Designing together: collaborative approaches to online integration training for immigrants

This dissertation explores collaborative approaches to designing online integration training for immigrants, emphasising the significance of co-design in creating inclusive and effective learning environments. These environments aim to support immigrants in acquiring language and cultural skills as well as employability competencies. The research is situated in the Finnish context, where integration training plays a crucial role in fostering immigrants’ societal participation and employment opportunities. The research is grounded in a design science research approach, which involves the creation, evaluation, and iterative development of educational artefacts that integrate technology as part of the learning process. The theoretical framework combines the TPACK model (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) with a socioconstructivist learning perspective, emphasizing the integration of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge alongside collaborative knowledge building. Central to the study is the examination of teachers’ competencies as integration trainers and their role as part of an online community of practice for educational development. The central research question was: How to design fully online integration training based on the Finnish Act on the Integration of Immigrants? The findings highlight the importance of learning communities, comprising teachers, learners, and educational developers, in driving innovation and fostering inclusivity in integration training. These communities provide a foundation for user-centered and culturally sensitive learning solutions while emphasizing digital accessibility and collaborative design processes. This research demonstrates how such approaches enhance the inclusiveness and sustainability of learning environments. The research presents a model that was co-developed in an authentic setting and demonstrates how online integration training can be designed to support learners with diverse backgrounds and needs. The dissertation offers practical recommendations for educational developers, policymakers, and technology designers, emphasizing the importance of scalable and adaptable solutions for integration training in diverse learning contexts.