A proposed hybrid model for learning through disruption.
KnowArk’s proposed hybrid model would pair flexible online learning with educators and future refugee-serving partner centers. It is designed around movement, work, family responsibilities, cost, documentation barriers and distance from an appropriate school. Delivery depends on academic approval, local partner readiness and safeguarding.
Explore programsLearning interest inquiryOnline does not mean alone.
Portable coursework can preserve continuity, but content alone is not a school. KnowArk’s evolving hybrid model connects online study with teachers, peer learning, progress monitoring, safeguarding and in-person support through trusted community partners.
Learning beyond one location
Course materials can remain reachable when a learner changes neighborhoods, schedules or countries, subject to technology and program availability.
Support around the coursework
The model is designed to include academic guidance, mentoring and progress support rather than relying only on independent study.
A hybrid partner-center option
Refugee centers and community organizations can provide a trusted learning space, devices, connectivity and local encouragement.
Born before COVID. Redesigned by what the world learned afterward.
KnowArk’s earliest idea took shape in 2013 while Ashraf A. Ismail was teaching fifth-grade mathematics at St. Andrew’s Refugee Services, the same refugee center where his own education had continued. When absences caused students to fall behind, he began using Moodle to make missed learning available beyond the classroom.
Help students recover what absence interrupted
The first use of online learning was practical: give students another way to reach lessons when financial pressure, transportation, work and family responsibilities made regular attendance difficult.
Uploading content is not an education model
Emergency remote learning made digital access essential, but it also exposed its limits. Devices and lessons cannot replace feedback, relationships, safety, structure or belonging.
Design online and in-person support as one system
KnowArk is developing a deliberate hybrid pathway in which flexible coursework, educators, peer learning and partner centers reinforce one another rather than operate as separate options.
Learners may study asynchronously from home or another safe location, connect with teachers and peers through scheduled support, and use an approved partner center for devices, connectivity, facilitated learning and safeguarding when available. The exact mix will depend on the program, learner needs and local partnership.
Four stages turn flexible access into active learning.
KnowArk’s learning model grew from a simple observation: when students miss class, access to material is helpful, but reconnection, explanation, practice and application are what rebuild momentum. The cycle below adapts that pre-COVID insight for an evolving post-COVID hybrid pathway.
Discover
Begin with a question, problem or short activity that reveals what the learner already knows, what has been interrupted and where support is needed.
Learn at your pace
Use sequenced lessons and guided practice designed to accommodate different starting points, changing schedules and periods of missed schooling.
Teach and collaborate
Explain ideas, compare approaches and practice with peers. Teaching a concept can deepen understanding while rebuilding confidence and communication.
Apply
Connect learning to projects, discussion and practical tasks that prepare learners for the next grade, a credential pathway, work or further study.
Online learning should not mean learning alone.
The model is designed to pair portable learning with relationships and local support. Where a partner-center arrangement is available, a learner may have a safer place to study, more reliable technology and an adult who notices when progress slows.
Structured enough to create momentum. Flexible enough to survive disruption.
| Learning activity | Purpose | Where it may happen |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework and practice | Build subject knowledge through sequenced lessons and assignments. | At home, at a partner center or another safe connected location. |
| Teacher or mentor support | Clarify difficult material, plan next steps and restore confidence after interruption. | Online or through an approved partner-center arrangement. |
| Progress check | Review participation, completed work, barriers and goals. | Through the learning platform and scheduled support. |
| Community connection | Reduce isolation through group learning, conversation and local support. | Partner centers and facilitated online spaces, where available. |
Exact schedules, live sessions, staffing and assessment practices depend on the specific program and delivery agreement. KnowArk will communicate these before enrollment.
Start with the access available now.
A smartphone may be enough for an initial conversation, but sustained coursework may require a computer or tablet, dependable connectivity and a suitable place to study. Partner centers help close these gaps.