<< Background >>For the past several years, refugee access to higher education has been a critical topic in the European context and represented a chance for universities to scale up services for all students, not just for refugees. Refugees can face many barriers to accessing higher education, including a lack of information, advice and individual guidance sensitive to their specific needs, inadequate provision of intensive language courses for academic purposes, and restricted access to government student finance schemes.Research with refugees and the experiences of service providers indicate that, amongst refugees who have completed secondary school, there is strong desire to attend university. However, refugee access to higher education remains limited - opportunities for refugees in countries of first asylum to pursue higher education are scarce, and the educational and professional needs of higher educated refugees do not play a prominent role in resettlement programs. At the same time, both asylum seekers and refugees face problems in integrating into the labour market in most Member States due to a lack of necessary skills and qualifications (EEPO Refugees synthesis report).Today, European teaching staffs are insufficiently prepared and trained to deal with diverse classroom settings. Educators are in need of training in order to deal with a culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diversified student population. This is clearly underscored throughout the interviews and focus groups with educators and policymakers made by the project team. The review of the current situation (Higher education for refugees, 2016) identified the importance of the following broad areas in effective higher education programming for refugees:- limited or restricted access to the labour market due to legal and administrative barriers,- access being hampered due to a lack of institutional support or poor resourcing of available support,- access to the labour market being further limited by low labour market demand which is a type of economic/labour market challenge,- a lack of language skills, low level of education as well as issues to do with the recognition of existing qualifications, as part of qualification/education challenges,- insufficient integration programmes, discrimination and tough cultural adjustment, as part of social challenges. Based on the current needs, the main focuses that the project will address is to tackle comprehensiveness of the refugee integration into society through participation in HE by upskilling the digital skills and competences of HEI educators. This will be achieved through interventions that combine innovative approach to the digital learning and compilation of existing data and necessary communication platform.<< Objectives >>The overall objectives of the project are:- to build digital education readiness among adult refugees/immigrants, and- to develop digital pedagogical competencies of higher educators.More specifically, DigIT will achieve the following specific aims:- develop and implement educational and mentorship resources that will enable higher education professionals (teachers, educators, administrative staff) to improve their knowledge and competencies on work with adult refugees in form of Toolkit to higher education training for educators, and- develop and use the open educational resource (OER) and free and open source educational platform by bringing together adult refugees/immigrants in form of Digital Database and Online Forum.A thoughtful and customised approach to academia and organisational structure which considers transferability, and has high quality staff with a good understanding of refugee contexts will be implemented. In addition, clear understanding and rationale for the pedagogical approach, clear resources and learning outcomes, with appropriate academic support mechanisms will be developed. Finally accessibility and inclusivity throughout all steps of education process will be taken into consideration as well as effective integration of technology in a manner appropriate for the operating context.<< Implementation >>The main activities planned for the project have been summarized in eight work packages (WP1-8) to provide a clear and complete work program. The project duration is 24 months (start date: 01/11/2021).WP-1: Project Management and Communication1 Organizing project meetings2 Preparing financial management presentation3 Overall coordination and project management4 Preparing risk management presentation5 Preparing contracts and signing with partners6 Creating infrastructure for communication and information sharing (Google drive etc.)7 Ensuring the overall quality of the project8 Checking and keeping project financial documents9 Accounting/financial controlling10 Preparing interim report11 Preparing final reportWP-2: Research activities (mapping, benchmarking and compilation of evidence-based data via formal and informal way, field research activities)1 Research Activities to Develop a Framework for the Toolkit2 Evidence-Informed Way (gathering documents and reviewing)3 Fieldwork (survey, interview)4 Focus Group Meetings and Evaluation of FindingsWP-3: Development of the Toolkit to higher education (HE) training for educators1 Design the structure of the learning toolkit, the learning outcomes and the training guide2 Development of the learning toolkit3 Translation of the learning toolkit in all partners’ languages4 Pilot testing and adjustment of the learning toolkitWP-4: Gathering the national and international data for the Digital Database:1 Focus group meeting (Determining the needs)2 Workshop (Preparation of technical specifications)WP-5: Development of a Digital Platform and embedment of Online Forum:1 Focus group meeting (Web platform mapping)2 Workshop (Preparation of technical specifications for web platform)3 Launching online platform4 Producing content and related learning resources6 Pre-test and pre-revision of Online ForumWP-6: Pilot testing for refugees/immigrants to test the Intellectual Outputs:1 Planning and Coordinating in Partner Countries2 Informing Participants3 Pre-End Knowledge Test for Participants4 Performing Face-to-Face Interviews with Participants for Feedback5 Analysing Findings and Process Assessment6 Revising and Updating Training Course7 Preparation of Pilot Scheme ReportWP-7: Monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance activities WP-8: Dissemination and communication activities<< Results >>The expected results during the project and on its completion are:-drafting a report analysis included best practices across Europe regarding digital learning for HEI educators-development of a learning Toolkit to higher education training for educators-creation of Digital Database and Online Forum-advanced cross-cultural cooperation among the project partners-increased capacities of project partners on social inclusion, project management and distant learning education-improved management competences and internationalization strategies of the project partnersTwo Intellectual outputs (IOs) will be developed during the project duration:IO-1: Toolkit to higher education (HE) training for educatorsIt will enable participants to:- Grapple with the particular difficulties that refugees/immigrants face in accessing, remaining and progressing in HE- Learn about the latest legal and policy developments affecting access to HE for this group of people- Grow in ability to meet the support needs of refugees and asylum seekers attempting to progress to university, including tips about advocating on their behalf with local authorities and universities- Identify the common barriers to fulfilling the desire and motivation of refugees/immigrants to access higher education- Give psychosocial perspectives on well-being of refugee and asylum seeking people and how to encourage a focus on education- Understand what different people with a variety of immigration statuses are entitled to deal with in terms of finance support: fee status, student finance, scholarships, grants and other forms of support- Consider alternative progression routes and funding options for refugees/immigrants who are not eligible for home fee status/student finance- Identify the language support needs and adapt the teaching process accordingly- Share best practice and practical information about how to help refugees/immigrants to move forwardIO-2: Digital Database and Online ForumThe web-based accelerator program is an interactive education platform for refugees/immigrants. This web platform will include the learning toolkit in digital format, as well as database that will represent:- Variety of study alternatives for refugees/immigrants in different EU countries (with focus on possibilities for distance learning)- Special programs/opportunities/incentives for refugees/immigrants- Process of entering the HE and other degree programs- National requirements for getting the HE.The tool will be developed by implementing interactive solutions and containing online career guide. Content in each topic will rely to a great extent on the use of pictures, videos and sounds, avoiding long texts where possible.