Last November, the INSPQ published a report which fueled the debate on screen time at school. This report focused on two main areas of study. The first concerns the use of digital devices for personal purposes in the classroom, which has a negative impact on student concentration. The second axis examined the effectiveness of reading and note-taking on digital tools, concluding that there was no impact, neither positive nor negative, on learning.
No one questions the detrimental effect on cognition of “digital multitasking,” for example, in a student who watches TikTok while trying to listen to their teacher. As for substituting a traditional tool for a digital tool without providing added educational value, most education professionals agree that such an avenue is futile. Concerns about the negative effects of excessive screen time and certain digital uses among young people are, in short, legitimate.
Nevertheless, the current debate would benefit from opening up to a national reflection with a view to better supporting stakeholders towards a thoughtful, supervised use of digital technology, validated by research and allowing young people to learn while developing healthy habits that will accompany them throughout their lives. Furthermore, with the proliferation of disinformation fueled by artificial intelligence, it is more urgent than ever that schools assume a fundamental role in equipping young people against this scourge and, more generally, in educating them about AI , as recommended by the Quebec Innovation Council and the Superior Education Council.
Evoking the idea of taking “screens” out of schools amounts to devaluing education. Remember that in Quebec, schools have a triple mission: to educate, socialize and qualify. Whether we agree or not with the presence of digital technology within our walls, it is impossible in 2024 to educate by putting aside the infinite sources of information accessible via the Web; impossible to socialize while ignoring the fact that interpersonal relationships extend into the digital sphere; and impossible to qualify if we do not develop the digital skills used in today’s jobs and civic life.
We should therefore stop ruminating and instead take the bull by the horns so that “screens” are not just the use of technology, but rather a form of literacy and a social practice that is now part of responsibilities of today’s school.
Like several other international initiatives, in 2019 the Ministry of Education adopted a digital competence reference framework, which calls on the sector to develop the digital literacy of students and teachers. The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, established following the 2022 UN Education Transformation Summit, makes recommendations that “call for decisive action by governments to […] promote the use of digital technologies to augment — but not replace — essential human relationships, which constitute the very foundation of teaching.”
In summary, we call for more and better investment, but certainly not less.
Learning activities can in many situations be improved, diversified, or even redefined thanks to digital technology so that students can solve real problems in their community, express their creativity or collaborate more effectively, some elements of the competency reference framework. digital. Since the beginnings of research on educational technologies in the 1980s, one constant has remained: their appropriate use increases motivation, and motivation is an important factor in academic perseverance.
Despite the current debate on screen time and social networks, several studies also demonstrate significant results on learning, particularly writing skills. What if we instead put all this energy into promoting education, equipping teachers, and making the educational journey of 21st century students more meaningful?e century ?
*Also signed this text: Julie Pigeon, general director of Edteq; Véronique Lizotte, general director of AQUOPS; Nellie Brière, digital communications and social media strategist, popularizer and expert speaker for textbooks in the Quebec Culture and Citizenship program; Sylvain Duclos, mathematics teacher and education popularizer; Simon Duguay, computer science teacher at CSSDD and lecturer in science teaching at Laval University; Carl Ouellet, Quebec Association of School Management Personnel (AQPDE); Jocelyn Dagenais, educational advisor RÉCIT, maths and evaluation in a school service center; Dave Antil, researcher affiliated with the international observatory on AI and digital technology (OBVIA); Nadia Naffi, assistant professor, holder of the Chair in Teaching Leadership on Innovative Teaching Practices in a Digital Context – National Bank and co-responsible for the Education and Empowerment axis of OBVIA; Sylvain Desautels, project manager, Inter-order center of expertise in distance learning, Digital Campus Quebec; Rosianne Arseneau, associate professor, Department of Language Teaching, University of Quebec in Montreal; Christine Jost, general director and founding member, ESTIME Schools; Marc-André Girard, doctor of education, research advisor and researcher affiliated with augMENTOR; Gabriel Dumouchel, professor of educational technologies, University of Quebec at Chicoutimi; Bruno Poellhuber, full professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Andragogy, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Montreal; Alexandra Coutlée, consultant, coach and trainer in digital transformation, The service geek.