Impacts of informatics on the organization of school boards and provincial projects in Canada. A case study: the province of Québec

Education & Computing 8 (1992) 167-174 167 Elsevier

Impacts of informatics on the organization of school boards and provincial projects in Canada. A case study: the province of Qu6bec

Paul Vachon Directeur de l'Evaluation et des Ressources Didactiques, MinistOre de l'Education, 1035 Delachevrotiere, dtage 10, Qudbec QC G1R 5A5, Canada

Abstract

Vachon, P., Impacts of informatics on the organization of school boards and provincial projects in Canada. A case study: the province of Qu6bec, Education & Computing 8 (1992) 167-174.

This paper will first draw a general overview of the implementation of microcomputers in the classroom in Canada provinces: ratios, funding, hardware and software, teachers' training, results. Then, the presentation will focus on one province: Qu6bec. It will recall the main events that have occured over the last six or seven years in the main aspects of the implementation of new technologies.

The paper will mainly focus on the organisation of 35 regional "enrichment centres" scattered in all eleven regions of Quebec and it will describe the mission of these centres towards other school districts. Finally, the paper will draw some conclusions on the impacts of the new technologies on school organizations and on management of the classroom.

Keywords: CEMISTHEQUE (software library); centres for developing microcomputer use in schools (centres d'enrichissement en micro-informatique--cEMiS); computers in education, educational software; electronic information systems; networks; new technologies; pedagogical applications of computers; school administration; software evaluation; teacher training

"It is a peculiarity o f man that he can only live by looking to the future. A n d this is his salvation in even the most difficult momen t s o f his existence." - - Victor Frankl, Man 's Search fo r Meaning

Introduction

At first glance the title of this conference, " Impac t s of Informat ics on the Organ iza t ion of Educa t ion" , seemed self-evident to me. W h e n I

agreed last D e c e m b e r to give a paper on this subject, I initially thought that I should repor t on the impact that in tegra t ing computers into the cur r icu lum had had on the organiza t ion of the school, in other words, that I should explain how the new technologies had changed what happens in the classroom. I soon real ized that this was not such a simple mat ter , that the impacts, at least on

the school systems, were not that apparent . Wha t

does appear inevitable to me, however, is that the new technologies are going to change the school - - i n d e e d they must change the s choo l - -o the r - wise, the school will cease to exist.

This paper will therefore focus on the following issues:

(1) Schools have not changed, but the fault lies not with the new technologies, bu t with the schools;

(2) Canada ' s s i tuat ion with regard to integrating computers into the curr iculum;

(3) the Quebec si tuation:

© 1992 - IFIP

168 P. Vachon / Impacts of informatics

• our general approach, • the Centres for developing microcomputer use

in schools (Centres d'enrichissement en micro- informatique scolaire--cEMis); (4) Changes which are beginning to occur, and

future areas of development for educational informatics.

Schools have not changed; but the fault l ies not with the New Technologies , but with the schools

At the 1991 Schools Executive Conference sponsored by IBM, Bill Daggett, Director of the Division of Occupational Education Instruction at the New York State Education Department, declared that schools today are like those in the 1940s, that what young people today have in common with their grandparents is what they study at school [1]. In his talk, which was Some- what controversial, yet thought-provoking, he provided a few striking examples: - s e c o n d a r y mathematics programs are still

chockful of algebra, geometry and trigonome- try, whereas 80 percent of jobs do not require a background in these subject areas, but instead require statistics and data management, which are still excluded from obligatory curricula;

- the language of instruction is still being taught as it has always been in the past, whereas what is needed in jobs of today and of tomorrow are technical reading and writing skills;

- Biology, Chemistry and Physics are still taught in Grades 10, 11 and 12 respectively, just as they were fifty years ago, in the order recom- mended by the National Science Foundation in 1912, that is, in alphabetical order! Despite this, there seems to be no reason not

to believe Pat Wright, principal of Carrollton High School in Georgia, who said that young people in school today will be the last generation to use textbooks as their main learning tool [2]. But the school is an institution that is slow to adapt to change. Fred Williams, superintendent of schools in the state of Kentucky, is fond of saying: " T o change schools is like moving a ceme- tery: move one body at a time." One of the main reasons for this, and the one that is surely the most serious and most troubling, is that parents - - a n d the general public--implicitly demand that

schools reproduce past models. They distrust (and they are not necessarily wrong) - new mathematics, - t h e communicative approach in language

teaching, - activity-based curricula, - the development of skills (seen as an obstacle

to the acquisition of knowledge). And teacher training is not changing any faster.

