ICT in Education: Continuing Education During Wartime in Ukraine

Sammanfattning: On February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. This quickly escalated into a full-scale war that is still ongoing. The current war has forced drastic changes to all sectors in Ukrainian society, one of the most affected is the higher educational sector. As a result of the war all higher educational institutions (HEIs) have been forced to adjust the entire educational process to an online education environment. In order to maintain the educational process, HEIs have come to rely on the use of various Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). However, militarization of regions, limited Internet access and destruction of university infrastructure are all the war-related challenges that aggravate the use of these digital technologies. Today, significant research has been done on ICTs in higher education as well as on wartime conditions. However the convergence between the two concepts are rarely explored in scientific research. Thus this study aims to explore the interrelation between the integration of ICTs in higher education and wartime in Ukraine. To address the research problem, two research questions have been formulated: (1) What is the current state of ICT integration in higher education in Ukraine? and (2) How have the ICTs helped sustain the higher educational process in Ukraine during wartime? In order to answer the research questions, this thesis applies a strategy of systematic review along with the application of thematic analysis. Data was collected through a document study approach. The scope of the systematic review is limited to the last decade (2013-2023) and in order to facilitate the data collection process, the PRISMA framework has been used. The findings conclude that the level of ICT integration in higher education is limited. The findings further indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic did increase the awareness and need for ICTs, thus has managed to change the attitude toward the use of ICTs. Additionally, the thesis suggests that four main categories of ICTs are currently used to maintain the educational process during the war in Ukraine: (1) Learning management systems, (2) Digital learning platforms, (3) Video communication platforms and (4) Social media networking platforms. The findings in this thesis contribute to the area of Technological Enhanced Learning by providing some valuable insights on ICTs in higher education in relation to the current war in Ukraine.