Introduction

Québec’s education system consists of four levels: preschool and elementary education, secondary education, college education, and university education (English Montreal School Board/ English Montreal School Board/Commission scolaire English-Montréal, n.d.). According to the English Montreal School Board, approximately 1.8 million people attend the education system in Québec (n.d.). As the usage of digital technologies across all industries continues to increase, it is evident that education systems must adapt to provide more opportunities for students to succeed in the workforce (Bates, 2001). In 2018, Québec’s government created the Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education as part of the Economic Plan (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). This plan aligns with Québec’s Policy on Educational Success launched in June 2017 and the Digital Strategy that was unveiled on December 13, 2017, which both show a commitment to innovating the education system using technology (Québec Liberal Party, 2017; Québec Ministry of Education, 2017). The digital action plan aims to transform Québec’s education system into a catalyst of change and innovation through 33 measures focused on digital technologies. As this five-year plan comes to an end in 2023, analyzing and evaluating Québec’s progress and outcomes would be beneficial.

Overview – Québec’s Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education

Québec’s vision for its Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education is to achieve “effective integration and optimal use of digital technologies to foster the success of all Québecers in order to promote lifelong skills development and maintenance” (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018b, p. 9). Specifically, the plan focuses on the following three orientations and nine objectives (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018b).

  • Orientation 1: Support the development of the digital skills of young people and adults.
    • Objective 1.1: Define digital skills and integrate them effectively into the types of education and training offered.
    • Objective 1.2: Support the development of the digital skills of teachers, non-teaching professionals and support staff.
    • Objective 1.3: Support individuals and organizations in making the transition to a digital culture.
  • Orientation 2: Make use of digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning practices.
    • Objective 2.1: Develop new digital teaching and learning practices.
    • Objective 2.2: Pool resources and services so that they can be shared and made as accessible as possible.
    • Objective 2.3: Foster the development of distance education offerings based on needs at the various levels of education.
  • Orientation 3: Create an environment conducive to the development of digital technologies in the education system.
    • Objective 3.1: Oversee the deployment of dedicated administrative and pedagogical solutions to monitor educational progress.
    • Objective 3.2: Strengthen digital governance and rely on partnerships as a strategic lever.
    • Objective 3.3: Guarantee access to fair and safe digital technologies in educational institutions.

The Québec government has promised to allocate $1.186 billion to achieve the objectives above (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). Through this allocation, $798 million will be spent on education and $387 million will be spent on higher education.

Ideology, Motivation, and Contextual Factors

The increased focus on developing eLearning in Québec is possible due to Bill 144 which was passed in November 2017 (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). Bill 144 allows for distance education to be conducted in the public general education system instead of only being restricted to adult education.

The Québec government emphasizes the importance of strengthening the education system’s usage of technology to become “a world leader in the digital field” (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a, p. 14). The government believes that educational institutions must be proactive during this digital revolution through the usage of innovative pedagogical practices by integrating technology meaningfully. Furthermore, the government highlights the importance of equal opportunities for learning through the introduction of digital technologies at a young age (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). Overall, the vision and guidelines of the digital action plan for eLearning involve collaboration with education stakeholders, flexibility, the pooling of ideas and solutions, and fairness to ensure all groups benefit (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a).

Québec has a few motivations for the creation of its digital action plan and emphasis on eLearning. One specific motivator could be the labour shortage that is mentioned in the action plan. Québec is facing a labour shortage in several fields and believes that the creation of massive open online courses (MOOCs) could help solve this problem (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). Not only could MOOCs assist in this area, but creating more access to the education system through eLearning would also provide more students with the opportunity to enter these fields.

Another motivator that is evident throughout the digital action plan involves the “digital revolution” that the government has placed importance on (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). eLearning provides the province with an opportunity to enhance its education system as it is an ideal mode of delivery for lifelong learners (Bates, 2001). This closely aligns with Québec’s intent of promoting lifelong skills development and maintenance using eLearning.

Contextually, there are a few reasons for Québec to focus on eLearning as well. As Québec is a predominantly French-speaking province, the integration of French into their eLearning plan is important. This importance is evident in the development of eCampus Québec as it would allow them to improve the visibility of its institutions at an international level, especially in francophone nations. Québec, like many other provinces, faces the issue of a digital divide among its population (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). This divide occurs due to socioeconomic factors such as age and household income. Looking directly at the education system, this divide can occur amongst students as some may not have the same access to technology as others due to their household situations. This digital divide can also occur for educators due to gaps in their development and usage of digital skills. I believe it is important for all levels of government to take this digital divide into account and do all that they can to lessen it.  The divide in the digital skills of educators directly impacts the ability of students to develop their skills, and therefore I believe the Québec government is correct in focusing on this in their digital action plan.

Investment

New Devices

The Québec government aims to support the acquisition and development of digital educational resources by improving current budget measures and creating new budgets for higher education (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). Measure 29 further details how institutions can acquire digital equipment and how the rules for the acquisition will be modernized. This modernization will allow school boards and governing bodies to choose which equipment they need to achieve their pedagogical goals (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). I believe this is a step in the right direction as it allows schools to acquire the technologies that will work for them instead of being told what they should use. As each educator will be on a different step in their eLearning developmental journey, the freedom of choice is important which is why I believe this is a good decision.

Educators & Facilitators

The Québec government is not only investing in technological devices, but they are also investing in educators who share their knowledge of technology with their students. Measure 5 aims to foster the continuing education of digital pedagogy for all levels of educators by increasing access to professional development (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). Measure 7 also plays a role as it will increase funding available to compensate staff members who are responsible for facilitating the integration of digital pedagogy so that they will choose to stay in the Québec education system (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). I believe that both measures are just as important as investment in digital devices. Educators should be trained so that they can make the best use of technology in their lessons, and therefore I believe that the investment in training educators should be seen as important. The Québec government seems to share this belief as they want to offer training to educators and keep those who are responsible for training within their education system.