According to John Goodlad, author of a recent book on education, nowhere in the country are there preparation programs in the new content fields necessary for the future elementary teacher. All we need to do is to take a quick glance at one of the recommendations in the 1986 Holmes Group report: " In addition to majoring in an academic field, future elementary educators com- plete study in five additional areas of concentra- tion each equivalent to a minor. They would include: language and literature, mathematics, science, social science and the arts." [3]. Not a word is mentioned of introducing students and teachers to the new technologies. Yet, this is the daily lot of our children today, as it will continue to be in the future, only more so.

In the Declaration of the Paris Congress orga- nized by UNESCO in 1989, it is stated: "We de- clare that, by virtue of its [sic] important role in every society, new information technologies should form part of the culture available to the entire population. We stress the importance of progressively reorienting and training educators and other educational personnel for appropriate use of new information technologies" [4].

More and more countries have gradually come to understand the message. Although the school has still not changed significantly, more and more people are convinced that it must change and are taking the necessary steps to see that it does. And here and there we can already see signs heralding this fundamental change.

Computers in Canadian schools

Canada, it should be recalled, is a country of roughly 27 million inhabitants living in ten provinces and two territories, which are situated between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and between the United States and the Arctic Ocean. Canada is a bilingual country: English is the

P. Vachon / Impacts of informatics 169

official language in eight provinces, and New Brunswick is officially bilingual. Qu6bec is the only province where French is the official language, and over 80 percent of its population is francophone.

Education in Canada is exclusively under provincial jurisdiction and each province has its own educational system. There is no Canadian educational system or "Canadian" policy on introducing computers into schools; nor are there any national statistics on the subject. For the purposes of this paper, however, I consulted each of the provinces on current developments in this area. I will give a brief summary of the information I was able to obtain, but I cannot vouch for its total accuracy or lack of bias, as the study I conducted was far from exhaustive. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the deputy min- isters, who were kind enough to answer my ques- tions.

First of all, most provinces have a plan for integrating computers into the curriculum and in all cases the objective is to develop the skills necessary to use the computer as a tool, as op- posed to the skills that would be acquired in a computer science course. There are no significant differences in their plans. The overall c o m p u t e r - student ratio ranges from a high of 1 : 12 in British Columbia to a low of 1:30 in Prince Edward Island. It is perhaps significant that the latter is the only province where the plan for integrating computers into the curriculum is still under development. Only a pilot project in selected high schools is under way in Newfoundland. Hardware procurement funding policies show two approaches: seven of the provinces allocate specific funds, while three leave the decision of what part of the total budget should be spent on computer hardware up to the individual school boards.

Only Ontario and Qu6bec allocate specific funds for software development. Saskatchewan makes software development funding allocations a discretionary board decision while other provinces subsidize the procurement of existing software.

Finally, all provinces provide some teacher training, the in-service approach being adopted by seven provinces.

Approaches for integrating computers into the curriculum vary from one province to another and from one level of instruction to another. As a

rule, special attention is paid to measures designed to introduce students to the new technologies and to support and encourage student learning. At the elementary school level, the computer is generally used in various learning situations. These include word processing, illustration, and the development of clear thinking. In most cases, the objective is not to teach the computer program itself, but to teach those skills which are necessary to accomplish the goals of the intended learning experiences. At the junior high school level, the goals of computer education are for the students to become confident, knowledgeable users of the computer, to continue to use the computer for written expression, to begin to use the computer for information management , and to develop an informal awareness of the issues surrounding computer use. At the senior high school level, we see more and more situations of integrating the computer into various subject areas of the curriculum.

