BAA MAGAZINE SUMMER 2017 DRAFT 4

TRAINEES
Deafness in Low and Middle
Income Countries: Massive Open
Online Course
NEIL SUMMERFIELD
Trainee/Student Liaison
If you are interested in digital
innovation in education, you may have
heard of MOOCs (Massive Online
Open Courses). You may even have
tried studying Chemistry, Population
Health or one of the other wide
ranging topics on offer. For those
who are unfamiliar with the term,
the aim of a MOOC is to enable the
international community to take an
active part in learning on a topic of
their choice. The only pre-requisite is
an internet connection and an interest
in the subject. In February 2016, we
launched six weeks of free learning
in UoM’s MOOC on Deafness in
Low and Middle Income Countries
(LMIC). With a re-launch imminent,
we thought it timely to update BAA
readers on the progress.
UoM’s MOOC seeks to address
the needs of the 360 million
individuals worldwide that have
a disabling hearing loss (WHO,
2017). This equates to over 5%
of the world’s population with an
estimated 85% of deafness in LMIC.
For these deaf children and adults,
the opportunities and expectations
differ significantly from what is
available in the UK. In many LMIC,
there is little access to audiological
services, no Teachers of the Deaf and,
perhaps most importantly, significant
stigma attached to deafness. Many
healthcare professionals, teachers
and members of the public have
very little understanding of the
impact of deafness. Many people
misunderstand the condition meaning
that deafness is not positively
approached. Meanwhile it is estimated
that 60% of childhood hearing loss
in LMIC could be prevented (WHO,
2017). As the immediate impact
of deafness is on the ability of the
individual to communicate, a lack
of awareness of others can have a
significant impact leading to feelings
of isolation and exclusion.
Six weeks of learning were created
enabling students to understand
the way the ear works and causes
of deafness. We considered how
language, signed or spoken, may
be acquired and showed footage
of deaf role models from around
the world, evidencing what may be
achievable. The inspiring footage
from existing and emerging projects
in LMIC offered opportunities for
global change and gave real food for
thought (particularly footage of the
first recipients of cochlear implants in
Malawi).
We were fortunate enough to have
individuals and organisations from all
around the world working together to
create the MOOC – demonstrating
what can be achieved when a global
community pulls together. This
included Soundseekers UK, Deaf Child
World Wide, Royal Dutch Kentalis,
The Manchester Deaf Centre, The
World Health Organization, The
University of Texas, CBM, and deaf
individuals and academics from a
range of countries and backgrounds.
The first run of the course attracted
1670 students, 97% of which rated
the course as good (39%) or excellent
(58%). 42% of the students were
from emerging countries. We were
delighted to learn that this was the
highest rating UoM MOOC to date.
We asked the students whether
anything had surprised them about the
experiences of deaf people in LMIC
and received a variety of responses,
for example:
“I am so surprised of how many
people consider and think of persons
with deafness or hard of hearing,
most deaf people face stigmatisation,
communication barrier, seen
unproductive and are victimised.
Again, I never knew that treatment for
malaria can cause deafness. I have
really learnt a lot from this course”.
We also asked how they would
use their learning to support positive
change:
“I plan to educate the people I work
with and the patients I see.”
“As a result of this MOOC, I will be
able to provide clear information to
the community during my counselling
programs. I will raise awareness in
the community about hearing loss and
possible course of hearing loss.”
We are now preparing for a course
re-launch over the next few months.
To register for the course please visit:
www.coursera.org/course/deafness
WHO (2017) Deafness and Hearing
Loss. Accessed at: www.who.int/
mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/
BAA MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2017 / 27