DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE ROUTES INTO HIGHER EDUCATION – POSSIBILITIES AND CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL TEACHING AND LEARNING SCENARIOS FOR REFUGEES: FIRST RESULTS FROM THE INTEGRAL² PROJECT

The global higher education landscape is changing rapidly. Digitalization and internationalization are key drivers of this process and will become increasingly important to education worldwide. Moreover, integrating refugees into higher education systems has emerged as a new challenge. Kiron Open Higher Education (Kiron) promotes the use of digital solutions in higher education to enable access to higher education and successful learning for refugees worldwide. In order to overcome the barriers refugees face, they can start studying with Kiron by participating in a digital study program. The ultimate aim is the transfer to a regular offline study program at one of Kiron’s partner universities with Kiron credits recognized.

The first one or two years of online studies are based on a fully modularized curriculum that clusters MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) created and provided primarily by external partners. The MOOCs are bundled into modules on the learning platform “Kiron Campus” based on their learning outcomes. Synchronous online tutorials offered by Kiron Direct Academics complement the mostly asynchronous MOOCs.

In order to further refine and test its innovative educational approachess, Kiron launched the pilot research & development project INTEGRAL², which in German is short for “Integration and Participation of Refugees in the Context of Digital Teaching and Learning Scenarios”, in cooperation with two prototypical German higher education institutions, RWTH Aachen University and Lübeck University of Applied Sciences in September 2016. Through this project, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting Kiron and its partners with more than 2.1 Mio Euros over the course of 13 months.

Overall, INTEGRAL² aims to promote the integration of refugees into the higher education system and to identify potential courses of action – both as regards opportunities for digital change and the internationalization of universities. As a result, Kiron can serve as a blueprint for projects that target prospective students from abroad and provide an important impetus for making higher education more accessible to the educationally disadvantaged. In order to reach this goal, Kiron is exploring the possibilities and challenges of digital solutions for alternative routes into higher education, especially as regards transferring from prior learning to accredited study programs.

We will provide first results on how our refined MOOC-based online curricula in Business & Economics increased the MOOC completion rate within just a few month. Specifically, in contrast to average MOOC completion rates of 2-8%, 33% of Kiron students successfully completed at least one MOOC provided by the Coursera within the Coursera for Refugees-initiative. For some of the MOOCs provided in our curriculum, completion rates even exceed 40%. Moreover, we will provide results on different approaches to recognition of prior learning and module based examinations tested by our partner universities.

Guiding questions raised during our sessions will include:
- What are the main challenges refugees face when trying to access higher education?
- What role can digital solutions play in this regard?
- How can MOOCs contribute to opening up higher education for non-traditional learners?
- How can recognition of MOOC-based prior learning contribute to a better inclusion of refugees?
- What impact does the innovative approach of Kiron have on MOOC retention?