The Ministry of Education of Ontario, the wealthiest and most populated province, has provided the most funding for educational technology in Canada. Over the past five years, Ontario has invested tens of millions of dollars, both in grants to subsidize school districts for the purchase of hardware and in the development of educational software. This year Ontario has invested close to $60 million for the purchase of computers alone. The province ranking second in this respect is British Columbia, which spent $10 million on computers this year.

This brief overview offers some indication of the efforts made by all the ministries of education to introduce students and teachers to the new technologies and to develop pedagogical applications of computers. Needless to say, these efforts would have been significantly greater had recent economic conditions been more favourable. The time has not yet come when schools will be pur- chasing computers instead of textbooks and exer- cise books.

The Qu6bec situation

In 1984 the Ministry of Education of Qu6bec launched its plan for introducing computers into schools. Until then, computers had been used only in isolated cases by pioneers who were as


far-sighted as they were generous with their time and energy. At that point we were far behind and had a lot of ground to cover. The ground has not yet been covered fully to our sat isfact ion-- quantitatively at l eas t - -main ly because of economic constraints.

Spheres of actiuity in the plan for introducing computers into schools

Activities undertaken by the Ministry of Edu- cation in the area of educational informatics have occurred in the following "tradit ional" areas: - teacher training - development and experimentation, - hardware, - educational software.

Teacher training Over the past five years, school boards have

demonstrated the ability to offer their staff effective computer literacy courses. During this time, the Ministry spent over $6.5 million on professional development. This year, more than 500 in-service training sessions have been given to over 6000 teachers. Nevertheless, we estimate that over 60 percent of e lementary and secondary teachers have not yet received opportunities for professional upgrading or retraining in the pedagogical applications of computers. The overall goals of our professional development projects are chiefly to support the use of selected software and to develop learning packages to be applied directly in the classroom in accordance with curriculum objectives. The day is still far off when universities will have incorporated courses on the new information technologies into their teacher training programs.

Deuelopment and experimentation The Ministry of Education has spent over $2

million to subsidize over 850 development projects in the school boards over the past five years. These projects have mostly been geared to introducing students and teachers to computers. Since 1985, the Ministry has also subsidized forty or so experimental projects for an additional $2 million. The experiments have focused mainly on computer-based instruction, artificial intelligence and the application of robotics to education.

Hardware Each year the Ministry provides school boards

with a hardware procurement budget. For the pas t three years this budget allocation has been in the form of "matching funds": by accepting the grant, the school board agrees to invest the same amount of money from its own budget. Since 1984, the Ministry has allocated over $55 million to school boards for this purpose. The computer- student ratio in Qu6bec (K-11) is still less than 1:20, far below our objective. It must be admit- ted that recent economic conditions have not helped the situation. In addition, we have already reached the point where funds must be spent on replacing five- or six-year-old computers that have become obsolete, on increasing the capacity of existing computers or on buying more efficient peripherals (particularly printers).

Last year Francois Vaysse wrote in Le Monde that every five years the performance of computers increases tenfold [5]. Keeping pace with this phenomenon will be no mean feat.

Educational software Pierre Duguet, in his lucid account of the

problems surrounding educational software, drew special attention to the fact that " teachers cannot quickly ' leaf ' through a computer program, as they can through a school textbook to get an idea of what it is all a b o u t . . . " [6]. That is why four years ago we set up a program designed to evaluate the software available on the market. We also publish a yearly updated catalogue of the software we have evaluated and distribute it to schools. The catalogue contains a variety of information on the software, including the titles, the disciplines and grade levels concerned, the prices, and assessments of quality. Our evaluation meth- ods have been used extensively within the frame- work of an interprovincial project that has com- piled a bank of software evaluations, and we have participated in numerous exchanges with our counterparts from the Ministry of National Edu- cation of France. In all modesty, we can say that our team has acquired a level of expertise and competence that is unique in the field.

