Open Higher Educationfor Refugees

“Opening higher education: what the future might bring” – Berlin – 8 December 2016 – Florian Rampelt, Head of Product

What is Kiron all about?

Challenges and barriers

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Access to higher education is essential for integration and self-determination. However, refugees have to face many obstacles when accessing higher education.

Our challenges

(Quelle: UNHCR Education Strategy 2012-2016)

Our approach.

Providing the latest educational technologies

Partnerships with the best and most innovative online course providers and universities

Scalable educational model for a global challenge (“Blended Learning 2.0”)

Our solution.

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Kiron overcomes the four most important obstacles on the way to higher education

Our solution

Costs Legal College Capacity Language

1. Contracts with leading MOOC platforms and providers

2. ThereforeLess expenses for campus and courses

3. ThereforeNo enrollment fee

1. Start studying without official documents

2. Documents only necessary for the application at the partner university after one or two years of study with Kiron.

1. During an online study phase with Kiron no capacities of the partner universities needed

2. At the time of the application Kiron students can fill up free university places

1. MOOCs mostly in English (some German, Arabic, French)

2. Innovative language apps

3. Partnerships with established institutions of language learning

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Curriculum

Students choose a study track in one of four departments

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Our modularized study model

Application for transfer to a partner university and recognition of up to 60 ECTS

1. Registration at Kiron Open Higher Education (www.kiron.ngo)2. Motivation test, self-assessment, English placement test3. Completion of 2 test-MOOCs within 8 weeks

Year 1

Year 2

Up to 2 years online studies at Kiron

Optional orientation phase &specific courses for chosenstudy track La

ngua

ge

Cou

rses

Year 3

Year 4

2 years of on-campus study program

Regular enrolment for the remaining semesters leading up to an accredited Bachelor degree at a partner university

Language courses are provided on demand, fully tutored in German as a foreign language

MOOCs are clustered in modules irrespective of the MOOC provider

Learning Agreements are signed on a module level

The Kiron learning environment is technologically designed fully based on learning outcomes

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Framework Specifications

Basic conditions specified by:

● Lisbon Recognition Convention (Bologna Process/European Higher Education Area)

● KMK (“Ländergemeinsame Strukturvorgaben”)

● European Qualifications Framework

● Recommendations of the German Accreditation Council

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Modularization of MOOCsKiron’s core curriculum follows a coherent module structure:

1. For each study track, modules worth 5-10 Credit Points with clearly defined learning outcomes are generated

2. The attribution of MOOCs to modules results from an adjustment of the learning outcomes and the workload

3. Ideally, synchronous teaching (live courses) via Direct Academics (tutorials by volunteer professors with teaching experience) or offers of the partner universities complement each module

4. Partner universities only recognize successfully and fully completed modules

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Kiron Campus

Why? Asynchronous MOOCs are complemented by synchronous DA courses for a better learning experience,learning outcomes are checked and students are encouraged to reflect on their learning processes

How? Instructors provide synchronous, interactive teaching and give personalized feedback

When? Pilot since December 2015, full roll-out in 2017 with new student cohort

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Direct Academics - Live and Online

Module Based Tutorials

Instructors teach module content on basis of MOOCs currently online, complement the modules learning outcomes and answer questions from students as well as participate in weekly classroom sessions with about 10 students – doing exercises, initiating discussions and providing individual feedback.

Tutorials last 8-12 weeksTime commitment: ~5h/week

Learning Journal / e-Portfolios

Screencast Videos

Lecturers get fellowships to produce short screencasts on a given topic that fills a gap within the Kiron curricula. These screencasts are used within the Direct Academics tutorials.The didacitc concept follows a new “flipped classroom” model, where students prepare with the screencasts and dicuss/ask questions in the live online courses

How to design at Kiron

4. Subtitles

Our students.

(as of August 2016)

(as of August 2016)

How to design at Kiron

4. Subtitles

Our team.

The team is including 60 employees, based in Germany, France, Turkey and Jordan.More than 300 highly committed volunteers worldwide support the core-team.

Our network.

MOOC-providers (ca. 400 courses) Partner universities (N=23) Kiron Offices

Challenges

STUDENT NUMBERS

Students Admission and Onboarding

Explication of Numbers

Preliminary Kiron Students (Total 4.433)

Blocked Kiron Students Because of Inactivity (Total 1.185)

Kiron “Full Students” (Gesamt 1.877)

Onboarding Not Yet Completed (1139)

Oct/Nov ‘15 Simple application via Kiron platform; red: never logged in / didn’t log in for more than 1 month

March ‘16 New Curricula; test-MOOCs compulsory; 800 welcome emails sent out; 295 went through onboarding/505 didn’t;

July ‘16 English language test compulsory; 1.234 welcome emails sent out; 590 have completed onboarding/644 didn’t

Okt ‘16 Randomized Social Belonging Intervention; 755 welcome e-mails sent out; 362 have completed onboarding/393 didn’t

Nov/Dec ‘16 Ongoing student intake

Oct/Nov ‘15

1248

680 56

8

Mar ‘16

800

505

295

Juli‘16

1234 64

4

590

Aug ‘16

164

102 62

Oct ‘16

755

393

362

Nov ’16

232

Phone interviews with inactive students (Nov ‘16):Main reason for inactivity is workload of offline language courses

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INTERNATIONALIZATION

Academics/Product:“Core Product?”

Recognition Prior / Digital Learning

Student Services:Offline

CounsellingData SecurityVolunteering

→ Scaling

STUDENT SERVICESDISCUSSION

Student Intake Oct ‘16: Location

of Students

Challenges

Unanticipatedeffects

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‘Kiron is hope. Kiron is hope for a lot of students. Right now, the whole world is facing the refugee issue, and a lot of division, so the refugees are facing a lot of challenges. To cope with all the challenges, we have to encourage education.’

Our Impact

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● Kashif Kazmi, former student’s spokesperson

● got an internship at the German parliament through the Kiron network

● just decided to go for an apprenticeship related to his internship

● Ahmad Mobayed, highest performing student (23 MOOCs in 6 months)

● contributed to “Journal of Interrupted Studies” through our support

● received a full scholarship from Bard College Berlin after our recommendation

● “fast track transfer” already after 2 semesters

● now employed with Kiron as student assistant

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Kiron’s innovative approach as a best practice

● changing the “refugee” narrative and stereotyping● reshaping the discourse on the internationalization and digitalization of higher

education, not only with a focus on our own target group● MOOCs produced by our partners in projects with Kiron can also be used by other

students (e.g. ERASMUS+ students in Aachen)→ Kiron model fosters better inclusion of non traditional learners in higher education

● bottom up and digitized civic society movement

Our mission.

We empower our students to live a self-determined life by offering access

to higher education.

Thank you!