Aliim is an international non-profit organization that leverages technology to provide marginalized youth and refugees access to education. Aliim believes that mobile learning programmes can both expand the reach of education and improve the impacts of learning among vulnerable youth living in conflict-affected countries by addressing their unique learning needs. Aliim has developed a framework as part of its Smartphone Schools programme that addresses the specific issues faced by Syrian refugee girls and other vulnerable youth. Many face barriers to education such as insufficient space in schools, bullying and language barriers that prevent them from consistently attending school in their host country. The framework outlines ways to contextualize an active learning pedagogy, psychosocial support, mentorship, certification and community buy-in for refugee girls affected by conflict in the Middle East. Aliim’s next challenge is to expand the framework to help girls affected by war and violence around the world. In the spirit of collaboration, Aliim hopes that this framework can help organizations design inclusive mobile learning programmes that empower girls to realize their right to education, despite living in conflict.

1. SMARTPHONE SCHOOLS:
Contextualizing Mobile Learning
for Syrian Refugee Girls
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2. of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon between the ages of
15-18 years attend formal secondary school
61 Million Children Around the World are Out-of-School
Education Cannot Wait
50%
30%
of Refugee Girls are
Enrolled in
Secondary School
of the out-of-school
children worldwide live
in areas of conflict
secondary school enrollment is 1/3 lower in
conflict-affected countries compared with other
developing countries
5%
1
2
3
4
5
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3. If Students Can't Come to School,
We Must Take School to Them
Reach Girls
Educate Youth
Despite Conflict
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4. Framework Purpose
Connect education and mobile learning theory to
conflict-affected context
Needs Impacts Tools
Design
for
Context
Three Steps
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5. STEP 1: NEEDS

6. Research by the Women's Refugee Commission finds that education interventions
for adolescent girls affected by conflict should include:
Needs of Girls Affected by Conflict
Informal Learning Opportunities
Provide informal learning
opportunities for out-of-school
adolescent girls
Flexible Structure
Consider daily routines, care taking
responsibilities and time issue
Address Barriers
Address barriers that keep
adolescent girls from participating
in schooling
Include the Vulnerable
Be aware of the needs of
vulnerable girls, including girls
unaccompanied, out-of-school,
married, young mothers, and
disabled
1
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7. Hundreds of Thousands Not in School
70,000 refugee children in Jordan
remain outside any type of
schooling.
29% of girls in Jordan &
Lebanon leave home only
once or less during the
week, preventing many
from attending school.
300k
Out-of-
School
No more
than 3
years
29%
of girls
70K
Out-of-
School
Nearly 4 years after the beginning of the Syrian conflict we still need a way to scale up access
to quality education for refugees:
In Jordan, if youth are out of
school more than 3 years
they are ineligible to enroll
in formal school again.
1
300,000 Syrian refugees in
Lebanon were out-of-
school during the 2013-
2014 school year.2
34
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8. Barriers to
Education
Examples Negative Impacts Smartphone Schools:
Mobile Learning Solutions
Lack of Educational
Infrastructure
No space in schools; insufficient
transportation; limited number of
trained teachers; Lack of certified
education programs.
Decreases access to education:
Many Syrian refugee students are
excluded from education including
the most vulnerable.
Develop a non-formal
educational infrastructure by
creating both local and virtual
collaborative environments,
utilizing technology, mentors,
and certification options.
High Cost of School
Attendance
Fees; transportation; clothing;
supplies; wash facilities; missed
income for families; parents need
help at home.
Decreased Enrollment Rates: These
factors discourage parents from
enrolling students in school.
Eliminate the need for
transportation, fees, school
clothes and supplies. Make the
program flexible for students to
participate in their free time.
Safety Concerns Parents feel school is unsafe for girls;
harassment and discrimination in
schools; tensions with host-
community; deteriorating security.
Low Attendance Rates and Levels of
Meaningful Learning: These factors
disrupt learning in school and
discourage students from
consistently attending.
Allow students and parents the
freedom to choose locations
they feel are safe learning
environments.
Lack of Support to
Address Refugees’
Special Needs
Students struggle with adapting to
new curriculum; students can't
understand language of instruction
(English and French); students
struggle coping with trauma and
distress; students fall behind peers
from the host-country.
Low Levels of Meaningful Learning:
These factors inhibit students from
succeeding in school, which leads to
increased drop-out-rates, greater
frustration, and loss of hope and
motivation.
Reach vulnerable students.
Provide psychosocial support,
language learning
opportunities, catch-up classes,
local supervisors, virtual
mentors and community and
parent support.
Barriers to Accessing Quality Education Amongst Syrian School-Aged
Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan According to UNHCR’s 3RP for 2015-2016
1,2
2,3
4
5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
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9. Smartphone Schools
Preliminary Needs Assessment in Sida, Lebanon
Surveyed parents and youth, both attending / not-attending school
Survey in Syrian
School
Small Focus Groups in
a Shelter
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10. What we learned from our Survey Results
13 out of 19 parents said they did
not currently live close to a school.
Key Barriers to Formal Schooling
While school costs about $50
USD/month, most parents can only pay
$25 USD/month for 1 child to go to
school.
CAN'T AFFORD COST
SCHOOL IS TOO FAR
Openness to Non-Formal Education
Students indicated they want to learn
English, Business, and Finance to help
them get good jobs.
NEEDED SKILLS
Half of the students said they
contribute to their family income.
WORK TO EARN MONEY
SAFE LOCATIONS
PARENTS COMMITTED
MENTORS HELP
Total Respondent Number: 19 students and 19 parents
Average age of respondent/adolescent: 13-14 years old
Location: Sidon, Lebanon
CERTIFICATION
Feel mosques, and their home are
safest places for learning outside of
formal school, but also open to co
mmunity center.
Though formal schooling is preferred,
the majority of parents said they at
least want their kids to go to school,
even if it is not accredited.
If given tools, most parents would
spend at least 1 hour/day to help their
child learn at home.
84% of students feel it's extremely
important to have a mentor’s help,
10% said it was important, and 6%
not important.
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11. Survey Results: Student Use of Technology and Internet
74% of students know
how to use a computer
68% have at least one
smart phone in their
family
53% say they use the
internet once or more
per day
16% use it at least once
per week
Aliim.org