Owing to our rather special situation as a mostly francophone province within a North- American context which is predominantly anglo- phone, most of our schools do not have access to the vast number of American and Canadian edu-


cational software products in English. In the United States, for example, there are over 10,000 educational computer programs for the Apple II alone and 200 new programs are produced every year, according to Rober t Bibeau of the Ministry of Education of Qudbec. That is why six years ago we established an educational software development program with a budget of roughly $1.5 million a year. Since 1984 over 130 computer programs have been in various stages of development at 37 Qu6bec firms, and over 100 programs are now on the market, with an average development cost of $67,000 per program. In conjunction with the software firms, we have arranged a li- censing policy for school boards, with the price of the software calculated on the basis of the number of schools and their levels of instruction.

In many respects, educational software lies at the very heart of the new technologies used in the classroom, which explains why we have given it special attention.

Centres for developing microcomputer use in the schools

For three years now, the main thrust of our efforts to integrate computers into the curriculum has been to establish Centres for developing microcomputer use in the schools (Centres d 'enrichissement en micro-informatique sco la i re - - CEMIS). The aim was to develop different models allowing for the gradual introduction of computers into the curriculum, the goal being to establish a centre in each of the 200 school boards in Qu6bec. The first phase of the project involved setting up regional centres throughout Qu6bec. The mission of these centres is threefold: (1) to test and validate the means for implementing educational technology, through specific projects, (2) to provide the school boards in their regions with the support and information needed to use the computer as a teaching and learning tool, 3) to serve as models for the school boards in their regions so that the boards might eventually set up their own CEMIS.

A total of 35 regional centres have been set up in the 11 regions of Qu6bec. Of these, three may be described as "supraregional" with a special mission in the areas of vocational education (C.S. St-Jean-sur-Richelieu), adult education (C.S. Blainville-Deux-Montagnes) and teaching disabled students (Montr6al Catholic School Com-

mission). Local CEMIS are currently being set up. At this time over 110 local centres are in opera- tion. The Ministry grants for these centres (over $9 million) have spurred school boards in turn to invest more than $5 million in the regional centres in particular.

The activities conducted in these regional centres are many and varied. The most important ones concern the production of computer-assisted instructional material, such as learning packages that can be applied in the classroom, and models for using specific technologies (e.g. robotics or electronic information systems). The regional CEMrS also work in cooperation with the Ministry and other organizations to arrange in-service training sessions, to evaluate educational software and to conduct experiments.

This year, in conjunction with the regional school board of Lac-Saint-Jean, the Ministry has set up a software library (CEM~STHEOUE), which houses and distributes a wide selection of computer-assisted instructional material developed by different school boards and other parties involved in educational computing. The CEM~STHEOUE has already published a catalogue of over 200 available products, enabling school boards throughout the province to pool their resources.

The establishment of the IRIS electronic com- munications network is also worth mentioning. This network has been remarkably successful, as evidenced by the large number of current users and the constantly growing number of new sub- scribers. The 35 regional CEM~S were linked up with the local CEMIS and with other parties involved in educational informatics. Faced with the growing number of needs expressed by the users of the IRIS network, we are currently studying the possibility of creating a true educational network in Qu6bec to enable not only the school boards but also the 3000 schools to interact with one another.

In the coming years, we intend to set up a local CEMIS in each of the school boards and then to consolidate the network of regional and supraregional CEMIS. The number of regional centres should then decrease to about 20, where it will stabilize, but the centres will have a more solid manda t e , enabl ing them to fur ther strengthen their role in spearheading the introduction of the new technologies in the 11 regions of Qu6bec.


F u t u r e a r e a s o f d e v e l o p m e n t

The new technologies have so far changed neither schools nor school systems. Yet, it is inevitable that they will do so. Young people have changed, and children in 1995 will not tolerate schools left over from the 1950s. Effective knowledge today is inextricably linked with-information processing and this will be even more true in the years to come. The amount of information available is said to double every 900 days. This means that it will generally increase sixteenfold during a child's school years (K-12). Malo and Cloutier believe that " the educational system must pre- pare a growing number of young people to become information managers" [7].

There is something fascinating in all this. Al- low me to recall a few simple facts concerning the flow of information today. These facts may already be familiar to many readers, but they are still worth recalling.

