The article links refugee migration with the importance of digital media use as one of the central challenges of the 21st century by referring to Ukrainian refugee families in Germany. In contrast to the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015, when millions of people from the Middle East fled the war in their home countries intending to settle in Europe for a more extended period, many Ukrainians are currently travelling back home – despite the ongoing war (BBC News 2022). The constant balancing act between their safety in Germany and the permanent fear for the survival of their family members and friends left behind in the war zone puts a strain on the psychological resilience of the refugees. Against this background, Ukrainian refugees are particularly challenged to organise not only their everyday life in Germany but also their children’s (mediated) well-being in the best possible way. Digital media play a central role in the lives of refugees in Germany, among other things, for communication purposes, information retrieval, and orientation (Kaufmann 2018), as well as for coping with their new everyday life in the context of learning and educational participation (Friedrichs-Liesenkötter/Hüttmann forthcoming; Kutscher et al. 2022). Overall, few empirical studies to date have focused on the significance of digital media in everyday life and the educational contexts of refugees in Germany. In addition to positive aspects, these also show negative ones, such as an intensification of inequalities in the course of an increase in digitality (cf. on distance learning Fujii et al. 2021) or that news media underline the precarious situation in the home country and thus reinforce refugees’ fears. There is a research desideratum on the media use of current Ukrainian refugees in the context of everyday life, upbringing, and school education and on (media) educational support that may be needed (GMK et al. 2022). The group of authors addresses these issues using an exploratory study. The study pursues the following research questions:

- What is the significance of digital media in everyday life and media education of Ukrainian refugee women and their children and grandchildren? (Among other things, to what extent is the topic of disinformation via digital media taken up in media education)?

- What role do digital media play in educational contexts in schools (especially in lessons) and non-school contexts of the refugees?

Furthermore, indications for possible necessary (media) educational support services can be derived from this study.

This paper presents central results against the theoretical background of mediated co-presence in transnational families’ and friends’ lives (Francisco 2015; Teichert 2021). Further theoretical references are the role of digital social networks’ potential acceleration and distribution of disinformation (Stark et al. 2019) and the challenge of media education in families under the framework of unequal life situations (Paus-Hasebrink & Sinner 2021). It becomes evident that the research topic of digital media’s influence on refugees’ live abroad cannot be separated from migration and education policy decisions. The topic of diversity of the ECER conference is thus addressed in multiple aspects: First, regarding origin and migration and refuge; second, with respect to the results of the present study which gives an insight into the media use of a previously understudied group of refugees; third, according to new challenges and implications for school and media education arising from refugee children attending German schools. The latter particularly requires greater diversity and flexibility in learning opportunities regarding policy regulations.

The data analysed consists of a two-hour group discussion (Bohnsack et al. 2010) conducted in August 2022 with six women between the ages of 32 and 63 who previously fled Ukraine and have been living in shared accommodation in a large city in Germany for several weeks. All but one of the women fled to Germany without their husbands, accompanied by their children or grandchildren aged between 8 and 17. In the group discussion, three central themes were identified employing qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz 2016). The analysis was conducted along the following categories :(1) the role of digital media in everyday life, communication and education; (2) school requirements and the importance of digital media for schools; and (3) dealing with disinformation in digital media. The group discussion was conducted by a Ukrainian refugee scholar who also contributed validating the results and is one of the paper’s co-authors.

The study shows the ambivalent significance of digital media for everyday life, upbringing and school education and the specifics of the life situation of Ukrainian refugee women and children. The refugees maintain a close communication network with their home country through various digital media messenger. At the same time, the women receive a great deal of disinformation, primarily through social media via Russian and pro-Russian channels (Die Bundesregierung 2022), which the women identify as a problem. It is particularly challenging for them to deal with relatives and acquaintances/friends who spread disinformation via social networks. The Ukrainian women’s everyday life is heavily burdened by organisational requirements, worries about their relatives who stayed behind and missing familiar structures in the host country. Regarding media education, it should be noted that the women do not exchange or interact with their children or grandchildren about media content and media use due to the more significant problems they experienced while taking refuge. The results can be understood as a challenge of actively accompanying media education in families under emotionally stressful, unequal living conditions (Paus-Hasebrink/Sinner 2021). With regard to school education, the Ukrainian refugee families face the issue that their children are required to be educated simultaneously by German schools in person and Ukrainian schools online. This confronts the Ukrainian women with the decision of having to prioritise the school requirements of both school systems while at the same time having unclear prospects of staying in the host country. However, the results impressively show that digital media can take on a central supporting function through distance learning and digital learning opportunities, especially concerning the desire to return. Implications concerning educational policy and (media) pedagogy will be discussed at the conference.

