A digital platform for supervised self-directed learning in emergencies: the case of the Syrian crisis

ABSTRACT

The well-known Syrian crisis has made it very challenging for thousands of Syrian children to have access to education. In this article, the authors propose a framework for designing a digital education platform to allow children inside Syria as well as in the refugee camps in bordering countries to have access to education. The authors start by looking at the efforts performed in the field of education in conflict-affected regions, and they extract from them the lessons learned and recommendations. They provide four main characteristics of war impacting children’s education: (1) insecurity, (2) instability, (3) lack of resources, and (4) lack of adult supervision. They then use these four characteristics, along with the extracted recommendations, as the grounds for drafting three design considerations for the implementation of a digital education platform. The three design considerations are: supervised self-directed learning method, context-aware education and children-oriented design. Finally, the authors use these design considerations to provide design recommendations for the four main elements of a digital education platform: hardware, software, curriculum and supporting services. They conclude by discussing the validity of the digital platform, its implementation feasibility, and challenges facing the implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Education in war
• education in emergencies
• war characterisation
• design framework
• context-aware education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. http://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2018/

2. https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html

3. http://wos-education.org/syria-self-learning-materials

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nada Almasri

Nada Almasri is an assistant professor of management information systems at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. Prior to joining GUST, she was a full-time lecturer at the University of Waterloo, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She received her MSc and PhD in computer science from The National Institute of Applied Science of Lyon, France (INSA de Lyon), in 2000 and 2005 respectively. Her research interests include software engineering, IT ethics and IT-based education.

Luay Tahat

Luay Tahat is an associate professor in the Management Information Systems and Computer Science Department at Gulf University for Science and Technology since 2008. He has a Master’s degree in computer science from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and a PhD in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, also in Chicago. His research interests include software testing, software maintenance and wireless network solutions. The results of his research have been published in more than 35 journals and conference proceedings.

Sawsan Skaf

Sawsan Skaf is an assistant professor at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi (2008–present). She received her PhD in education from Tunisia University in 2006, her MA in education (curriculum and teaching methods) in 1997 from Omdurman University in Sudan, and her BA degree in Arabic literature from Damascus University, Syria in 1976. Prior to joining Zayed University, she was a lecturer at the United Arab Emirates University, and prior to that she assumed several positions as high-school principal and curriculum coordinator in high schools and higher educational institutes in the UAE and in Syria.

Aman Al Masri

Aman Al masri is a founding member of Syrian Aid Foundation, a charitable foundation founded in San Antonio, TX, USA, which provides humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees who have been internally or externally displaced. Additionally, he works as a senior volunteer care specialist at the American Cancer Society. Almasri holds an MA in communication and media studies from the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX. He is currently an MS candidate at the Criminal Justice Department, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA.