Table of Contents

 

TopADVISORY BOARD ON ENGLISH EDUCATION

Chair

Gretta Chambers

Members

Hugh Auger
Maria Baldassare
Jocelyne Bergeron (as of May 1996)
Ann Cumyn
David D'Aoust (as of May 1996)
Shirley Duncan
Charley Levy (as of May 1996)
Donald Houston
Diane McLean
Antoinette Modric
Garfield Mullins (as of May 1996)
Michael Palumbo
Frank Pettinicchio (as of May 1996)
Peter Riordon
Wendy Sturton
W. Duffie Van Balkom (as of May 1996)
Leo Venditti
William Young

Ex Officio

Elaine Freeland

Secretary

Lynn Travers

Secretarial Support Services

Mireille Laroche

 

 

Top  INTRODUCTION

 

"We are preparing to take advantage of the opportunities created by a world in a constant state of flux. We have begun to redefine our classrooms of the future, in fundamental ways, because we believe our schools can no longer operate in isolation from the rest of the world. Our classrooms must embrace a global perspective and employ technology as a means to escape the limited "four-wall" mind-set. . . . As education funding continues to shrink, these new technologies will assist us in getting on with the task of equipping our students with the necessary skill sets needed to compete in a global market. It is imperative that all students and teachers begin to use and acquire an understanding of the new tools of information retrieval and manipulation. . . . Our students need help in finding new ways to reach out and learn from each other. Teachers must no longer see themselves as content providers when global networks are quickly taking over that task. Teachers must embrace their new role as context providers." [1]

 

 At a time when the reform of education is under way and there is mounting pressure to integrate the new information and communication technologies in schools, the Advisory Board on English Education has tried to identify some of the opportunities for and barriers to an effective implementation of technological developments, in order to allow English schools to take full advantage of the new technologies for the enhancement of learning. To this end we have focused on the four key elements of the educational process most conducive to change: the role of the teacher, student learning, school organization and the need to expand the present technological network throughout the school system.

The subject of this report is the integration of the new information and communication technologies (NICT) in the classroom. By the NICT we mean, but do not always specify, all electronic information search, retrieval, storage, transmittal and networking systems, notably computers and their associated technologies: on-line communication, graphics processing, music processing, desktop publishing and multi-media, to name a few.

Transforming schools for the integration of the NICT will require coherent planning and action on the part of the school boards and schools themselves, with the ministère de l'Éducation taking the leadership role in the whole integration process. In an era of restructuring and diminishing financial resources, planning must include innovative and imaginative measures which respond to the following questions:
 "As we approach the 21st century, accessing, manipulating and communicating information are central functions of our society. Processing information from an ever-widening array of resources and applying that information to communicate and to make quality decisions is central to functional literacy. Modern information skills underpin collaboration for continuing to learn, accessing collective expertise, creating new knowledge, solving problems, and overall productivity. To meet the needs of the upcoming citizenry, tech-nology is the prime enabling vehicle for carrying out these critical functions." [2]

 

Top TECHNOLOGY: NOT MORE AND FASTER BUT DIFFERENTLY AND BETTER

The ability to use the NICT is becoming a more and more pressing requirement in the workplace and so there is a sense of urgency that education systems today provide students with the necessary skills and with access to the information superhighway. Concern is expressed that children who are not plugged into this huge and growing web of knowledge will be less well educated because they won't know how to apply this abundance of information to productive ends.

School is the common ground where all students can acquire the skills associated with the comfortable use of technology. The NICT in themselves are effective tools for teaching and provide incentives to learning and methods of communication. An American study [3], however, showed that most teachers who use technologies use them in traditional ways, to do what they have always done more efficiently. As Christopher Dede, Professor of Information Technology and Education at George Mason University, explains, "Our first instinct is to use technology to do the same thing faster."[4] And indeed, all the empirical data shows that this instinct is universal.

The introduction of the NICT must be expanded well beyond the word processing level to incorporate the full range of their inherent possibilities. The new technologies break the isolation factor. They provide access to ideas and open the way to interactive pedagogical approaches. Computers allow for the adaptation of the learning environment to students' needs. They focus interest and have the potential to diminish discipline problems. They facilitate teamwork and encourage concentration and calm. "It's not how many buttons students can push, but whether we can use technology to spark thoughtfulness and interaction."[5]

In-school access provides opportunities for students to work with good educational software, to use word processing, to engage in problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills, to create multi-media presentations.

