Many teachers will continue to use the technology in the classroom or give distance education under certain circumstances. The way of ventilating the premises and framing the success could also change.
Illustration: Nathalie Samson
“Giant leaps”, “leap in time”, “high speed”. The actors are unanimous: the pandemic will have forced the education community to accelerate its digital turn.
With the confinement, the teachers who were “less skilled” with the technology had no other choice but to get started, notes Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of educational institutions.
Meanwhile, teachers have discovered the advantages of certain tech tools, to the point of continuing to use them once back in class.
“We will not put toothpaste back in the tube,” image Nancy Brousseau, director general of the Federation of private educational institutions.
For example, some software makes it possible to follow the progress of all the students and therefore to help those who are lagging behind in the exercise.
Ironically, the pandemic also forced grid executives to realize how outdated the electrical systems in some establishments were.
“You know, when you plug in a number of things and you close your eyes [en espérant que ça ne saute pas]… ”, illustrates Josée Scalabrini, president of the Federation of Education Unions.
Illustration: Nathalie Samson
The pandemic has pushed the school system to realize the importance of air quality and good ventilation in the classes, observes Caroline Dupré, president of the Federation of School Service Centers.
Quebec has also made a commitment to install CO2 readers in all classrooms by the end of the year.
“This is a factor that could help control other viruses in the future,” says Benoît Mâsse, professor at the University of Montreal.
The public health researcher can even imagine the quality of ventilation becoming a criterion in the standards of new constructions of places where a large number of people are gathered.
Illustration: Nathalie Samson
Forced to meet virtual parents, private schools realized that this formula appealed to many.
“We had record attendance. We have never had so many people, ”exclaims Nancy Brousseau, Executive Director of the Federation of Private Educational Institutions.
Parents may still want the first annual meeting to be face-to-face, but subsequent ones may be so that they don’t have to travel, she suggests. “I don’t think we’re going to come back to [toujours] have everyone move the same evening. “
Illustration: Nathalie Samson
Before, students had three report cards per year, recalls Nicolas Prévost, of the Quebec Federation of educational institutions. With the pandemic, the fall one jumped. Now, the first newsletter therefore arrives in January or February.
“We want it to stay,” he said.
This allows a “more pedagogical and less evaluative practice”, he explains. In other words, it leaves more time for teachers to take the subject, since less time is spent doing critical exams or tests.
In return, communication with parents should be improved, because the first newsletter was still used to provide information on the student’s progress, underlines Mr. Prévost.
Illustration: Nathalie Samson
The pandemic and the explosion of anti-vaccine content have highlighted the importance of educating young people about the media and fake news.
Organizations that offer training on the subject have also seen an increase in interest from schools.
“We are receiving more and more requests from community groups on how to distinguish fake news, or how to be a parent in the digital age,” notes Marc Alexandre Ladouceur, media education specialist at HabiloMédias.
“I think there is something that will stay from that, because we are not going to a simpler world […] There is so much information circulating, ”abounds Line Pagé, of the Quebec Center for Media and Information Education.
Digital citizenship should also be part of the new ethics and religious culture course concocted by the Legault government, which will be in effect throughout the network at the start of the 2023 school year.
Illustration: Nathalie Samson
The college and university students of the future will probably study in a context where technology is much more present than before, with certain courses given at a distance in particular.
“For the [étudiants] adults, distance education is wow! There is no doubt, ”exclaims Bernard Tremblay, president of the Fédération des cégeps.
At the University of Montreal, the theoretical modules in veterinary medicine are now presented asynchronously, that is to say that students can view them when they want, which makes it easier to manage their busy schedules, illustrates Louise Béliveau. , vice-rector for student affairs and studies.
Another example: in literature, a tool allows students to collaborate online when they read and annotate texts.
“It changes the dynamic”, in particular by facilitating the participation of more introverted young people, remarks Louise Béliveau.
However, physical presence is important, especially for networking and well-being.
“We are not going to turn into a distance university,” she assures us.
The story is the same for CEGEPs. The younger the students, the greater the presence on campus, summarizes Mr. Tremblay.
“It’s an additional tool […] We are moving towards various means. The question to ask: in what context [la technologie] help to success? ”
The pandemic has forced CEGEPs and universities to relax certain rules, which could inspire lasting reforms. For example, it is no longer necessary to have a doctor’s note to be absent from an examination at the University of Montreal. Rather, it is necessary to complete an argument to justify the absence.
“We realized that in general, there was no abuse,” explains Louise Béliveau.
At the start of the pandemic, the health crisis also forced the government to suspend the R rating, this performance rating which compares each CEGEP student to the average for his group and which is used as a selection criterion in limited university programs. She is regularly criticized by student associations and accused of fueling anxiety and a culture of unhealthy performance.
“I don’t think the R rating is going to disappear, but we can think about its place. Because it has become a little obsessive among the students, ”says Bernard Tremblay, of the Fédération des cégeps.
The modalities for dropping out of a course have also been reviewed.
“There are things to review because our model is a bit rigid,” concedes Mr. Tremblay.
There have never been so many scientific articles written on a global scale as during the first year of the pandemic, in all fields, says Vincent Larivière, of the University of Montreal.
In 2020, six million articles were distributed, a million more than in 2019.
“It’s as if everyone had had their ‘pandemic’ moment,” he says.
Given the urgency, researchers have decided to disseminate the results of their studies without waiting for their articles to be approved by a journal, whose delays can be very long. The goal was that the research could be reused by other researchers or in public policies. This could be research on ventilation in schools or on responsiveness to a vaccine.
This way of disseminating its results on social media or on “pre-publication” servers could remain, believes Mr. Larivière.
At the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – the Neuro, we go even further in terms of open science. The institute offers all researchers free access to its bank of biological samples in order to accelerate collaboration.
“Hopefully it will be a little more the norm now”, wishes Guy Rouleau, director of the institute.
– With Mathieu-Robert Sauvé
“If I had said three years ago that people would organize a virtual medicine conference, I would have been told: he’s crazy! Who will want to attend [à ça]? ”Quips Dr Karl Weiss.
A multitude of international conventions and events have been held online in the past two years. And even with the deconfinement and the reopening of borders, researchers will undoubtedly travel less often to participate in such conferences.
“Being online allows a greater participation of people who cannot afford the plane ticket or who have family constraints”, explains Vincent Larivière, professor at the School of library science at the University of Montreal.
The increased use of videoconferencing also allows teachers to invite foreign researchers who are leaders in their field to make presentations as part of a course, or even a nurse to discuss with students in care. nurses without having to leave the hospital, adds Louise Béliveau, vice-rector at the University of Montreal.