in its real-world context. By focusing on fewer participants, they produce rich, detailed descriptions, and by gathering several perspectives on one event, they paint a fuller picture than any single viewpoint could.
An illustrative case study is preliminary research for unfamiliar topics. Rather than testing or building theory, it illustrates real-life situations as the people within them experience them, which suited an event as new as the 2020 shift online.
Section 5: ProcessHow was this accomplished?
Sampling
I located special educators who could speak directly to the shift online.
I used theoretical sampling to find educators in Hillsborough County teaching during 2020. Snowball sampling then reached more educators through participants' referrals.
Recruitment
I recruited six special educators, all teaching online for the first time.
| Role | Classroom | Grades |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher | Autism & physical handicaps | Elementary, K–5 |
| Teacher | Access points, cognitive disabilities | 3rd–5th |
| Speech therapist | Access points & general education | Pre-K & K–5 |
| Teacher | Private school | 2nd–5th |
| Teacher | Autism & ADHD | 1st |
| Teacher | Varied | 6th–8th |
Interviews
I asked a series of questions by phone and Zoom, then transcribed every conversation.
- What were your personal emotions regarding the transition to online?
- How has the school administration helped you transition to online?
- Did you feel that you were properly equipped for this transition?
- How will special needs students' accommodations be met in a virtual environment?
- In the virtual environment, how are you measuring the IEP goals?
- What new teaching techniques have you implemented?
- What challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?
- Are there beneficial elements of face-to-face learning that you feel have been lost?
Every interview was recorded with consent and transcribed in full. Before analysis, every participant, student, and school was given a pseudonym, and identifying details were removed.
Analysis
I looked for patterns in the interviews until five mutual themes emerged.
Using constant comparative analysis, I coded every transcript, grouped the codes into categories, and compared interviews until five shared themes emerged.
Section 6: ResultsWhat was the outcome?
Overall, special educators received little support from administration during the online shift, having to adapt quickly and find creative solutions to obstacles. However, unexpected benefits arose from one-on-one time with students.
Schools reacted rather than planned, leaving most of the adjustment to teachers. Support ranged from rigid district playbooks to late-night help from administrators.
Teachers rebuilt their lessons around each student, leaning on games, visuals, and ideas from other teachers online.
Measuring progress on students' Individualized Education Programs became one of the hardest parts of teaching online.
Keeping students engaged through a screen was a constant struggle, especially for students who need someone beside them.
Whole-class video calls often fell apart, so teachers switched to small, one-on-one calls.
To re-engage distracted students, they turned to games, visuals, and play-based lessons.
With training scheduled on their days off, many found ideas in Facebook teacher groups instead.
Despite the struggles, most educators saw real advantages, especially more individualized and private support.
Additionally, educators moved through four formative stages.
Spring 2020 closures
First weeks online
Late spring
Fall 2020 reopening
FeltUnprepared and insecure, with no time to plan.
Pain pointLittle or no training before teaching online.
FeltOverwhelmed by distracted, disconnected students.
Coped byBorrowing ideas from Facebook teacher groups and other districts.
FeltCreative, finding what worked for each student.
Coped byGames, visual schedules, and small one-on-one calls.
FeltMore capable, but still uncertain.
Pain pointIEP progress still hard to measure online.
Section 7: DiscussionWhy does this matter?
Learning that special educators received little guidance or support shows that schools were wholly unprepared and under-resourced for sudden disruptions. Nonetheless, teachers' ability to problem-solve creatively and rise to the occasion shows their resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.
There is still much work to do with e-learning, but schools must first provide adequate training, tools, and resources to ensure (1) quality education for all and (2) less stressful work environments. It is important that school administrations take responsibility for their actions, or lack thereof, offering support to their own community rather than letting teachers take the fall for their wrongdoings.