Students who are denied full access to the educational advantages that accrue from a familiarity with the personal and pedagogical uses of computers are disadvantaged today and will be more so tomorrow. In schools, the syndrome of the computer specialist must be replaced with the common touch.

 

Top  THE ENGLISH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

The ministère de l'Éducation must ensure that the education provided in English schools is of equal quality to that of the French sector. To do so, the English school, particularly the small school, must be given the means to develop the capacity to build on its strengths. It must be able to compensate when direct services and resources are lacking.

The expansion of technologies in the classroom has particular relevance, therefore, for the English school system. The population it serves is geographically dispersed and structurally fragmented and more than fifty per cent of its schools have less than 200 students. Through technology, access can be provided to the best available learning opportunities, approaches to teaching and learning not possible in the traditional closed classroom with limited resources.

 

Top  Classrooms without Walls

In 1992, the Task Force on English Education was established to provide the Minister of Education with an evaluation of Québec's English school system. Since that time, the setting up of a Small Schools Network has helped to mitigate the isolation of small schools and their lack of adequate resources. Creating links among all schools was seen as one way of providing support for schools which traditionally have been "out of the loop." This network has proved successful, offering many small schools multiple opportunities to have access to new and exciting resources.

"Pedagogy is at the heart of the network, the core that brings teachers from unique and diverse situations together. Participating teachers are supported in developing projects that reflect the unique qualities of their school, students and individual teaching styles." [6] SHARE (Share and Read Enthusiastically), for example, allows students six years old and up from across Québec to share their interest and enthusiasm for reading. Students learn to use a database application to prepare records and comments about their favourite books. The records are then compiled and sent out to participating classes at regular intervals.

The Centres d'enrichissement informatique scolaire (CEMIS) have been instrumental in building and supporting the telecommunication network across Québec that makes these projects possible. At the present time there are five English service CEMIS. In certain regions these CEMIS have played a critical leadership role in both the pedagogical and technical domains, offering in-service training and support. Sometimes covering a vast territory, they have provided vital services to English schools, such as introducing new software, developing the use of multi-media presentations, troubleshooting and cajoling teachers into using the NICT. Now more and more CEMIS are giving pedagogical support and the boards are assuming greater responsibility for providing their schools with technical back-up.

It is apparent, however, that in serving the English sector the CEMIS animators are stretched to the limit in terms of time and resources. The reasons for this vary. Outside Montréal these resource people must cover very large territories and are often unable to visit a school more than once a year. The need for human contact is very important in building teachers' trust and commitment to the NICT. We would urge school boards, then, to take note of this valuable resource. Planning for the most rational use of this expertise, for example, in helping to train competent resource people at the level of the school, would be one way of making use of these limited resources. For its part, the ministère de l'Éducation must ensure that funding for the CEMIS is maintained.

Other technological initiatives have also been launched in our English schools. The Alabama Science Project, from the University of Alabama, was introduced by the English services at Radio Québec (Québec School Television). This integrated program of chemistry, ecology, physics, biology and other sciences is presented through electronic media and videos to students at Elementary 6 and Secondary 1 and 2 levels. The material is kept up-to-date and students follow lessons which involve in-class and interactive situations. It is already providing some 77 teachers with a different approach to teaching science.

Another activity, a collaborative project between the Services à la communauté anglophone of the ministère de l'Éducation and the school boards, addresses the problem of improving performance in mathematics. Technology is used to support the implementation of the new secondary schools mathematics programs, particularly in the remoter areas where schools do not have the services of a math consultant. This electronic network will help teachers establish and maintain links with colleagues, consultants and resource people for the sharing of expertise. It will also afford them electronic access to various resource materials.

 

Top  Expanding the Resource Base

Our schools continue to experience difficulties over access to program-appropriate textbooks in some subject areas. In certain instances the cost factor, due to the small number of students, curtails the production of high quality materials that meet program requirements. Our report, Textbooks and Teaching Materials suggested that "a careful examination of the electronic teaching and learning resources" be made. [7] We would like at this time to reiterate the point. There is a vast wealth of complementary resource material now available electronically that teachers are more or less aware of: textbooks on-line, CD-ROMs and information on the Internet. There is a need to direct teachers to those sources where they can find appropriate materials of good quality, and to foster the development of supplementary resource material by teacher groups.

