Following the successful implementation of the Youth Volunteer Educators e-Learning Program (e-VELP), TeachSurfing gemeinnützige UG was awarded a new grant of 326.165€ from Erasmus+ to develop the Young Refugee AI Student Empowerment Program (RAISE). The project start date is May 2022 and it will run for over 30 months.
The succeeding program has two objectives:
Firstly, it aims to support the target group of young migrants and refugees new to the European Union to better integrate into the labour market by developing an AI assessment and coaching tool. This will be accomplished by way of a three-pronged approach: (1) AI skills assessment, (2) customised course plan, and (3) practical guidance and support for offering workshops. Through the e-VELP program, it became evident that a need for a personalised skills assessment and learning plan was necessary to help ease the challenges young migrants and refugees face in finding employment. Further, the program aligns with the EU’s goal of building more integrated and inclusive societies (EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027).
Secondly, the program aims to, at a systems level, leverage the state-of-the-art AI skills assessment tool to be a scalable, extensible, and reusable framework for other educational programs. The modular architecture of the framework, together with the underlying expert data decision models, will assist in providing smart assessment and personalised coaching, saving valuable time and resources. Using AI technology incorporated with expert research in neuroscience is a targeted, unique way to address the educational challenges within the young migrant and refugee community. However, the program also aims to extend the use of this framework as an overarching solution to be adopted by other youth educational institutions to improve their program results.
The program has been designed by Miganoush Magarian, founder and CEO of TeachSurfing, and Dr. Nicole Flindt, Managing Director of the Graduate School / Research Department at the Heidelberg University of Education and researcher in neurodidactics, online education, and AI for education and schools.
During the different phases of the project they will collaborate with their international partner organisations CESIE (Italy), CSI (Cyprus) and GEYC (Romania), which are experienced in offering educational programs for young migrants/refugees and youth workers.
Miganoush Magarian from TeachSurfing on the previous program, e-VELP: “We had great feedback from our VEs, which motivated us to dive even deeper in perfecting our e-learning platform for young migrants and refugees. We analysed our e-learning platform and saw the need for personalised skill assessments and learning plans for young refugee/migrants and also saw the difficulties faced by youth workers who had to spend time and resources on individual consultations due to the generic learning plan.”
Dr. Nicole Flindt from Heidelberg University of Education: “It is very important for us that the solution we will develop is scaled and can be adopted to other youth educational programs out there to improve their educational program results. This is why we introduce the AI Assessment & Coaching Framework - to make our work accessible for other educational organisations.”
Interview with the designers of RAISE
Young Refugee AI Student Empowerment Program
Hard Facts:
Eu Grant: 326.165€
Topics: Digital content, technologies, and practices / Youth employability / Equal access and
transition to labour market
Start: 1st of May (2,5 years)
Organisations: TeachSurfing, PHH, CSI, CESIE, GEYC from four EU countries: Germany,
Italy, Romania, and Cyprus
Interview
Miganoush Magarian - Founder, CEO & Software Engineer at TeachSurfing
Dr. Nicole Flindt - Managing Director Research Department at PHH
What was your motivation to design this project?
Dr. Nicole Flindt: Based on e-VELP, the EU project RAISE is the logical answer to the need of personalised skill assessments and learning plans for young refugee/migrants using AI technology - not in a scary way but as tool to improve our e-learning platform in the best way and also to bring AI basic skills to young migrants and refugees in a way they can profit from directly during their learning.
Miganoush Magarian: For the past two years we developed the consortium’s previous Erasmus+ project - “Young Volunteer Educators e-Learning Program” (e-VELP) with the project aim to train young migrants/refugees to become Volunteer Educators (VEs): presenters and workshop facilitators who share their knowledge and culture free of charge with local communities interested to learn from them. For this purpose we designed, developed and implemented an online platform for the execution, management, and scaling of the Volunteer Educator program. The platform includes features such as online courses, forums, as well as community and event management features, with brain-stimulating
training content for Volunteer Educators. We had great feedback from our VEs, which motivated us to dive even deeper in perfecting our e-learning platform for young migrants and refugees. We analysed our e-learning platform and saw the need for personalised skill assessments and learning plans for young refugee/migrants and also saw the difficulties faced by youth workers who had to spend time and resources for individual consultations due to the generic learning plan. This motivated us to develop an AI supported customised learning plan and an AI-supported practical guidance for offering workshops in the local communities. Also, our multinational team from Germany, Italy, Romania, and Cyprus with
expertise in IT, e-learning, AI, pedagogy and social work motivates us - we are all excited to continue with our work and make it even better.
