Connected Learning
© UNHCR/Antoine Tardy
Connected Learning engages students in ways that allow them to link personal interests, peer relationships and opportunities. Connected Learning methods have been particularly successful in low-resource and marginalised learning contexts.
“This JWL programme is excellent and I am very grateful to all who have supported it,” says Mariam, 22, a refugee who enrolled in the Diploma of Liberal Studies offered by Jesuit Worldwide Learning in Kakuma. “I cannot relocate to go to university, in Nairobi for instance, but this special opportunity allows me to study here in Kakuma, near my family.”
Coordinated by UNHCR and the University of Geneva (InZone), the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium (CLCC) was founded in 2016. The CLCC aims to promote, coordinate and support the provision of quality higher education in contexts of conflict, crisis and displacement through Connected Learning. Connected Learning is an innovative form of higher education that uses information technology to combine face-to-face and online learning. It enables students living in remote areas to connect with top universities and to exchange knowledge globally. Since 2010, over 6.500 refugee learners in 11 countries have participated in Connected Learning programmes.
The CLCC is constantly growing, connecting humanitarian and academic actors such as the Australian Catholic University, Jesuit Worldwide Learning, Kenyatta University, Kepler, Moi University, Southern New Hampshire University, York University, and the University of British Columbia.
Members are aligned to the Consortium’s shared framework – exhibiting a long-term commitment, and using existing resources and knowledge to further the network’s goals. This cooperation includes, for example, an annual summer school, bringing together young students from around the world in Geneva, Switzerland, to share their thoughts on higher education in emergencies.
