The contribution of a MOOC to community discussions around death and dying

Abstract

BackgroundAdvances in medicine have helped many to live longer lives and to be able to meet health challenges. However death rates are anticipated to increase given the ageing population and chronic disease progression. Being able to talk about death is seen to be important in normalising death as part of life and supporting preparedness for death. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide opportunities for the community to engage in collaborative learning. A 5 week MOOC was developed covering four main topics (language and humour, representations of death, medicalisation of dying, and digital dying) aiming:To enable participants to openly and supportively discuss and learn about issues around living, death and dying,To explore the normally unheard opinions and views of Australians around death and dying, andTo determine what effect online learning and discussions offered through the MOOC had on participants’ feelings and attitudes towards death and dying.MethodsData was captured on engagement rates in the various MOOC activities. Death Attitudes were measured by five items representing the MOOC’s learning objectives and completed at enrolment and conclusion. MOOC Satisfaction was measured with six items at the end of the MOOC. Descriptive statistics were produced for each variable and Chi-Square Tests of Independence assessed the extent of the relationship between categorical variables. Socio-demographic variables were examined as predictors of the outcome variables of MOOC engagement, MOOC satisfaction, and death attitudes. Ethical approval was received from Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (Project No. 7247).ResultsOne thousand one hundred fifty six people enrolled in the Dying2Learn MOOC with 895 participating in some way. Enrolees were primarily female (92.1%). Age ranged from 16 to 84 (mean = 49.5, SD = 12.3). MOOC satisfaction scores were high. Responses to the experience of participating in the MOOC were very positive, with mean scores ranging from 4.3 to 4.6 (aligning with agreement and strong agreement to statements on the value of participating). Death Attitudes were positive at commencement but increased significantly following participation.ConclusionsThe Dying2Learn MOOC provided an environment that enabled open and supportive discussion around death and dying and influenced attitudinal change.

Can Exposure to Online Conversations About Death and Dying Influence Death Competence? An Exploratory Study Within an Australian Massive Open Online Course

“…Our findings in this research study using a validated death competence scale corroborated with the findings we obtained in the general evaluation of this MOOC in the platform, where enrolees reported feeling more comfortable talking about death at the end of the MOOC (Tieman et al, 2018).…”

“…Facilitators helped guide participants when required, but participants were viewed as active co-contributors rather than passive recipients of learning. Further details are provided elsewhere regarding the course content , development and pedagogical approach , and evaluation (Tieman, Miller-Lewis, Rawlings, Parker, & Sanderson, 2018).…”

The voices of death doulas about their role in end‐of‐life care

“…People identifying as death doulas were invited to participate in a web‐based survey (Regmi, Waithaka, Paudyal, Simkhada, & van Teijlingen, ), developed for this purpose. Criterion sampling (Palinkas et al, ) was used, with a specific cohort of individuals required to help answer the research question: ‘What role do death doulas play in end‐of‐life care?’ Survey questions were informed by previous findings from a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on death and dying (Dying2Learn) developed and offered by members of the research team (Tieman, Miller‐Lewis, Rawlings, Parker, & Sanderson, ), and the systematic review on the role of death doulas in end‐of‐life care (Rawlings, Tieman, Miller‐Lewis, & Swetenham, ).…”

Participation in an Online Course about Death and Dying: Exploring Enrolment Motivations and Learning Goals of Health Care Workers

“…Some 40% of the participants reported having done a MOOC before, suggesting that they had pleasant learning experience through the platform. The Dying2Learn MOOC was first conducted in 2016 and it was also received positively with high satisfaction scores [9]. This result suggests that participants are open to learning on MOOCs and they are a feasible and useful learning vehicle.…”

“…To understand the effects of online learning and discussion through a MOOC on participants' attitudes towards death and dying [8,9].…”