Future education
How can the research and knowledge transfer capacities of Universities be reconfigured to develop innovative responses to these challenges?
Future Education works on co-designing the appropriate education and learning opportunities for communities impacted by mass displacement. This research strand will work with local academics, policy makers, teachers, teacher-educators and community members to design and embed scaled up online and blended learning to address pressing educational and training needs. Projects include online professional development for teachers of vulnerable children (with local blended support), training for community researchers in research skills, and crowd-sourcing data for the other research themes.
Activities
mASSIVE open Online Courses
The RELIEF Centre is co-designing a series of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) with partners and community members in Lebanon to create vibrant, free online and blended learning experiences based on the research being carried out in Lebanon.
The RELIEF team is engaged in a wide range of activities outside of the centre’s core research outputs.
research leads
Dr Maha Shuayb, Centre for Lebanese Studies
Co-Investigator
Dr Maha Shuayb is the Director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies, a visiting fellow at the Faculty of Education at the University of Oxford and the president of the Lebanese Association for History. Dr Shuayb's research focuses on the sociology and politics of education. Her research areas include education and social cohesion, refugee eduction, citizenship education and history education.
Dr Tejendra Pherali, Institute of Education, UCL
Co-Investigator
Dr Tejendra Pherali is Senior Lecturer in Education and International Development at the UCL Institute of Education. His research and teaching focus mainly on interactions between education and conflict and the role of education in peace-building in fragile environments. Currently, he is leading research on higher education development in conflict-affected Somalia and educational innovations in refugee situations in Lebanon. He also leads a Masters course on Education, Conflict and Fragility at UCL Institute of Education.
Professor Diana Laurillard, Institute of Education, UCL
Co-Investigator
Professor Diana Laurillard is Chair of Learning with Digital Technologies, UCL Knowledge Lab at the Institute of Education. Professor Laurillard's research projects include: Developing in the Learning Designer suite of tools and online community for teachers and trainers, adaptive games apps for learners with low numeracy and dyscalculia and the use of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) for professional development courses, and as a research tool.
Dr Elaine Chase, Institute of Education, UCL
Co-Investigator
Dr Elaine Chase is Senior Lecturer in Education, Health Promotion and International Development at UCL's Institute of Education. Her research focuses on the wellbeing outcomes of young people and communities, particularly those most likely to experience disadvantage and marginalisation. Elaine is Principal Investigator on an ESRC-funded study 'Becoming Adult' (www.becomingadult.net), exploring the wellbeing outcomes of former unaccompanied migrant young people after turning 18, and CoInvestigator on an international ESRC-DFID funded study examining ways to reduce stigma in antipoverty policies.
Dr Eileen Kennedy, UCL Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, UCL
Senior Research Associate
Dr Eileen Kennedy specialises in ways of enhancing and sharing practice in online and blended learning. This involves developing learning design tools (with Diana Laurillard), creating teacher communities online (e.g. through MOOCs) and researching the experience of learning online. In addition to her role with RELIEF, she is also a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Global Higher Education at UCL Institute of Education, where she works on the transformative potential of digital technologies in higher education.
Dr Mai Abu Moghli, Institute of Education, UCL
Research Associate
Dr Mai Abu Moghli specialises in human rights education, education in refugee contexts and emergencies with a particular focus on the MENA region. In addition to her role as a research associate with RELIEF, Mai is a researcher on the Adult Education as a Means to Active Participatory Citizenship project (EduMap) focusing on adult education among adults at risk of social exclusion. She also manages the Active Citizenship Strand which is part of the UCL Global Citizenship Progarmme.
Ms Rym El Moussaoui
MOOC Coordinator
Rym El Moussaoui is a Content MOOC Coordinator at the Relief Center Lebanon. She holds a BA and M1 in Language and Communication Sciences: Language Acquisition Engineering and currently pursuing her MA in Curriculum and Educational Management. She worked for several years in INGOs in Lebanon in managing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating educational programs made in response to the Syrian crisis. Her current responsibility at Relief is to oversee the delivery and content creation of the MOOCs and is the focal point of contact for the MOOC team.
Ms Cinderella Al Homsi
Research Assistant
Cinderella Al Homsi holds a BA in Letters and Humanities and Diploma in Education from Damascus University, Syria before completing an MA in Education and International Development from UCL Institute of Education. She has extensive experience in teaching, curriculum design, project management and research. Her expertise in the MENA region ranges from developing teaching methodologies and curricula at academic institutions to running educational projects at governmental and international organizations.
Through her role at the RELIEF Centre as a research assistant, she co-designs digital learning tools and content for bespoke MOOC videos. Under the supervision of or in collaboration with senior research team, she is developing a MOOC of Community-based Research Skills in the Arabic language on Edraak platform. This MOOC aims to empower disadvantaged local communities with knowledge, tools and resources, so they can get involved into community-based research activities and contribute to the well-being and prosperity of their communities.
Before joining the RELIEF Centre, she worked at the Danish Refugee Council, Women for Women International, Indonesian Embassy of Damascus and Damascus University in Syria.
Mr Mustafa Ismail
MOOC coordinator
Mustafa is studying the MA in Education and Technology at UCL. He has been working for more than five years in the creation, management and support of MOOCs in the Arab world. Within RELIEF, Mustafa’s role is to support the creation and the learning design of the Community Based Research MOOC especially on the Edraak Platform.
The RELIEF centre is committed to furthering the education agenda, within Lebanon and beyond, by co-designing appropriate education and learning opportunities for communities impacted by mass displacement.
RELIEF team members are involved in both producing educational outputs in the form of MOOCs as well as providing external learning and engagement opportunities beyond research. Find out more below and get involved!