The Gestion du réseau informatique des commissions scolaires (GRICS), which has for a long time been a provider of administrative services and of a bank of examination items to the boards, is now expanding its mandate to offer pedagogical material to teachers. It is essential that the needs of English schools not be forgotten and that materials be developed for them.

 

Top  Biliteracy Imperative

The biliteracy imperative that faces English schools is a unique dimension of the English school experience. The myriad initiatives taken to meet the challenge of promoting biliteracy among its students have still received no recognition or support from the ministère de l'Éducation. The Advisory Board's last report, Language Learning in the English Schools of Québec: A Biliteracy Imperative, [8] stressed the importance of having appropriate teaching materials, not only for the teaching of French as a second language but also for other subjects taught in French. Through the Internet, the NICT offer the means of supporting the quality of French language learning by providing sites where pedagogical resources can be made easily available. A modest start has been made through the Small Schools Network. It is important that the needs of the English schools in French second language teaching not be overlooked when French language learning material is being developed.

 

Top  Partnerships

Partnerships provide English schools with valuable extra resources and expertise. One school board has formed a partnership with Northern Telecom and benefits from the expertise of an engineer, while another school board receives reconditioned computers from Bell (see Appendix C). Whereas local partnering responds to the specific requirements of schools, there is an important role for the ministère de l'Éducation to play in promoting partnerships that respond to broader objectives and especially those that forge links within the English educational community.

Partnership initiatives in other educational jurisdictions have, for example, promoted professional dialogue among teachers through electronic bulletin boards. Teachers can 'chat' with their peers about pedagogy and curriculum issues in either English or French. With the capacity to provide e­mail access to the Internet and to hook into professional databases, these bulletin boards also encourage teachers to learn about telecommunication use.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(1) That ministère de l'Éducation policies or initiatives for developing new resources for the new information and communication technologies (NICT) recognize and support the crucial role that the NICT must play in guaranteeing the viability of English schools in Québec.

(2) That the ministère de l'Éducation encourage the development of teaching and learning materials and make them accessible on the Internet, particularly for French second language instruction.

(3) That the ministère de l'Éducation guarantee continued funding for the CEMIS.

 

Top THE ROLE OF TEACHERS IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

The challenge for teachers in adapting new technologies to how and what they teach and how and what students learn is enormous. The idea that teachers can involve students from many different disciplinary perspectives presupposes that they have already developed effective pedagogical approaches to integrating the NICT. In the new "take" on learning opened up by technologies, a fundamental shift in beliefs about teaching and learning has to occur. The role of the teacher undergoes a radical change to that of guide and facilitator, whose importance lies in knowing how to find the answer.

The concepts in learning that favour this approach-collaborative learning, constructive learning and apprenticeships-are not new, but they are difficult for teachers to sustain on their own. Technology can help provide practical support and intellectual stimulation as well as expand the repertoire of what works.

The use of the NICT involves more than video presentation, word processing and other generic programs for developing specific computer skills. These will remain the norm, however, until the MEQ requires that faculties of education and school administrations assist teachers in getting up to technological speed. If computers are to provide an empowering student-centred learning environment, the technology alone will not do it. Teachers are the key to making the NICT work for the students. They are the ones who must first embrace the technology and then anticipate classroom change that will allow its widespread use. To do this, the greatest barrier of all must be overcome-the time teachers need to learn and explore its uses. Teachers need time to learn.

 

Top  Initial Teacher Education

Teachers are the key to the effective integration of technology. They shape the learning environment. The education of teachers in the use of technology is as important as introducing technology into the classroom. The successful use of the NICT to promote student learning depends in large part on the technological comfort and skill of teachers.

The problem of teacher education in this area is just beginning to be addressed. Increasingly, school boards ask that new teachers be computer-literate, yet technological literacy has not been an exit requirement for pre-service teachers. Most education faculties across Canada offer little more than an optional three-credit course in educational technology. Familiarity with new technologies and their integration into the curriculum should become a requirement of the new four-year teacher education program. In future, technological pedagogy should be integrated into all aspects of teacher education.

RECOMMENDATION

(4) That the ministère de l'Éducation require all methods courses in teacher education to address the integration of the NICT into the process of learning.

