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 I came across the article ‘Refugee resettlement, social media and the social organization of difference,’ by Jay Marlow (2019) while I was at work (at the NZ Red Cross) and it immediately raised some questions that have been going round in my head for a while.

How can people who have never received any formal education learn the skills needed for sustainable employment efficiently and effectively through the use of technology? Can the informal contexts of social media aid in this?

In his article Jay Marlow (2019) states that the “…blurring of boundaries between virtual and offline communities that assisted with creating relationships and improving settlement outcomes such as gaining employment and participating in education.” (pp. 3) I think that we need to start focusing on these informal learning opportunities to enhance resettlement opportunities. It also brings to mind the question of how does the ubiquitous nature of learning in a multimodal context relate to the ever increasing amount of displaced persons around the world? By picking up the missing loose strands of education and opportunities  and teaching them skills and knowledge sets while they are displaced and/or are in camps could fast track them into the global world.

A research paper by Thomas M. Crea and Neil Sparnon describing a pilot programme that was introduced in Dzaleka camp in Malawi, Kukuma camp in Kenya and urban refugees living in Amman, Jordan. This project introduced a blended multimodal approach of having teachers monitoring a distance programme through Jesuit Worldwide Learning.

The formal learning by having the use of digital technologies being available while they are in camps gave them a great opportunity to continue their education. It gave them the chance to learn important skills and the host language before they got to their new country. From this article I thought that if the clients that I help had the opportunity to learn English and/or study the necessary skills to gain meaningful employment how much easier would their assimilation into New Zealand life be.

So while the idea of Connectivism seems ideal ,as presented in the pilot study, it is out without problems. Namely the simple fact of connectivity and internet access being limited or disconnected. These students also faced challenges of safety while going to class. The environmental conditions created a lot of technical issues such as flooding, food riots, cholera outbreaks and the simple fact of lack of air-conditioning in one area resulting in the computers unable to work for sustained periods.(Crea and Sparnon, 2017)

In researching further into this topic I discovered that there are a large number of apps (mainly in Europe) that have been developed for refugees such as: http://appsforrefugees.com/refuchat/, http://appsforrefugees.com/infoaid/.

These apps are an example of Connectivism as they are connecting refugees globally and the future learning opportunities will not be confined to the country and language of their future host county.

In a UNHCR report that I found it pleads for better collaboration between the tech industry and the humanitarian actors in regard to the refugee crisis. While the media-rich nature learning is of value to groups that are digitally literate maybe it is not so appropriate to the marginalised groups. These apps will not be effective unless they are created for the needs of the users, while being aware of their computer literacy skills. With my contact working with refugees here in Palmerston North the clients nearly all have a smart phone where they are able to use Whatsapp, Facebook, YouTube, online dictionaries and various other media sources from their home country. They are relatively literate in these however, are at a disadvantage because of their lack of English skills. A Constructivist view to the refugees’ learning is vital when it comes to teaching them English. I think in NZ if we can embrace the refugees knowledge and experience in their learning it would make the process smoother and faster. Many of the clients that I speak to on a daily basis are multilingual and therefore this should be considered when we are teaching them English.

 Being able to reach these groups through digital technologies would be game changing. English language Institutes and the Red Cross should take advantage of the digital technologies to best benefit our refugee clients. By embracing this it will help them with learning English and giving them skills to be work ready in the New Zealand context. If we don’t start using these, we run the risk of creating a bigger divide between the digitally literate and the non-literate, causing already disadvantaged people to fall further behind.

Resources:

Crea, T.M and Sparnon, N. (2017) ‘Democratizing education at the margins: faculty and practioner perspectives on delivering online tertiary education for refugees’, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14 (43), doi 10.1186/s41239-017-0081-y

Elsafi, A. (2018). Formal and informal learning using mobile technology. In S. Yu, M. Ally & A. Tsinakos (Eds.), Mobile and ubiquitous learning: An international handbook (pp. 177-189). Singapore Springer.

Gilhooly, D and Lee. E. (2013) The role of Digital Literacy Practices on Refugee Resettlement/; The case of Three Karen Brothers’, Journal of Adolescent &Adult Literacy, 57 (5), pp 387-396, doi:10.1002/JAAL.254

Marlow, J. (2019) ‘Refugee resettlement, social media and the social organization of difference’, Global Networks, a Journal of Transnational affairs, Vol 19 (3) 2019, doi.org/10.1111/gob.12233

UNHCR (2016, October 14 ) Is your app the best way to help refugees? Improving the collaboration between Humanitarian actors and the Tech Industry. Retreived from