Shifts in Educational Smartphone Use among Ukrainian Adolescents during Migration

Abstract

Migration and refugee movements have posed significant challenges for Europe in recent years. Earlier waves of migrants arrived from the Middle East and Africa, and since 2022 Europe has also received war refugees from Ukraine. Young people constitute a particularly important group among these populations. This article presents findings from a diagnostic study conducted in Poland in 2023 among young refugees from Ukraine, showing that their main strategies of using smartphones have remained largely unchanged. Leisure-related purposes and practical needs (e.g., navigation and location services) continue to dominate. Nevertheless, adaptation of digital content to the resources and conditions of the host country can be observed. Smartphones are used far less for voice calls than for internet-based activities. According to the young refugees surveyed, smartphones play a limited role in formal education but constitute an indispensable tool for informal learning. The findings may provide valuable guidance for developing effective strategies to support the social integration of young migrants. Given the high level of digitalization in young people’s everyday lives, social media and educational content delivered via smartphones can prove to be particularly effective at facilitating adaptation to a new cultural environment.