 

Top  Teacher Time, In-service Training and Support

Teachers need to be motivated and encouraged to realize the potential of the computer. It is no longer acceptable that only a few teachers in a school use computers on a regular basis. This raises issues of access and equity for the student. Teachers need to be convinced that the use of the new technologies, once mastered, is not an add-on to their workload, but a means of enriching the learning environment and stimulating students. If the goal is to bring computers into the classroom, the how and the for whom must be worked out. Teachers must find out how the use of the NICT affects the way students construct knowledge. They must create a sense of ownership among themselves and the students on integrating technology into teaching practice, since technology is changing the manner in which both teachers teach and students learn.

If the management of the technological project is to come from teachers, they will need time to think through as well as to study for the effective integration of computers into their teaching and the students' learning. They need time to become familiar with the software available and how to evaluate it. They need time to explore programs, learn to install software and demonstrate its use, develop lesson plans that include the use of the computer and troubleshoot minor problems with equipment.

Teachers must have the time to confer with each other and the opportunity to collaborate across subjects (cross­curricula projects) in new ways, e.g. multi-media projects. They must be encouraged to share information on teaching strategies and to build consensus on the goals of technology in the classroom. There is a cost to time. Providing the teachers with the opportunities needed to develop a new set of capacities must be supported by the ministère de l'Éducation.

All indications are that teaching will be transformed by the new technologies, from content to context. In-service training, therefore, should be readily available throughout the teacher's career. If the computer is to become an essential tool in the classroom, teachers need to keep themselves up-to-date to use it effectively, comfortably and with sustained enthusiasm. The ministère de l'Éducation should ensure that in-service training is provided at the school or board level.

In-service training should be voluntary. All planning needs to involve the teachers and address their needs. In-service sessions can be a useful vehicle to introduce teachers to new ideas and uses, to teach a few rudimentary technical troubleshooting skills and to allow teachers to explore new software.

Many of the skills required to make the best use of the NICT are not directly linked to technological expertise. In a teaching and learning setting, thinking skills, an understanding of the ethical questions associated with the retrieval of vast amounts of information, organizational and analytical abilities and a keen sense of communication are all human skills fundamental to the wise and effective integration of developing technologies. The school environment must become conducive to the development of these skills and attitudes.

School principals will play a key role in creating the right environment for the integration of the NICT. Without their active involvement and ongoing support as facilitators, it is unlikely that any meaningful change will take place. It is at the level of the school that the opportunities will be found to create time for teachers to share, be mentors, gain expertise, plan and innovate. Placing computers in staff rooms or workrooms, allowing teachers to take computers home and facilitating links throughout the school or with other schools are just some of the ways principals have supported teachers.

School boards that have been successful in integrating the NICT have developed policies in partnership with their schools, planned for the provision of special funding for the purchase of hardware and for in-service training and instituted a system of support for teachers. At one school board, for example, a technician is assigned to the computer lab and another to the administrative and secretarial services and a teacher expert is released to provide pedagogical support. Teachers need to have easy access to a resource person. Unless the right support people are in place, teachers will be reluctant to invest their time and effort on technology-based projects. Some boards have taken other initiatives to provide incentive and encouragement to teachers, such as negotiating special rates for teachers wishing to purchase computers for home use.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(5) That the ministère de l'Éducation support the efforts of school boards to ensure that teachers have access to appropriate NICT.

(6) That the ministère de l'Éducation support the efforts of school boards to ensure that teachers have access to appropriate pedagogical and technical expertise and support.

(7) That the ministère de l'Éducation support local initiatives for professional improvement in relation to the integration of the NICT into the schools.

(8) That the ministère de l'Éducation encourage local pedagogical initiatives that allow teachers the time to integrate the NICT into their teaching and student learning across the curriculum.

 

Top  STUDENT LEARNING

 

 The use of the NICT, as has previously been stated, is transforming the way students learn and teachers teach. It holds the promise of creating a better quality learning environment that empowers the learner. It provides opportunities for self-directed and independent learning while allowing teachers to accommodate individual learning needs, abilities and learning styles. Thus, students can work at their own pace with access to software or information sources that enhance their learning experience, whether they are seeking to increase their learning opportunities or to practise their skills.

