Online schooling and the digital divide: challenges and opportunities for migrant students’ educational inclusion

Abstract

This research note presents the key findings of a small-scale, mixed-methods international study which explored the challenges and opportunities of online schooling for the educational inclusion of Newly Arrived Migrant and Refugee Students (NAMRS). The study was conducted in 2022 in England, Germany and the Netherlands and the findings are based on the analysis of the experiences of NAMRS, their families and their teachers, of their engagement with online schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis reveals that the abrupt transition to online schooling exacerbated NAMRS and their families’ vulnerability to the widening digital divide in modern societies. Beyond the typical barriers faced by socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, such as limited access to technology and suitable study environments, NAMRS encounter additional challenges related to unfamiliarity with curricula, educational systems, and language barriers. Participants report that the efforts to address these barriers in the later stages of the pandemic coincided with the improvement of their educational experience and revealed some particular strengths of online education for NAMRS. The findings indicate that with appropriate preparation, online schooling has the potential to contribute to the educational inclusion of NAMRS when combined appropriately with school-based provision.