Increasing rate of production 1 4000 BC (tablet) 7 character per second

2000 BC (scroll) 2 characters per second AD 1450 (print) 300 characters per second AD 1990 (printer) 20,000 characters per sec-

ond

We:

- participate in a discussion 70% - give a talk We: - do a dramatic presentation - simulate the real thing 90% - do the real thing

We know that most of the activities in which children are asked to participate still belong to the first three categories: read, hear, look.

"Micro-informatics has recently, and suddenly, pierced the core of daily life. Repercussions of its advent over the coming years will be massive, progress ive- -not to say exponent ia l - -and irre- versible," declared Pierre-Yves Maurice, a col- league at the Ministry of Education of Qu6bec [8]. Modern societies must quickly adopt the new technologies, otherwise they are apt to experi- ence major economic problems. Computers must be introduced into priority areas in education, and we must come to terms with the fact that social changes will demand major adjustments from individuals. Schools must train a technologi- cal labour force, one capable of using or produc- ing high-technology equipment.

I will conclude this paper by describing the major areas in the educational system that will most likely be affected by the new technologies within the foreseeable future.

Increasing speed of transmission Time required to send 250 words over 3000 miles: 400 BC (runner) 24 days AD 1844 (telegraph) 4 minutes AD 1985 (fiber optics) 1/1000 second AD 1990 (fiber optics) 1/100,000,000 second

It changes a lot. And it changes fast. One thing has not changed though: the rate of comprehen- sion. It is still 300 words per minute. We are beginning to understand a little how people learn. Let us examine the following:

We do We remember We read 10% We hear words 20% We look at pictures 30% We: - watch a movie - look at an exhibit 50% - watch a demonstrat ion

S c h o o l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

Although this paper deals primarily with the pedagogical applications of computers, a few words should nevertheless be said about the use of computers in school administration.

Timetables and report cards: informatics has revolutionized the formulation of school timetables, mainly by creating the possibility of individ- ualizing student timetables. This has introduced more highly personalized curricula.

Student evaluation: Informatics has enabled us to process evaluation data much more quickly and to conduct a more sophisticated analysis of results. Qudbec even has a computerized bank of measurement instruments (BIM) to which schools have access for both formative and summative evaluation.

Other administrative needs: Like the private sector, school boards quickly acquired minicom-


puters and microcomputers for their varied administrative needs. Business software is used extensively in schools. A vast computer network (EDUPAC), which links all of the school boards, is run by GRICS, a group that manages the computer resources of school boards. Most trans- actions between the school boards and the Min- istry of Education (e.g. student registration, budget operations, forwarding report cards) are car- ried out through EDUPAC. Many shared information processing systems, meeting a multitude of administrative needs in areas such as personnel, budgeting, school bussing, scheduling and report cards, have been developed by GRICS, which also manages these systems.

Pedagogical applications of computers

It is still too early in my mind to make hard and fast predictions on the true impacts of the new technologies on classroom activity. It is nevertheless reasonable to presume that the following developments will occur.

(1) Teacher training programs will change significantly, to the point where they will be largely devoted to introducing the new technologies. Similarly, experienced teachers will be required to upgrade their skills by taking computer-l i teracy courses, and this will be done much more system- atically than it has been in the past.

(2) Should the economic situation improve, the introduction of computers into the classroom will accelerate, and chances are that in a few years they will have become an everyday tool used by each teacher and student at school. Changes in school computers may also occur in terms of miniaturization and portability. One day students may very well go home at the end of the day carrying their computers and diskettes, just as they now tote their schoolbags and books.

(3) Teaching will change radically. This is already occurring in vocational education where classroom equipment closely resembles what future workers will find at the office or factory. Business and secretarial courses are being taught with the most sophisticated office equipment and software; industrial design courses include computer-assisted design; and students in auto me- chanics are learning to carry out computerized diagnostic tests. In the teaching of academic sub-

jects, hostilities have finally ceased between the partisans of courseware and those in favour of utility software. Language teaching already promises to be an area in which the use of computers will proliferate. The regional CEMIS of Argile-Bleue is already giving us a very good idea of how music will be taught in the future with the new technologies.

(4) Computers will allow for more highly indi- vidualized instruction or learning. They may finally be part of the solution to mass schooling, by offering instruction bet ter suited to each student 's individual pace of learning.

