Panel Presentation CNT169
Digital Resources for Learners in Conflict and Disaster-sensitive Contexts
How can digital and mobile learning technologies capture the hearts and minds of populations that are marginalised, displaced, vulnerable, or in (post-) conflict or disaster contexts? What needs to happen to initiate and sustain engagement with learners in these contexts?
Oula Abu-Amsha
Chief Academic Officer, Jesuit Worldwide Learning, Switzerland
Dr Oula Abu-Amsha, Chief Academic Officer, Jesuit Worldwide Learning, is a Syrian Computer Science professor and Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (University of St Quentin en Yvelines, France) with significant experience in educational technologies, curriculum development, and education in emergencies, having spent more than 12 years at higher education institutions in Damascus, as well as working for the World Bank and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
She also holds a Master’s degree in Statistic and Stochastic Processes from the University of Joseph Fournier (Grenoble I), France, and an engineering degree from the National School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, France, with a specialisation in applied mathematics for the economy. Forced into exile, she started her activities in refugee education in 2014.
Dr Abu-Amsha served as Academic Adviser of Mosaik Education (formerly the Jamiya Project) for three and a half years, leading the development of programmes and support services specifically designed for Syrian refugee university students in the Middle East. Furthermore, she has been a visiting scholar in multiple higher education institutions in Switzerland since 2014.
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Atish Gonsalves
Global Innovation Director, Humanitarian Leadership Academy, UK
Atish Gonsalves is a social technologist, entrepreneur and the Global Innovation Director of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy based in London.
With a background in software engineering, AI and human-computer interaction, Atish’s experience includes leadership roles at technology and international non-profit organisations including the United Nations. Atish has consistently implemented successful educational-technology (edtech) solutions that have helped democratize learning for thousands of learners in difficult contexts.
Atish is also the founder of Gamoteca, a collaborative digital platform that enables organisations create their own mixed-reality learning games.
Atish is a global citizen, having lived in six countries and is a regular speaker at conferences and events on the role of technology-enhanced learning.
Links
http://www.humanitarianleadershipacadem…
Caspar Mays
Head of EES Cluster Lead Levant, British Council, Jordan
Born in South-West England, I spent the first 11 years of life following my father’s job – moving post every 3 years before starting boarding school. After university, I worked as a safari guide in southern Africa before returning to the UK and taking the CELTA. I joined the British Council in 2007 and have worked in a series of Teacher Development focussed roles starting with CELTA and ICELT trainer in Korea for 4 years. This was followed by roles in Malaysia and China working on CPD programmes with Ministry of Education state school English teachers. More recently, in my current role, I have been working with 5 Levant countries to develop our teacher professional development programmes - often remotely - and focussed on conflict/post-conflict contexts.
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Moderator
Sandra Barteit
Postdoctoral Researcher, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Germany
Sandra Barteit is a trained Computational Linguist who holds a PhD of the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University. Her main interest is how to best make use of technology to improve health and her PhD research was on the evaluation of a medical e-learning intervention in Zambia employing a mixed-methods approach looking at the technology acceptance, information system success, usage and knowledge gain through the e-platform.
The medical e-learning is part of the Blended Learning in Zambia (BLiZ) project whose overall goal is the sustainable and long-term implementation of blended learning to support the quality and quantity of medical education for healthcare in rural Zambia for medical licentiates at the Levy Mwanawasa Medical University. The BLiZ project is a collaborative project between Lewy Mwanawasa Medical University (formed: Chainama College of Health Sciences), SolidarMed and Heidelberg Institute of Global Health.