MOOCs in fragile contexts

challenges that relate mainly to educational content, cultural and linguistic sensitivity, on-site infrastructure and appropriate needed that address these challenges. This paper reports on a case study involving two refugees living in Dadaab Refugee constraints encountered by these learners, describes temporary solutions adopted as the course evolved, and proposes longterm solutions to be envisaged for MOOCs to provide a viable higher education contribution in fragile environments. Education in fragile states – charting the territory Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education which should contribute to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations, and contribute to maintaining peace. However, wars and natural disasters disrupt the provision of education, as chronic crises and early reconstruction focus primarily on core humanitarian objectives such as food, water, health, sanitation, security and shelter. Faced with formidable gencies, and a global refugee population of over 15 million at the end of 2012, humanitarian actors are obliged to focus on the immediate crises at hand and on core objectives, rather than on the provision of education, especially at post-secondary and life-long learning levels. And yet, education represents a vital protection mechanism, contributes to political stability, and develops leadership potential in fragile states, so as to manage the tion from fragility to stability. While the integration of education as an enabler in humanitarian action is of relatively recent origin, recognition of the importance of education for refugees has a long history going back to 1951 when the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted which outlines in Article 22 the right to primary education for refugees. This was followed, in 1984, by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UNESCO and UNHCR that allocated the responsibility for refugee education to UNHCR. The especially for displaced persons and refugees. In 2000 the Dakar Framework for Action re-emphasized the barEFA and launched Education in Emergencies as one of its major programs. Shortly thereafter the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) was founded as a global, open network of members working together within a humanitarian development framework to ensure all persons the right to quality education and a safe learning environment in emergencies and post-crisis recovery. The founding of INEE contributed greatly to increasing awareness of the need for non-formal and formal education programs in emergency situations. INEE’s focus was twofold: identifying ways of ensuring a certain level of quality and accountability in emergency education; and on mainstreaming education as a priority humanitarian response. Their efforts culminated in the development and adoption, in 2004, of the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies. By drawing on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Dakar Education for All Framework, the UN Millennium Development Goals and the Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter, the Minimum cational quality in emergencies. In 2010 INEE issued the revised version of the Minimum Standards for Education, Preparedness, Response and Recovery; these remain the of education in emergencies. Education as a humanitarian response – working on the ground Of the three approaches applied by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the humanitarian approach, which views education as a component of a rapid response, providing immediate protection to children and preventing human rights abuses, is certainly the one closest to the organization’s mandate; the second, the human rights approach, actually aligns even more closely to the core mandate, but is less consistently implemented. The third, developmental approach, is the most forward-looking in that it views education as a long-term investment and focuses on integrating refugee children in national schools and rebuilding national education systems. This approach also features more clearly in the Message on International Cooperation 2013-2016 MOOCs in fragile contexts Barbara Moser-Mercer 115 Research Track | of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of grate formal, non-formal and informal education; but with increasingly important, not least as a result of the promise of open learning initiatives in general, and in light of the emerging MOOC paradigm in particular. refugee camp is that of bare survival. This is closely folin the face of protracted displacement from their home communities. Their resourcefulness often masks a sense of hopelessness and lack of purpose with many refugees having spent the better part of their lives in camps. Of the few options available to them remaining in camp, being resettled either in another part of the country or abroad, and repatriation for many the silver-lining on the horizon remains the prospect of rebuilding their own communities and societies. Irrespective of which option they prefer, education is by far the only asset they own, and at the same time the most promising prospect for bettering their lives and for improving their livelihoods. Motivation thus drives their desire to learn, especially at the secondary and life-long learning levels. But there is also considerable uneasiness with regard to the sustainability of new educational initiatives; thus, initial contacts with new groups of learners require patience and a willingness to invest in before scaling up the actual learning activities. Despite the great promise of virtual learning and mobile technology, motivation to learn remains less sustainable if learning materials and that learning outcomes are often not reached, or that learners simply drop out. The distance dreds and thousands of miles away is a computer or mobile interface (Moser-Mercer, Kherbiche, & Class, 2014). Understanding and sharing the realities on the ground, to the people at the receiving end of aid (Anderson, Brown, & Jean, 2012), lays the foundation for learners staying on course and successfully completing a course. While motivation is an integral part of learning in any kind of learning environment, it assumes much greater importance in the relates to not doing harm; raising refugees’ hopes about ian principle. Engaging in educational initiatives, developing education offers and piloting education projects in requirements, but also International Humanitarian Law. Design, development and implementation of education projects on the ground thus require an intimate knowledge of the legal framework (International Refugee Law, from protection offered by a humanitarian organization on the ground, requisite training regarding security in adapt quickly to changing circumstances.