Context/background Forced migration is synonymous with physical, psychological and social vulnerability. Whilst there has been an increase in the variety of support services developed for vulnerable migrant people globally, there is still scope for innovation. Many European universities are proactive in supporting vulnerable migrant students, with access to higher education, qualifications and skills seen as central to securing employment, housing and other attributes needed for a good quality of life. The 21st century has witnessed a technological revolution and digital technology brings opportunities for creative and modern supportive approaches; for example, digital literacy competency alongside other critical interventions such as language skills and peer support for psychological well-being. Digital literacy and language skills are becoming increasingly important in the modern world. However, digital technological innovation remains under- exploited despite its potential in transforming vulnerabilities for migrant students. This project aims to improve experiences and outcomes for higher education vulnerable migrant students through digital technology enhanced support and the development of bespoke digital artifacts. We aim to assist integrated digital literacy and language skills development and to increase psychosocial well-being through reciprocal peer support. The project objectives include: 1. A scientific systematic scoping review of exemplars of digital technology and non-technology-based innovation that may be used to support higher education vulnerable migrant students using best international current evidence and grey literature. 2. Implement a nominal group technique to identify challenges and opportunities higher education vulnerable migrant students’ encounter, to aid web-hub and mobile application content development. 3. Co-design, develop, implement and evaluate an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for higher education vulnerable migrant students. 4. Co-design and develop a Digital Multi-Media Platform Web-Hub for higher education vulnerable migrant students. 5. Co-design, develop and test a Mobile Application for higher education vulnerable migrant students. 6. Co-design and develop a higher education vulnerable migrant student Peer Support Scheme to address psycho-socio-cultural needs. 7. Plan and deliver a multiplier event for dissemination and impact of project outputs. Number and profile of participants There will be five higher education institutions involved in this project across five European countries from Universities in England, Ireland, Finland, Slovenia and Spain. The target population for this project is higher education vulnerable migrant students across all academic programmes, levels and stages. Approximately one hundred vulnerable migrant students across the partner country higher education institutions will be invited to be involved in co-designing the project outputs through ‘face to face’ and on-line web-based contact and communication. Description of the activities and methodology The project objectives will be addressed through action research methodology using nominal group technique, co-design, co-production, testing and evaluation of the new interventions. Firstly, a systematic scoping review will be undertaken to identify examples of digital technology and non-technology-based innovation that may be used to support higher education vulnerable migrant students. The review will supply content to develop these new interventions. The second activity will be to co-design, develop, implement and evaluate an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for higher education vulnerable migrant students. The next activity will be to co-design and develop a Digital Multi-Platform Web-Hub for higher education vulnerable migrant students. The web- hub will be an early project milestone as it will host the other project deliverables. A mobile application for vulnerable migrant students will be co-designed, developed and tested using a participatory evaluation cycle. Following this a Peer Support Scheme to address psycho-socio-cultural needs will be developed; with vulnerable migrant student involvement. Results and impact envisaged The results will be a portfolio of web-based resources that will be available to vulnerable migrant students in higher education and staff supporting them. The consequence of digital technology enhanced support for vulnerable migrant students will be increased digital literacy and language competence and improved psycho-sociocultural support leading to student satisfaction and attainment in higher education, with a tangential benefit to their quality of life. Potential longer-term benefits include the scope to ‘scale up’ the project outputs and to expand their utility beyond higher education vulnerable migrant students to other educational settings with marginalized people such as further education.
Context/background Forced migration is synonymous with physical, psychological and social vulnerability. Whilst there has been an increase in the variety of support services developed for vulnerable migrant people globally, there is still scope for innovation. Many European universities are proactive in supporting vulnerable migrant students, with access to higher education, qualifications and skills seen as central to securing employment, housing and other attributes needed for a good quality of life. The 21st century has witnessed a technological revolution and digital technology brings opportunities for creative and modern supportive approaches; for example, digital literacy competency alongside other critical interventions such as language skills and peer support for psychological well-being. Digital literacy and language skills are becoming increasingly important in the modern world. However, digital technological innovation remains under- exploited despite its potential in transforming vulnerabilities for migrant students. This project aimed to improve experiences and outcomes for higher education vulnerable migrant students through digital technology enhanced support and the development of bespoke digital artifacts. We aimed to assist integrated digital literacy and language skills development and to increase psychosocial well-being through reciprocal peer support. The project objectives were to: 1. Co-design, develop, implement and evaluate an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for higher education vulnerable migrant students. 2. Co-design and develop a Digital Multi-Media Platform Web-Hub for higher education vulnerable migrant students. 3. Co-design, develop and test a Mobile Application for higher education vulnerable migrant students. 4. Plan and deliver a multiplier event for dissemination and impact of project outputs. Number and profile of participants There were five higher education institutions involved in this project across five European countries from Universities in England, Ireland, Finland, Slovenia and Spain. The target population for this project was higher education vulnerable migrant students across all academic programmes, levels and stages. Approximately one hundred vulnerable migrant students across the partner country higher education institutions were invited to be involved in co-designing the project outputs through ‘face to face’ and on-line web-based contact and communication. Description of the activities and methodology The project objectives were addressed through action research methodology using nominal group technique, co-design, co-production, testing and evaluation of the new interventions. Firstly, a scoping review was undertaken to identify examples of digital technology and non-technology-based innovation that may be used to support higher education vulnerable migrant students. The review provided content to develop these new interventions. The second activity as to co-design, develop, implement and evaluate an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for higher education vulnerable migrant students. The next activity was to co-design and develop a Digital Multi-Platform Web-Hub for higher education vulnerable migrant students. The web- hub was an early project milestone as it hosted the other project deliverables. A Mobile Application for vulnerable migrant students was co-designed, developed and tested using a participatory evaluation cycle. Results and impact envisaged The results were a portfolio of web-based resources available to vulnerable migrant students in higher education and staff supporting them. The consequence of digital technology enhanced support for vulnerable migrant students will be increased digital literacy and language competence and improved psycho-sociocultural support leading to student satisfaction and attainment in higher education, with a tangential benefit to their quality of life. Potential longer-term benefits include the scope to ‘scale up’ the project outputs and to expand their utility beyond higher education vulnerable migrant students to other educational settings with marginalized people such as further education.