Dr Belinda Henry1,2, Ms Kate Browning1, Ms Beth Polkinghorne1, A/Prof Wayne Wilson2
1Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Australia, 2The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
Biography:
Dr Belinda Henry is an Advanced Audiologist at Queensland Children’s Hospital and team leader for the Quality, Training, Education, Research stream, and is a Senior Lecturer Academic Title holder at The University of Queensland. She has a PhD in Audiology, with research interests in cochlear implants and paediatric audiology, as well as education and training models and outcomes. She has experience in both the health and academic sectors and integrates her clinical practice, research, education and training expertise to shape and optimise value-based health care.
Abstract:
The integration of technology-enabled learning into student and professional education in the health professions enables the efficient and accessible delivery of consistent training programs, building workforce capability, enhancing high quality, interprofessional practice, and improving learner wellbeing. It is crucial that these training courses are co-designed with end-users to ensure that they are tailored to learning needs and preferences. We developed two technology-enabled online learning courses on behavioural hearing assessment in young children, which involves specialised clinical techniques. The courses targeted the learning needs of 1) audiology learners (students, graduates, audiologists new to paediatrics), and 2) interprofessional collaborators. A research framework was employed to investigate the perspectives of audiology students and paediatric audiologists in designing the courses. The project involved: 1) Development of course content/format based on stakeholder focus groups and qualitative analysis of outcomes; 2) Development of courses on the iLearn platform, with key features including slides and scripts delivering the concepts, video recording of clinical appointments with commentary, clinician tips/discussion/role play, and integrated learning reflections; 3) Evaluation and finalisation of courses based on stakeholder surveys. The outcome was two co-designed, technology-enabled courses published on iLearn, available to health services and universities nationally and internationally, that support evidence-based, person-centred, interprofessional practice and high quality, integrated healthcare. The engaging, flexible and scalable learning model developed using this research framework, leveraging digital tools and an interactive platform, is applicable to the development of technology-enabled learning courses in the health professions.