The assimilation of the knowledge students are exposed to by the NICT is an ongoing process rather than an end in itself. The potential for the construction of knowledge is vastly enhanced by the multi-dimensional access to information.
"Recent advances in technology mean that almost all students can now access and use computers in personally meaningful ways that help them communicate and learn. The computer provides a student-centred learning environment that is truly empowering. It allows the student to exercise control and act purposefully to achieve a desired goal. Perhaps most important, learning with computers can be fun for students who have experienced excessive amounts of failure in conventional teaching situations. And computers provide a good context for celebrating students' learning achievements." [9]

Learners in small schools and remote areas will have access to a wider menu of options and will be able to "beam in" the best teacher specialists and other experts who are available to share their expertise. The Small Schools Network has developed a telescience project that is designed to provide students in remote areas with access to a teacher specialist in Montréal. The project offers students an optional physics course at the Secondary V level with its accompanying resource material. It also gives them a chance to interact and collaborate with a peer group who share their academic interests (see Appendix D).

The NICT, particularly multi-media computers, are increasingly being used to support the teaching of students with special needs. For each child, educational software can be selected to complement and reinforce the classroom objectives. These highly interactive software packages provide a stimulating, entertaining and engaging environment in which to learn. These talking machines have infinite patience. They are well suited to teaching and reinforcing simple cognitive and motor skills as well as more complex conceptual and social skills. For the English sector this technology is especially important. The integration of children with special needs into the regular stream, the scattered professional and material resources in the currently fragmented English sector, and the large number of small schools make the use and adaptation of this technology essential. The new technologies provide vital learning opportunities for these children through the expertise inherent in the educational software itself.

The NICT provide us with the opportunity to enrich the scope of human interaction. The use of the new technologies does not negate the importance of good communication between teacher and students. Students will have access to enormous quantities of information of good, bad and indifferent quality. They will be required not only to understand how the different technological tools work and how to use them productively in searching, collecting, organizing, processing and presenting information but also to develop a set of attitudes towards their use. Under the guidance of the teacher, students will need to learn to become critical users of information. They will need to learn when to discard what is irrelevant, inappropriate or false. They will need to develop an understanding of ethical issues, such as right to privacy, copying, licensing and intellectual property, in order to make informed and responsible decisions about the information to which they have access.

Many secondary and some elementary school students spend little time at the computer. There are no specific ministère de l'Éducation requirements at each level of schooling regarding computer use, though we know of at least one school board that is attempting to put these in place. In order to promote the use of new technologies schools must know what is expected of them. What skills and attitudes should be developed? When should they be acquired and how?

Then there is the problem of access. Parents have certainly expressed their concern in this area. Access to computers is not simply a question of computer-to-student ratios. All students should have access to flexible learning time and opportunities for cooperative learning based on a curriculum that promotes the computer as a significant tool for learning. Students who do not have access to computers at home are at a disadvantage, so efforts must be made to familiarize students with the new technologies in school time and by providing access to computers outside the classroom experience. English students in rural areas, however, may be further penalized, as busing schedules prevent after-school activities. Innovative solutions must be found to increase access to computers for students in this situation.

Boards have told us that obsolescence is not a problem: older model computers still have a valuable role to play and a range of computers with different "abilities" can equally well serve the different needs of the students. It is important that access be geared to the acquisition of computing "abilities" or "powers." The ministère de l'Éducation must bear more responsibility for keeping the technological capabilities of our schools up-to-date.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(9) That the ministère de l'Éducation provide support to school boards to encourage ready access for students to appropriate NICT at every level of schooling.

(10) That the ministère de l'Éducation adapt the curriculum requirements to integrate the use of the NICT into the process of learning, with particular emphasis on the development of the critical faculty for the appropriate selection and ethical use of information.

 

Top  SCHOOL ORGANIZATION

As our schools move forward into the next millennium, they are discovering that the forces of change around them will no longer allow them to do business in the old way. Thus, the educational community is in the throes of generating a new set of core assumptions about how schools ought to be organized.

Obvious barriers such as the top-down, rigid, compartmentalized curriculum, low teacher autonomy, externally prescribed working conditions and reliance on quantitative measures of student progress are being questioned. If the integration of the NICT is seen as being instrumental in preparing our students for the future, then one of the responses of the ministère de l'Éducation must be to provide an appropriate environment in which students will learn to handle the complexities of the information age.

