The digital divide manifests not only in an unequal distribution of Internet access and connectivity but increasingly in the lack of digital literacy. Drivers for bridging the digital gap and promoting digital inclusion are measures to advance digital literacy in society. This is especially true for vulnerable populations, such as refugees, as they are more likely to be exposed to social, financial, and educational risks (Nüßlein & Schmidt, 2020). Therefore, the non-profit organisation Grenzenlos Digital e.V. (https://www.grenzenlos-digital.org/) promotes digital skills particularly for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. People fleeing from their home countries are confronted with many hurdles in the countries in which they seek asylum. Next to the strenuous public authority procedures and the need to find accommodation, they often face professional reorientation as they need to find or train for new jobs or need additional qualifications to enter the labour market. However, the job search and orientation process are difficult and require knowledge about the labour market, the skills for online research and communication, and the attitudes, which include values, aspirations and priorities. The barriers to the job market are becoming even higher for people with low digital skills, as recruiting is moving online and companies rely solely on digital application processes. Targeted digital literacy training is fundamental to successful labour market orientation laying the foundation for digital inclusion. In this best practice session, we present experiences and learnings from a digital skills course for refugees and migrants in Germany that is set up in an online learning environment. The project “Intro – Finding work using computers and the Internet” (https://www.grenzenlos-digital.org/en/intro) runs for one year with participants from all over Germany. The course enables attendees to increase their information literacy and digital skills and apply them to learn more about the German job market. Goal of the project is to increase participants’ digital skills so they can use the Internet to orient themselves on the German job market as well as to communicate online about their preferences and qualifications. The training implements a new concept by triangulated synchronous (online live sessions) and asynchronous (via online learning platform) teaching methods. The curriculum of the course and its learning goals are based on the “Digital Competence Framework for Citizens – DigComp 2.2” (European Commission, 2022) from the EU covering two of the five competence areas, namely 1) information and data literacy and 2) communication and collaboration. The course content and methods employed are shaped by experiences and lessons from four years of digital skills training for refugees and migrants. In addition, the course considers findings from scientific research on barriers to information-seeking during labour market orientation, such as inadequate operational skills (Stiller & Trkulja, 2018) resulting from restricted availability of laptops and computers. The best practice session covers different aspects that need to be acknowledged when designing low digital skills training, such as the target group, evaluation of students’ progress and course content, motivations, and the settings in which the course will take place. The benefits and drawbacks of aligning the course content with the digital skills framework are elaborated and discussed. Furthermore, we will share tips on teaching practices and methods that proved to be successful in conveying low digital skills.
Acknowledgments
The project “Intro – Finding work using computers and the Internet” is supported by the non-profit organization The Digital Collective (DigiCo) which is promoting digital inclusion in Europe.
References
- Nüßlein, L., & Schmidt, J. (2020). Digitale Kompetenzen für alle. Weiterbildungsangebote nach DigComp für Personen mit geringen digitalen Kompetenzen in Deutschland. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://de.rescue.org/report/forschungsbericht-digitale-kompetenzen-fuer-alle
- Stiller, J., & Trkulja, V. (2018). Assessing digital skills of refugee migrants during job orientation in Germany. In G. Chowdhury, J. McLeod, V. Gillet, & P. Willett (Eds.), Transforming digital worlds (pp. 527–536). Springer International Publishing.
- European Commission, JRC, Vuorikari, R., Kluzer, S. & Punie, Y. (2022). DigiComp 2.2. Publications Office of the European Union. Retrieved from https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128415
Juliane Stiller, Violeta Trkulja, Anna-Julia Danisch
Grenzenlos Digital e.V., Berlin, Germany
English 
French