12. STEP 2: IMPACT

13. Mobile Learning Impacts
Work Backwards: What social
impact do you want your mobile
learning program to have on
participants and their communities?
Tip 1
Learning Objectives
Tip 2
Fit for Purpose: Clarify objectives
to be achieved through
technology and through social
components1
2
• Cognitive - What do I want my graduates to know?
• Affective - What do you want your graduates to think or care about
• Behavioral - What do you want your graduates to be able to do?
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14. Smartphone Schools Program Impact
Amongst Out-of-School Syrian Refugees
and Marginalized Youth
Ages 12-16 in Lebanon and Jordan
By Delivering Non-Formal Educational Tools
that Empower Students to:
be resilient in their current situation
Increase Access to Quality and Relevant Education
contribute positively to their new communities
actively build a good future for themselves
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15. Learning Objectives
Cognitive
Affective
Behavioral
English Certification - Students will be prepared to successfully take and pass the TOEFL
iBT/Junior TOEFL
Social Cohesion - Students will feel a sense of belonging to both virtual and
physical learning communities by interacting, teaching, and serving those in
their communities.
Peace Building - Students will feel a sense of purpose,
think for themselves, practice tolerance, value human
rights, and deal with the traumas of war productively
Literacy and Numeracy Skills - Students will learn
7th and 8th grade literacy and numeracy skills in both
their mother language (Arabic) and in English
Life Skills - Student will learn about how to deal
with new environments and different cultures,
personal finance basics, goal setting, basic
entrepreneurial computer skills
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16. Empowerment Projects: Solidify Learning by Doing
At the End of Each Curriculum Unit, Students Must Complete a Project Using Critical Thinking Skills
1, 9
Individual to Community
Collaboration
Contextual Application:
Learner Driven / Meta Learning
Perceptive Writing:
Active Learning
Research-Based
Inquiry and Reasoning:
Collaborative Learning
2
3
4
Virtual Journals Community ProjectGroup Presentation
Problem Solve Individually
Sets Own Goals
Strategize Approach with
mentor
Self-Evaluate Progress
Problem Solve as a Group
Formulate Questions and
Identify Resources
Opportunities to Lead
Solidify Learning by Teaching
Others
Apply Lessons to Surroundings
Utilize various modes of
communication
Self-Reflection: Relationship to
New Environment
Feedback from Mentor and Peers
5
11
10
6
7
8
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17. STEP 3: TOOLS