The school needs to have the latitude to take charge of its own change process. Minor changes, importing successful models from elsewhere, and top-down changes without meaningful bottom-up collegiality will not accomplish the required transformation. The wide disparity among the schools makes the imposition of a set model unworkable. There must, therefore, be room for schools to plan and organize according to their size, student body and resources. Each school needs to reconceptualize the ways in which it uses people, time, facilities and other resources. The goals of this reorganization must be student-centred: to provide students with equal and extended access to the NICT and to foster independent and collaborative work in an environment that accommodates a wide range of talents and abilities.

This cannot be done on a rigid timetable of set periods, as the current régime pédagogique appears to prescribe. Blocks of time must be available for the exploration of the integration of subject matter and for the encouragement of cooperative learning through collaboration on projects in which students demonstrate what they have learned by producing a text, a table, a multi-media presentation, a drawing or a piece of music. The possibilities for the enhancement of teaching and learning through the NICT are wide and growing. Using them to advantage requires that time be seen, not so much as a prescribed allocation to each subject matter, but as a space in which the learning of subject matter in all its forms takes place. Flexible timetabling, in other words, an innovative use of time, makes team teaching possible and encourages teachers to work together with students.

Structure is maintained by the teacher who acts as a guide to learning rather than simply as its transmittor. From the grouping of the desks in a classroom to the organization of patterns of learning, the teacher's role is pivotal in organizing a student-centred, learning-oriented environment.

Understandably, teachers have a desire to hold onto what works and many fear change. They are constrained by the present expectations of the curriculum, especially at the secondary level where the emphasis is often laid on getting students through examinations. Teacher initiatives to work with others across the curriculum or to explore the potential of the new technologies are inhibited by workload assignments. Teachers must be allowed to take ownership of the changes required by schools if the implementation of the NICT as teaching tools is to take place. They cannot do this without the time and space to participate in the planning of the school day. Their input is essential to any useful rethinking of school organization to incorporate the technological dimension of teaching and learning. Teachers' unions have a major role to play in the reorganization of English schools. The allocation of resources, the use of time by teachers to confer, innovate and integrate, the organization of student timetables and the use of facilities have to respond to the requirements of teaching and learning.

Schools that have successfully managed the introduction and development of teaching methods incorporating the NICT have all begun the process by familiarizing teachers and students with the technology. Only when computers have become part of the culture of the school are their multiple uses introduced into the curriculum of the school. By then, teachers are equipped with the skills, hardware and software to put technology to work.

If teachers are the key to the effective implementation of the NICT in classrooms, school principals are the key to opening up the schools to the technological revolution. Without their motivation and commitment, the conventional school will continue to be inhospitable to the new ways of teaching and learning.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(11) That ministère de l'Éducation policy promote the interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches that are emerging with the expanding use of the NICT.

(12) That the ministère de l'Éducation, school boards and teachers' unions establish conditions for a more innovative and flexible use of teachers' time to better respond to the integration of the NICT.

(13) That the ministère de l'Éducation encourage schools to develop the organizational structures that support the integration of the NICT.

 

Top  EXPANDING THE NETWORK

An important part of the mandate of the Task Force on English Education was to examine the situation of the school with fewer than 200 students, as many English schools fall into this category. As the task force report stated at the time, "Many cannot offer a complete range of programs and services. [They] can therefore be seen as a problem or, conversely, as an opportunity to offer learning on a human scale and to use informal approaches." [10] It was recommended that an "English Small School Service" be established "to set up links among small schools across Québec and between small schools and larger schools with specialized expertise."

As already mentioned, its aim was to address the isolation factor and so the Small Schools Network was designed within the ministère de l'Éducation to promote exchanges among classes and teachers. Today, the network links 140 schools and 250 users, who can select from 25 projects which have been developed to date (see Appendix G). Two CEMIS animators and a group of teachers and other professionals have played a key role in expanding this network through their particular expertise and support.

Out of these efforts to plug small schools into a wider teaching environment have come valuable learning experiences: both pedagogical and technical "how-to." The Small Schools Network's collaborative project, "The Newspaper Across the Province," for Elementary 6 students has provided a point of comparison for both teachers and students. Standards are raised as much by peer pressure as by practice. Teachers and students alike have learned a lot about what the technology can do for them. It has provided them with a reason to write, a new and wider audience and a different means of communication and publication.

