Minimal computing in refugee education in Uganda: economies of digital use and non-use, and the right constraints

Using the Foundations for All (FFA) project as a frame for broader discussions of minimal computing, this paper expores education for displaced populations in Uganda and the role technology has in that education. FFA (2018–2022) was a collaboration designed to develop and implement a blended bridging programme for refugee students to participate in universities in Uganda. This paper explores the role that digital technologies had to play in this project in imagining educational futures predicated on minimalism and the judicious use and non-use of technology. When used, the emphasis on available technology was dominant, as was a pedagogical emphasis on psychosocial support and social justice. Technology seen in this approach is best imagined as facilitating opportunities for contact and care, rather than as the driver of the educational enterprise. Such an approach runs counter to many of the discourses around digital development.