18. Enabling Technology to Achieve Learning Objectives
Asynchronous and Synchronous Technology
Use Effective Learning Principles
(Watkins, Carnell, and Lodge, 2007)
1. Produce work based on feedback (Active learning)
2. Collaborate with others (Collaborative learning)
3. Make choices about their learning (Learner-driven)
4. Monitor and review how they learn (Meta-learning)
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19. Student Motivation and Incentives
Leverage Gaming
Principles and
Social Networks
AB Test User
Interface for Girls
vs Boys
Opportunities to
Earn Incremental
Rewards
Build Support at
Home and in the
Community
Aliim.org

20. Transactional Distance Theory
by Moore (2007)
InstructorLearner
How Do We Develop the Program to Provide
Quality Education in a Conflict Context?
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21. High Transactional Distance (H)
Individualized Activity (I) Socialized Activity (S)
Low Transactional Distance (L)
Park’s Pedagogical Framework for Mobile Learning (2011)
HSHI
LSHL
1
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22. Core Program
Components
Your Capacity in Given
Context
Low Transactional
Distance,
Individualized
Activity
High Transactional
Distance,
Individualized
Activity
Low Transactional
Distance,
Socialized Activity
High Transactional
Distance,
Socialized Activity
Internet connection
speed
3G - 4G X - X -
2G - X - X
Mobile Device Type
Smartphone/
Tablet
X - X -
Basic Mobile - X - -
Access to In-
person Teachers/
Mentors
Generally Accessible X - X -
Limited - X - X
Access to Electricity Reliable X - X -
Unreliable - X - X
Type of Program Formal Curriculum - X - X
Non-Formal
Curriculum
X - X -
Mapping Exercise: Identifying Transactional Distance in Conflict Context
Strive for more circles in the “Low Transactional” columns and an equal number of “Individual” and “Social” Activities Aliim.org

23. Smartphone Schools Example:
Technology Enabling Feedback
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24. # Refugee Girls
Matter
# Education Can’t Wait
# Education DESPITE War
Other Conflict-Affected Contexts
Aliim.org

25. Thanks!
janae.bushman@aliim.org
Special thanks to my colleagues and advisors:
Bassel Akar, Evaline Schot, Dominic Mentor,
Andrea Varadi
aliim.org
Aliim.org

26. Education Cannot Wait
1. UNESCO, INEE, International Institute for Educational Planning. High Level Symposium on Conflict-sensitive Education –
Why and How?, 8 April 2013.
2. UNESCO, INEE, International Institute for Educational Planning. High Level Symposium on Conflict-sensitive Education –
Why and How?, 8 April 2013.
3. UNESCO, INEE, International Institute for Educational Planning. High Level Symposium on Conflict-sensitive Education –
Why and How?, 8 April 2013.
4. INEE. Education Cannot Wait: Protecting Children and Youth’s Right to a Quality Education in Humanitarian Emergencies
and Conflict Situations, 2013.
5. Chatty, Dawn, et al. Ensuring quality education for young refugees from Syria (12-25 years): a mapping exercise, Oxford:
Refugee Studies Center, 2014.
References: Aliim SMARTPHONE SCHOOLS: Contextualizing Mobile
Learning for Syrian Refugee Girls
1. Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. Jordan Response Plan for the Syria Crisis, 2015.
2. Lebanon UNHCR. 3RP Regional Refugee Resilience Plan 2015-2016, 2014.
3. Refugee Studies Centre. Ensuring quality education for young refugees from Syria (12-25) years: A mapping exercise, 2014
4. Mercy Corps. Advancing Adolescence, getting Syrian refugee and host-community adolescents back on track Mercy Corps
Lebanon & Jordan”, 2014.
Hundreds of Thousands Not in School
1. INEE Minimum Standards. Access and Learning Environment: Standard 1: Equal Access, 2010.
2. Women’s Refugee Commission. "Provide informal learning opportunities for out-of-school adolescent girls is a
guiding principle“, I’m Here: Adolescent Girls in Emergencies, 2014.
3. Women’s Refugee Commission. "Consider Daily Routines, caretaking responsibilities and time is a guiding
principle”, I’m Here: Adolescent Girls in Emergencies, 2014.
4. INEE Minimum Standards. "Learning Environments are secure and safe, and promote the protection and the
psychosocial well-being of learners, teachers and other education personnel“, Access and Learning Environment:
Standard 2: Protection and Well-being, 2010.
Barriers to Accessing Quality Education Amongst Syrian School-Aged Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan
Needs of Girls Affected by Conflict
1. Women’s Refugee Commission. I’m Here: Adolescent Girls in Emergencies, 2014.
Aliim.org

