This symposium will focus on various aspects of information and communication technology in education in Belgium, France, Greece, and Canada. Topics will include the educational impacts of learning how to code, learning with MOOCs, information literacy, and distance education for teachers in northern Canada. In a few short years, technologies have made unprecedented inroads into schools worldwide. For example, over 15,000,000 students are using tablets in class every day, and over 20,000,000 are using laptops. This extensive technology presence in education is due as much to its appeal as to its oft-claimed potential for education: that it motivates students to learn. In recent years, technology has been gaining significant ground, not just in the day-to-day lives of the young and not-so-young, but also at school, where many believe it to be the very future of education. According to many, technology has transformed society from top to bottom, and particularly in terms of education and what the public expects education systems to deliver. In the Google age, people are deluged with information. Thanks to technology, the entire world can be viewed through a digital lens, and teachers can access this knowledge at will via interactive smartboards or students’ laptops and tablets. The philosopher Michel Serres views the exponential growth of technology as an alarming societal shift, equaled only by the invention of writing—against which Socrates strenuously warned us—, or perhaps Gutenberg’s printing press. Others fear that the widespread and startling invasion of technology into classrooms will completely destroy so-called traditional interpersonal relations, and that peer relationships will be preferred and fostered over hierarchical ones. Some authors consider this a major advantage: “It is the cherished idea of Edgar Morin that enters the classroom: a form of teaching that considers the world in its inclusiveness, that situates students in a climate of autonomy and interaction so that they can construct relationships between knowledge, between the school and the world, with responsibility for their own learning” [our translation]. Decision makers also see in technology—and with good reason—a solution for improving students’ academic performance. Others believe that technology provides new ways for young people to learn through a permanent Internet connection. Still others expect technology to provide limitless opportunities for formal and informal learning. Further to this last point, we note that recent technosocial changes have led us to rethink what the term “digital divide” means. Originally understood as unequal access to technology, it is increasingly associated with the inequalities that perpetuate a digital underclass of people who lack the skills to use emerging technologies, between those who can put them to good use and those who merely submit to them, between youth who use technology for learning and those who spend their time gaming or texting for fun. Moreover, despite the significant potential of technology for education, there remains the enormous challenge of introducing it into classrooms when not enough is known about effective pedagogical uses or the real impacts on academic performance. The first part of the symposium will start off with a presentation by Profs. Jaillet and Bugmann on learning with simulation software at school. This will be followed by a presentation by Profs. Bugmann, Karsenti, and Komis on the educational impacts of learning to code at school. Profs. Roy and Poellhuber will then present the benefits and challenges of implementing MOOCs in smaller universities. Profs. Roland and Poellhuber will explain the relationships between engagement motives and learning strategies of MOOC learners.

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