Building a new life, one e-lesson at a time: refugees and online education

Meronne Teklu, Maren Kroeger, Mohammad Moataz Ghannam, Henner
Kirchner Refugees often spend many years in transit, with
restricted access to jobs and education. The internet and digital
technology can provide a remedy to that, but often the basics are
missing – be it appropriate bandwidth, the recognition of skills
acquired online, or the right to work after completing training.
E-learning has been around for almost a decade, and massive open
online courses (MOOCs) from renowned universities such as MIT and
Stanford available free online. The problem: refugees often lack
the access or the means to take advantage of these opportunities.
In response, new initiatives from the public and private sector are
shifting the technological and social landscape in order to make
e-learning more accessible to refugees and displaced people. So
what is new? Software companies such as TechChange Inc. have
developed online learning courses and modules for low bandwidth
settings without sacrificing interactive tools, so students can
interact socially in the e-learning environment. Social enterprises
offer digital educational services. Kiron Open Higher Education
e.g. uses digital innovation to provide refugees with access to
quality higher education. Kiron’s program consists of tailor-made
curricula, a digital collaborative platform and an extensive range
of supportive services. But is education enough? Does education
automatically lead to jobs or help refugees integrate into host
communities? The German Development Institute will tackle these
question in a panel with Ms Maren Kröger, senior official for
tertiary education at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), who will
debate these issues together with Ms Maronne Telku from TechChange
Inc, Mr. Henner Kirchner, from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit’s (GIZ) Jordan office, and Mr.
Mohammad Moataz Ghannam, a student who started with Kiron Higher
Open Education and has transferred to BAU Berlin. The insights from
the panel will feed directly into policy recommendations on
education and migration for the G20 meeting in Argentina, where
member states will focus on standards for e-learning in an
increasingly mobile, digital world.