BBC News (2022). How many Ukrainian refugees are there and where have they gone?. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60555472 Das deutsche Schulportal (2022). Wie Schulen geflüchtete Kinder aus der Ukraine aufnehmen. https://deutsches-schulportal.de/bildungswesen/ukraine-wie-schulen-gefluechtete-kinder-aufnehmen/ Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (2022). Geflüchtete aus der Ukraine in Deutschland: Prekäre Beschäftigung vermeiden, in gute Arbeit vermitteln. https://www.dgb.de/themen/++co++1d95467a-a3aa-11ec-8010-001a4a160123 Die Bundesregierung (2022). Russische Desinformationskampagnen. Wie aus Narrativen eine Desinformation wird. https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/umgang-mit-desinformation/aus-narrativen-desinformation-2080112 Francisco, V. (2015) ‘The Internet Is Magic’. Technology, Intimacy and Transnational Families’. CriticalSociology,41(1), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920513484602 Friedrichs-Liesenkötter, Henrike/Hüttmann, Jana (forthcoming). Bedingungen zur Ermöglichung von Bildung und Teilhabe junger Geflüchteter im Kontext digitalisierter Bildungsarrangements: Eine Fokussierung mit Blick auf Mediendidaktik sowie Handlungsbefähigung im Alltag. In: Ganguin, Sonja/ Elsner, Anneke/ Kühn, Jessica/ Wendt, Ruth/ Naab, Thorsten/Rummler, Klaus/ Bettinger, Patrick/ Schiefner-Rohs, Mandy/ Wolf, Karsten D. (eds.), Jahrbuch Medienpädagogik Volume 19. GMK/Friedrichs-Liesenkötter, Henrike/Kamin, Anna-Maria/Meister, Dorothee. (2022). GMK fordert verstärkte medienpädagogische Initiativen in Forschung und Praxis für Geflüchtete. https://www.gmk-net.de/2022/06/02/gmk-fordert-verstaerkte-medienpaedagogische-initiativen-in-forschung-und-praxis-fuer-gefluechtete/ International Organization of Migration (2022). Ukraine internal displacement report. General population survey. Round 5. https://displacement.iom.int/sites/default/files/public/reports/IOM_Gen%20Pop%20Report_R5_final%20ENG%20%281%29.pdf Kutscher, N., Hüttmann, J., Fujii, Michi S., Engfer, N. P. & & Friedrichs-Liesenkötter, Henrike (2022) Educational participation of young refugees in the context of digitized settings, Information, Communication & Society, 25:4, 570-586, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2021.2021268 Paus-Hasebrink, Ingrid/Sinner, Philip (2021). 15 Jahre Panelstudie zur (Medien-)Sozialisation. Wie leben die Kinder von damals heute als junge Erwachsene? Baden-Baden: Nomos. Stark, Birgit (2019). Filterblase geplatzt? Politische Meinungsbildung in digitalisierten Öffentlichkeiten. In: Wilhelmi, Volker/Theveßen, Elmar/Pfeil, Florian (Hrsg.), Geographien der Gewalt: Fake News und Desinformation. Dimension und Auswirkungen auf Gesellschaft und Schule. Mainz: Mainzer Kontaktstudium Geographie. Teichert, Jeannine (2021). Mediating Close Friendship Intimacy in Times of (Social) Distance. Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 14(1), 51–66. https://doi.org/10.31165/nk.2021.141.648