Dr. Nicole Flindt: We need a broad understanding in the population about AI, especially among young people, and new content and ideas for education, training and continuing education. This claim in the German AI strategy is true for all EU states as well. With RAISE we want to bring AI technologies to young refugees and migrants in a very special way: We will integrate AI into our e-learning platform so that young migrants/refugees can use it directly for their needs and they can see the benefits right away. Also, they learn about and with AI technologies, getting an introduction to the new labour market which will use more and more AI technologies in the near future.
What specific problem/societal challenge are you trying to improve?
Dr. Nicole Flindt: The unemployment gap between young native-born and refugee/migrant populations remains significant (Eurostat, 2020), and foreign-born young people are still much more likely to be neither in employment, nor in education or training (UNHCR et al., 2019, p. 10). A number of important factors contribute to the successful integration of young migrants/refugees into the European workforce, including:
1) assessment of skills,
2) educational programs,
3) networking/introduction to the labour market.
These factors are interconnected and made more complex by the diverse backgrounds and experiences of young refugees/migrants (FRA, 2019), which make a rigid approach to education too simplistic. Due to the unique educational needs, prior knowledge/skills, and different backgrounds, "learning opportunities and VET opportunities, including career guidance [...] should be individualised when possible" (J. Shinyoung, "Unlocking the Potential of Migrants," OECD 2019). Further, skill assessment programs often offer no concrete suggestions for addressing knowledge gaps or building a personal/professional network to ensure a successful integration into the job market. Our experience from the consortium’s previous Erasmus+ project - “Young Volunteer Educators e-Learning Program”
(eVELP) - confirmed the need for personalised skill assessments and learning plans for young refugee/migrants. This highlights the need for an approach that integrates a personalised learning plan with skill assessment and a stepping stone from education into the labour market.
What is unique about the project?
Miganoush Magarian: Using AI technology in solving educational challenges for the target group of young refugees/migrants is very unique. Additionally, the three-pronged approach to support the target group is very unique. It comprises 1) AI skill assessment, 2) a customised course plan, 3) practical guidance and support for offering workshops in the local communities. This will enable them to gain new skills via a learning plan tailored to their needs, to iteratively re-assess their skills, build a
network, and start a potential career as educators/trainers.
Why is this particular issue important for you to be addressed?
Dr. Nicole Flindt: My research area is connected to Neurodidactics, Online Education, AI for education and schools. I believe that modern teaching can benefit from the transfer of neuroscientific findings about neuroplastic changes in the brain also by means of AI. Before I became acquainted with Teachsurfing, I did my research in general for education but not for the needs of specific groups. When I came in touch with Teachsurfing I immediately wanted to do more. So I became a member of the advisory board of the non-profit organisation Teachsurfing.org and worked on the first EU project. It taught me that young migrants/refugees are a part of our EU youth that needs to be qualified in the best way for the labour market, which will be using AI technology in almost every job in the near future.
What outcomes would make the project a success?
Miganoush Magarian: It is very important for us that the solution we built (PR1) is scaled and adopted to other youth educational programs out there and to improve their educational program results. This is why we introduce the (PR2) to make our work accessible for other educational organisations.
How do you see yourself working together/as a team in the coming 2 years?
Miganoush Magarian: I worked with this highly motivated and experienced consortium in the eVELP project, so I am very much looking forward to the continuation of this collaboration in the next 2.5 years. Vilnius University was a very important contributor in eVELP and we will work together with them as associate partner in this project.