A relatively new aspect of the technological revolution as it affects schools is the proliferation of world wide Web sites or Web pages. Hundreds of schools around the world are constructing individual sites to describe their schools and their achievements. As these sites multiply, they offer unlimited possibilities for electronic communication to thousands of users. Soon everyone will be able to build a Web site, as simplified construction programs become increasingly available. It is therefore an ideal time for the ministère de l'Éducation to provide the basic infrastructure for such sites making possible links to dozens of separate educational topics or specialities.

The potential of such a ministère de l'Éducation site is enormous. Small schools would be able to link up and access all sorts of curriculum materials. Examinations could be made available to students and teachers to download for practice. Special interest groups, such as outdoor educators, subject associations and so on, would be able to leave information and find answers to particular problems.

Recently, the Small Schools Network established a site on the World Wide Web known as the Small Schools Network Project Centre, which is dedicated to giving teachers information about and access to ongoing projects in the English schools in Québec and around the world. It will break the isolation of some schools and contribute to an ever-expanding virtual community. Not only will the development of the Web site be instrumental in shaping the way that teachers use Internet resources, it has the potential to expand into a much wider-based English Schools Network.

The development of this site is extremely important to the English sector as it could include all schools in a comprehensive network. It would be able to bring together various initiatives, to be used by the participants for a multitude of purposes: linking schools, accessing expertise, increasing availability of pedagogical material in both languages, widening access to information and so on. An eventual English Schools Network will be a dynamic system and a number of factors will be important to its growth. Coordinating this expanding network will be essential. It will require constant updating and management to keep up with new content and new developments. The suitability of the pedagogical material placed on the site will depend on critical judgment and professional expertise, and the CEMIS could play an important role in promoting and helping teachers to use and adapt the material. The availability of useful pedagogical material of good quality will be instrumental in bringing the schools on-line.

RECOMMENDATION

(14) That an English Schools Network be supported by the ministère de l'Éducation with the necessary resources to ensure that it can offer and maintain on-line a wide menu of pedagogical, administrative and professional growth options for the English school system.

 

Top  RECOMMENDATIONS

 

 The English School Experience:

(1) That ministère de l'Éducation policies or initiatives for developing new resources for the new information and communication technologies (NICT) recognize and support the crucial role that the NICT must play in guaranteeing the viability of English schools in Québec.

(2) That the ministère de l'Éducation encourage the development of teaching and learning materials and make them accessible on the Internet, particularly for French second language instruction.

(3) That the ministère de l'Éducation guarantee continued funding for the CEMIS.

 

 The Role of Teachers in the Technological Revolution:

Initial Teacher Education:

(4) That the ministère de l'Éducation require all methods courses in teacher education to address the integration of the NICT into the process of learning.

Teacher Time, In-service Training and Support:

(5) That the ministère de l'Éducation support the efforts of school boards to ensure that teachers have access to appropriate NICT.

(6) That the ministère de l'Éducation support the efforts of school boards to ensure that teachers have access to appropriate pedagogical and technical expertise and support.

(7) That the ministère de l'Éducation support local initiatives for professional improvement in relation to the integration of the NICT into the schools.

(8) That the ministère de l'Éducation encourage local pedagogical initiatives that allow teachers the time to integrate the NICT into their teaching and student learning across the curriculum.

 

 Student Learning:

(9) That the ministère de l'Éducation provide support to school boards to encourage ready access for students to appropriate NICT at every level of schooling.

(10) That the ministère de l'Éducation adapt the curriculum requirements to integrate the use of the NICT into the process of learning, with particular emphasis on the development of the critical faculty for the appropriate selection and ethical use of information.

 

 School Organization:

(11) That ministère de l'Éducation policy promote the interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches that are emerging with the expanding use of the NICT.

(12) That the ministère de l'Éducation, school boards and teachers' unions establish conditions for a more innovative and flexible use of teachers' time to better respond to the integration of the NICT.

(13) That the ministère de l'Éducation encourage schools to develop the organizational structures that support the integration of the NICT.

 

 Expanding the Network:

(14) That an English Schools Network be supported by the ministère de l'Éducation with the necessary resources to ensure that it can offer and maintain on-line a wide menu of pedagogical, administrative and professional growth options for the English school system.