This text is part of the TÉLUQ University special notebook
Long before the arrival of videoconference courses, TÉLUQ University was experimenting with distance education. Its programs and methods have evolved a lot in 50 years, but its desire to democratize knowledge has remained intact.
The birth of TÉLUQ University is rooted in the wish of the actors of the Quiet Revolution to democratize access to higher education in Quebec. All means had to be considered. When the Université du Québec (UQ) was founded in 1968, Jean Lesage—then Leader of the Opposition—referred to establishments that would have to use the most modern processes, in particular audiovisual, television and, possibly, computers “to provide education at the time and according to the rhythm that the ‘student “.
“Even with the creation of the Université du Québec and its deployment in the regions, the State clearly saw that certain places would not be served and that several fields of knowledge would not be offered everywhere, so distance education became a means of ‘increase the accessibility of higher education,’ emphasizes Michel Umbriaco, one of the founders of the university, who still teaches there.
Courses to invent
In 1972, Télé-université — which would later become Université TÉLUQ — was officially established as a UQ commission. Its role is to develop and distribute distance university education.
“Initially, it was not seen as a university, but rather as a box of services that will support the offer of distance courses from the components of the UQ, recalls historian Éric Bédard, who has been teaching there since 2005. However, as few projects in this direction came from UQ, she quickly began to give her own courses. »
The first—offered in 1974—was entitled “Initiation to cooperation”. Desjardins Group had collaborated in its development. Two years later, TÉLUQ University presents a first certificate program called “Knowledge of Man and the Environment” and begins to build its faculty. Michel Umbriaco remembers this effervescent period well.
“We have created courses on the history and economy of Quebec, with the support, in particular, of Denis Vaugeois and Jacques Parizeau, or on the environment, with the participation of Pierre Dansereau, says he. The objective was to make up for a lack of culture in the Quebec population, so that people better understand their environment and can build a more modern Quebec. »
Several enthusiasts held this start at arm’s length, including Fernand Grenier, general manager from 1973 to 1980, and Francine McKenzie, who served as director of programs and research from 1972 to 1981. sociologist, who had a very fine reading of Quebec and who understood what it lacked, recalls Michel Umbriaco. She had, for example, noted the lack of scientific culture in Quebec, which led to the creation of our first science and technology program. »
A turbulent history
Despite all its strengths, TÉLUQ University was far from unanimous when it started, and its history has not been smooth sailing. In a recent collective work entitled The transition from face-to-face training to distance learning at university. Didactic and political issues, Michel Umbriaco listed, in a chapter on the establishment, no fewer than eight institutional crises that threatened its very survival.
Initially, some rectors perceived her as a competitor who risked stealing students from their territories, while others questioned the quality of teaching that was not based on the traditional paradigm of class attendance.
It was not until 1992, two years after the creation of its first bachelor’s degree (in communication), that TÉLUQ University received its letters patent and was confirmed as a superior school. This status sealed its teaching and research mission and its independence.
In 2005, an agreement to join the University of Quebec in Montreal came very close to launching it on a whole new trajectory. But it will end in failure and a return to complete autonomy in 2012. UQAM was going through a political and financial storm at the time due to the aborted project of student residences and offices on the Voyageur island, and the rector Roch Denis was challenged internally. The unions of professors at UQAM did not like this agreement, which they considered imposed by management, and deplored the degree of autonomy granted to TÉLUQ University. In short, the transplant did not take.
“Even if TÉLUQ University is doing well today, I still think it’s a missed opportunity,” says Éric Bédard, while admitting that his point of view is not unanimous among his colleagues. “Quebec would have benefited from closer collaboration between these two institutions. »
From LP to Zoom
The way of giving courses at a distance has also greatly evolved in 50 years. “At the beginning, we used all the means at our disposal to give our lessons, says Michel Umbriaco. Training was offered on television, recorded on LPs or recorded on VHS tapes that were sent to students. All of this cost a fortune to produce. »
Éric Bédard remembers that when he arrived in 2005, the courses were going through a period of transition to electronic media. The videos were burned onto DVDs mailed to the students. The online platforms were cumbersome and required the constant support of the institution’s technicians. “Today, it’s much more user-friendly and I can easily modify my courses online, unless there are major changes,” specifies Éric Bédard.
Pedagogy has also evolved a lot. One of TÉLUQ University’s great successes lies in demonstrating that a distance learning course is not just a replication of a course offered in class. Éric Bédard, for example, no longer uses video. He gives his lessons in audio, like a podcast. The one who confides to be inspired by the show Remarkable forgotten, by the late Serge Bouchard, does not hesitate to include musical interludes or interviews with guests in his classes. “Students aren’t in front of us in the classroom, so we have to find different ways to keep them interested,” he says.
For Michel Umbriaco, one of TÉLUQ University’s greatest contributions has been to challenge accepted ideas about what university education is and to develop critical thinking on the notions of courses and schools. “Its existence has above all improved access to knowledge that has made it possible to build a Quebec that is more capable of taking charge of itself,” he believes.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.