"I Learned as I Went": an online distance education case study

Area of Science:

• Education
• Disability Studies
• Online Learning

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online distance education (ODE).
• Increased interactions between deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students and instructors in ODE settings necessitated further understanding.
• Existing ODE formats have been evolving to incorporate multimodal, multilingual, and interactive features tailored for DHH students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively review the literature on ODE formats for DHH students.
• To empirically investigate the experiences of DHH students and faculty in higher education ODE.
• To identify key themes and provide recommendations for enhancing ODE practices.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature review was conducted.
• A collective case study employed four data collection strategies: faculty interviews, teaching-learning observations, DHH student focus groups, and curriculum document analysis.
• Data were coded using MAXQDA software, leading to 10 triangulated themes.

Main Results:

• Literature indicates a trend towards more multimodal, multilingual, and interactive ODE features.
• Four themes emerged concerning instructors, four concerning students, and two concerning student-faculty interactions.
• Qualitative analysis provided insights into the lived experiences of participants in higher education ODE.

Conclusions:

• The study highlights the evolving landscape of ODE for DHH students.
• Recommendations are provided to improve ODE practices based on empirical findings.
• Further research is suggested to enhance the effectiveness of ODE for DHH learners.