(5) Several experiments conducted here have pointed to a promising future for the computer with disabled students and students with learning difficulties, as well as with illiterate adults.

(6) Electronic information systems also appear to be an area of particular importance for the development of educational informatics. Some of our experiments in progress show great promise: students are now communicating with one another between the Western Qudbec School Board and Bologna, Italy; between the Berthier-Nord- Joli School Board and Nipissing, Ontario; and between a few other school boards and the state of New Hampshire. Electronic communication will also provide immediate access to databases outside the school. The library will gradually be replaced by on-line databases that will constantly be kep t up-to-date.

(7) Even extracurricular activities will change. Student newspapers, for example, are even now being prepared from A to Z by the students themselves, who are managing to give them a near-professional look with the aid of computers.

Conclusion

Dr. John Stoessinger, political analyst, well- known professor and former Director of Political Affairs at the United Nations, tells the following anecdote: A young high school graduate was called for an interview for a summer job. The interview barely begun, he asked his potential employer: - - "Tell me, what would happen if I drove my car at the speed of light and put on my head- lights?" - - " I have no idea!"

174 P. Vachon / Impac ts of informatics

- - " I f you don't know, then I'm not sure I want to work for your company."

This story clearly illustrates the new relation- ship that must be forged between the school and the students. The new technologies have not yet made pronounced changes in our educational system, but profound transformations are looming on the horizon. Gilbert Paquette, a professor at T61&Universit6 in Montreal, already predicts that teachers will soon have at their disposal "computer aids linking them to media libraries, muse- ums, educational TV stations and telecommuni- cation services"; and he believes that each school should have a "consultant in the new technologies" [9].

All this is bound to occur because " the demo- graphic, economic, social and cultural realities of the end of the 20th century require a new and different educational system" [10].

[2] P. Wright, Classroom of the 21st century, Paper presented at the Schools Executive Conference at Orlando, Florida, February 11, 1991.

[3] Holmes Group, Tomorrow's teachers, 1986. [4] unesco, Declaration of the Paris Congress 1989, in: Proc.

Internat. Congress on Education and Informatics: Strengthening International Cooperation, Vol. 2 (Paris, April 1989) 747-755.

[5] Francois Vaysse, Le Monde (1990). [6] P. Duguet, Logiciels 6ducatifs: comment choisir, L'ob-

servateur de I'OCDE (April-May 1989). [7] F. Malo and J.-F. Cloutier, De la plume d'oie ~ la souris,

Bip-Bip 54 (Ministry of Education of Quebec, Jan. 1990) 26.

[8] P.-Y. Maurice, New relationships between partners in education, in: Proc. Internat. Congress on Education and Informatics: Strengthening International Cooperation, Vol. 1 (Paris, April 1989) 148.

[9] G. Paquette, La ville cognitive de l'an 2000: chantiers 6ducatifs et culturels, Paper presented at the OCDE Seminar on Cities and New Technologies (Paris, Nov. 1990).

[10] D.P. Doyle, Business Week (1989).

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t

Translation by Jocelyne Lauzi~re, Coordina- tion du d6veloppement p6dagogique en langue anglaise (CDPLA), Minist~re de l't~ducation du Quebec.

R e f e r e n c e s

[1] W.R. Daggett, Preparing for employment in the 1990s: The challenge to education, Paper presented at the Schools Executive Conference at Orlando, Florida, February 11, 1987.

Paul Vachon was born in Montr6al, Canada, in 1943. He studied French and Canadian literature and History, Informatics and Public Administra- tion at universities of Montr6al and Laval. He has been a high school teacher for a few years, school principal and then director of instructional services in a school district near Qu6bec City. Mr. Vachon now acts as the executive director of the evaluation and teaching resources department for the Ministry of Education

and has been with this department for the last ten years. He has been associated with many organizations in Canada, in the US and in Europe, both as a consultant and a presenter, in the fields of instructional evaluation and teaching resources. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Agency for Instructional Technology (Bloomington, Indi- ana).

Documents

Impacts of informatics on the organization of school boards and provincial projects in Canada. A case study: the province of Québec