Challenges of providing distance additional professional assistance

Epidemija covida-19 je poleg drugih sprememb prinesla spremembe tudi na področje izobraževanja, ki je več mesecev potekalo na daljavo. Posledično je na daljavo potekalo tudi izvajanje dodatne strokovne pomoči za učence s posebnimi potrebami, usmerjene v izobraževalni program s prilagojenim izvajanjem in dodatno strokovno pomočjo. Izvajalci dodatne strokovne pomoči so morali prilagoditi način izvajanja dodatne strokovne pomoči in pri tem upoštevati individualne značilnosti, šibka in močna področja ter posebne potrebe vsakega izmed učencev. Izobraževanje na daljavo omogoča spekter različnih možnosti komunikacije med udeleženci, zato smo želeli v raziskavi s pomočjo spletnega vprašalnika ugotoviti, na kakšen način so izvajalci dodatne strokovne pomoči vzpostavili stik z učenci. Rezultati so pokazali, da so se izvajalci dodatne strokovne pomoči soočali z različnimi izzivi in težavami, vezanimi na neposredno delo z učenci, uporabo informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije, organizacijo, sodelovanje z učitelji, starši in drugimi strokovnimi delavci, pripravo in izvajanje dodatne strokovne pomoči. Izvajanje dodatne strokovne pomoči na daljavo s seboj prinaša nekatere prednosti, ki smo jih s pomočjo raziskave evidentirali. Rezultati so pokazali tudi, na kakšen način so izvajalci dodatne strokovne pomoči pridobivali nove spretnosti v času izobraževanja na daljavo, kaj so se novega naučili in kako bi ta spoznanja lahko prenesli v običajno izvajanje dodatne strokovne pomoči v šoli.The covid-19 epidemic has, among other changes, also brought changes to the field of education by implementing distance learning for several months. As a result, additional professional support for students with special needs, who take part in educational programs with adapted delivery and additional professional support, was also provided remotely. Providers of additional professional support had to adapt the way in which the additional support was delivered by considering and foreseeing the individual characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, and specific needs of each student. As distance learning offers a range of different communication possibilities between participants, our survey - conducted as an online questionnaire - aimed to find out how the providers of additional professional support contacted learners. Results show that providers of additional support faced various challenges and difficulties related to working directly with students, for example the use of ICT, the organization itself, cooperation with teachers, parents and other professionals, and the preparation and implementation of the additional support. Nevertheless, there are also some advantages of providing additional help at a distance, which we have documented through our research. The results also showed how providers of additional professional support acquired new skills during distance learning, what they learned and how these lessons could be transferred to the regular additional professional support in schools