27. Barriers to Accessing Quality Education Amongst Syrian School-Aged Refugees in Lebanon and
Jordan (Continued)
5. INEE Minimum Standards. “Education facilities promote the safety and well-being of learners, teachers and other
education personnel and are linked to health, nutrition, psychosocial and protection services“, Access and
Learning Environment: Standard 3: Facilities and Services, 2010.
6. Women’s Refugee Commission, I’m Here: Adolescent Girls in Emergencies, 2014.
7. Women’s Refugee Commission "Address barriers that keep adolescent girls from participating in formal schooling
is a guiding principle“, I’m Here: Adolescent Girls in Emergencies, 2014.
8. UNICEF. "Conduct a gender analysis is a guiding principle“, Integrating Information and Communication
Technologies into Communication for Development Strategies to Support and Empower Marginalized Adolescent
Girls, 2013.
9. INEE Minimum Standards. Teaching and Learning Standard 1: Curricula, 2010.
10. USAID. “Ensure contextually-appropriate educational content is a guiding principle“, Using Technology to Deliver
Educational Services to Children and Youth in Environments Affected by Crisis and/or Conflict, 2013.
11. UNICEF. "Ensure programs are community-driven is a guiding principle“, Integrating Information and
Communication Technologies into Communication for Development Strategies to Support and Empower
Marginalized Adolescent Girls, 2013.
12. UNICEF. "Use an ecological framework to asses circles of influence and program effectiveness is a guiding
principle“, Integrating Information and Communication Technologies into Communication for Development
Strategies to Support and Empower Marginalized Adolescent Girls, 2013.
References: Aliim SMARTPHONE SCHOOLS: Contextualizing Mobile
Learning for Syrian Refugee Girls
1. UNICEF. “Clarify Objectives to be achieved through technology”, Fit for Purpose, Integrating in Information and
Communication Technologies into Communication for Development Strategies to Support and Empower Marginalized
Adolescent Girls, 2013.
2. University of Connecticut. How to Write Objectives Outcomes accessed January 25, 2015 from
http://assessment.uconn.edu/docs/HowToWriteObjectivesOutcomes.pdf
Mobile Learning Impacts
Aliim.org

28. Transactional Distance Theory
1. A Pedagogical Framework for Mobile Learning: Categorizing Educational Applications of
Mobile Technologies into Four Types (Park, 2011), International Review of Research in Open
and Distance Learning. Vol. 12.2 February 2011. Virginia Tech, USA.
References: Aliim SMARTPHONE SCHOOLS: Contextualizing Mobile
Learning for Syrian Refugee Girls
10. UNICEF. “Use real-time feedback from girls/peers is a guiding principle“, Integrating Information and Communication
Technologies into Communication for Development Strategies to Support and Empower Marginalized Adolescent
Girls, 2013.
11. Watkins, Carnell, and Lodge. “Constructivism, where individuals construct knowledge through interactions with their
environment is a part of Active Learning“, Effective Learning in the Classroom, 2007.
Empowerment Projects: Solidify Learning by Doing (Continued)
1. Blumenfeld, P., et al. “Educational Psychologist", 26 (3&4) 369-398, Motivating Project-Based Learning: Sustaining
the Doing, Supporting the Learning, 1991.
2. Watkins, Carnell, and Lodge. “Produce work based on feedback“, Effective Learning in the Classroom, 2007.
3. Watkins, Carnell, and Lodge. “Collaborate with others", Effective Learning in the Classroom, 2007.
4. Watkins, Carnell, and Lodge, “Make choices about their learning along with monitor and review how they learn“,
Effective Learning in the Classroom, 2007.
5. Ambros, S., et al. “Apply what is learned“, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart
Teaching, 2010.
6. UNICEF. “Provide girls with inspiring mentors and opportunities to lead is a guiding principle“, Integrating
Information and Communication Technologies into Communication for Development Strategies to Support and
Empower Marginalized Adolescent Girls, 2013.
7. Ambros, S., et al. “Students set own goals and receives feedback: Goal-directed practice, coupled with targeted
feedback, is critical to learning“, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, 2010.
8. USAID. “Prioritize the Human-Ware over the hardware and software is a guiding principle“, Using Technology to
Deliver Educational Services to Children and Youth in Environments Affected by Crisis and or Conflict, 2013.
9. INEE Minimum Standards. “Instruction and Learning Processes are learner-centered, participatory, and inclusive“,
Teaching and Learning Standard 3: Instruction and Learning Processes, 2010.
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