Empowering Hearing-Impaired Learners for Digital Citizenship: A Thai MOOC-Based Design Thinking Approach

In today's technology-driven world, digital citizenship is vital in fostering responsible technology use and essential skills for learning, problem-solving, and community participation. However, a significant focus emerges within digital citizenship—empowering individuals with disabilities. This research addresses this crucial area by spearheading the creation of a specialized Thai Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) meticulously designed for hearing-impaired learners. The core objective is to equip these individuals with indispensable digital citizenship skills for seamless integration and active engagement in digital environments. The study progresses through three key phases. Phase 1 involves crafting the MOOC course to meet the needs of hearing-impaired individuals. Phase 2 develops a course on the Thai MOOC platform, using the MOOC-based Design Thinking Model and universal design learning principles. Phase 3 assesses 20 hearing-impaired learners in the "Utilizing Online Media as Digital Citizenship Course." The research reveals two significant outcomes, highlighting the course's impact. First, an evaluation of digital media quality and learning activities was conducted by five experts with 15 to 30 years of experience in the field, the result was an impressive performance rating of 4.56 on a 5-point Likert scale, indicating the course's high suitability for hearing-impaired learners. Such findings validate the precise alignment of the course with its intended objectives. Second, the outcomes of learning achievement tests on the Thai MOOC platform involving 20 high school hearing-impaired learners revealed that 15 learners scored above 70 (passing), representing 75%. The average post-test score was higher than the pre-test, with an average score of 72.05 points. These results demonstrate the course's effectiveness in improving learning outcomes and meeting predetermined criteria, while also indicating that adopting the MOOC-based Design Thinking model has led to the creation of high-quality media that delivers tangible results for hearing-impaired individuals. This research contributes to the eLearning field by addressing the specific needs of hearing-impaired individuals in digital citizenship education through tailored online learning courses designed to bridge existing gaps.