New Programs & Partnerships

The Québec government has invested in the creation of many programs and initiatives to encourage the usage of technology in education. As an example, the Ministry of Education launched a Robot 360 Pilot Project in 2018 to encourage the usage of coding and robotics in the classroom (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). The Ministry also worked with the Fondation de la Commission Scolaire de Montréal to introduce coding to over 28,000 students through the “CodeMTL Project” (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). The digital action plan mentions many partnerships with educational institutions and organizations.  As an example, the Ministry of Education formed a partnership with L’École branchée, an educational magazine, to promote innovative pedagogical practices in classrooms using digital technologies.

Budget

The Québec government has allocated $1.186 billion toward achieving the objectives set out in the digital action plan (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). The budget is organized and breaks down the allocation of funds to each orientation and objective. The allocation of funding is important as it is seen as the most powerful level that a government can use to influence the development of its education system (Bates, 2001).

Funding strategies should not only be focused on increasing access to technology and new devices. Governments need to allocate funds to help train the staff of educational institutions and to also ensure they can retain staff members (Bates, 2001). Although the digital action plan mentions the usage of funding to support the development of digital skills of educators, there is no mention that this funding will continue after the five-year plan is concluded. Since the staff required to support eLearning are highly skilled and valuable, the Québec government could run into issues if the funding is reduced which could force these staff members to work elsewhere.

Government’s Influence & Role

Throughout most of the digital action plan, the Québec government takes a hands-on approach to plan eLearning in the province. This is evident through the digital action plan’s eight areas of intervention which directly involve government actions. The areas of intervention involve the deployment and access of technology, the improvement of digital skills of educators, the increased focus on distance education, and the monitoring and governance of institutions (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a).

The plan is a push towards incorporating more technology throughout all education levels and signifies closer cooperation between the government and educational institutions (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). For universities and colleges, this is evident in the creation of a centralized eCampus platform. As stated in Objective 2.3, a provincial platform that combines all distance education offerings from the institutions in Québec would be seen as a benefit because it would improve the visibility of Québec institutions at the national and international levels (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). As more educational institutions strengthen their eLearning ability, they will begin to offer more programs online. This can cause unnecessary duplication of programs, even within the same province (Bates, 2001). A centralized eCampus platform would discourage duplication amongst institutions in Québec while also encouraging differentiation amongst program offerings by institutions. The creation of a unified electronic file for students is also another instance where the government is being active in eLearning planning. The creation of this digital file will allow for centralized digital record-keeping that can follow students throughout their educational journey (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a).

Looking at the implementation of the key measures chart, it becomes clearer how much the Québec government will be involved in this larger shift to eLearning. The government plans to establish a framework of cross-curricular digital competencies at every level of education and deploy the pedagogical use of coding in schools. Although these plans are normal for any government to undertake, the centralization of distance education offerings through eCampus Québec may be seen as an overreach of governmental power as it will control more of every institution’s offerings. I agree with the creation of a centralized eCampus platform for the reason of discouraging duplication and encouraging creativity. This will allow for the innovation of programs and the creation of new offerings which would greatly benefit students. A centralized eCampus would create a need for institutions to differentiate their program offerings using new and exciting pedagogy.

To influence educational institutions and systems to use eLearning to address the ever-changing needs of the Québec workforce, the government is allocating specific funds to adult education centres and colleges (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). These funds will be used to take an open-ended digital literacy approach to help those in higher education become life-long learners using technology. Through supporting the development of MOOCs, the government hopes to encourage institutions to develop courses to also address the gaps in the labour market. Influencing educational institutions towards the creation of MOOCs is an appropriate step in addressing the labour shortage that Québec is currently facing. Furthermore, MOOCs are beneficial for the Québec workforce overall as they allow employers to help their employees develop broader competencies and core skills (Hamori, 2018). In the education field, the government is increasing financial support for action research projects undertaken in higher education in the hopes of creating new and innovative pedagogy (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a).

Progress

The progress of Québec’s journey through the digital action plan is still ongoing. Looking at the implementation of the key measures chart, most of the actions were taken immediately during the 2018-2019 school year. This happened to be beneficial for the government, as these actions were all completed before the COVID-19 pandemic which caused many delays in plans across all nations.

As an example, eCampus Québec has not had much progress announced other than a YouTube video posted on April 8, 2022 (Enseignement supérieur Québec, 2022). The video has a website URL featured at the end, giving a “this site can’t be reached” error. The URL given in the description of the video leads to a page on the Ministry of Education’s website that has very little information other than what was announced in the digital action plan. This is worrisome because the government stated they would focus on transparency and openness in the digital action plan, yet there is very little published about the progress of eCampus Québec five years after it was announced.

The pedagogical use of coding in schools was aimed to be completed during the 2020-2021 school year, yet the use of coding is not found in Québec’s “Progression of Learning” and “Framework for the Evaluation of Learning” on the Ministry of Education’s website (Québec Ministry of Education, n.d.-b). The featured Québec Elementary Education Program documents found on the website are from 2001 (Québec Ministry of Education, 2001). The website does have documents relating to the prioritization of learning for the 2021-2022 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is still no mention of coding in these plans (Québec Ministry of Education, n.d.-a).

In terms of Québec’s labour shortage, it is difficult to determine if the digital action plan has had a positive impact due to the further stress on the labour force caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of November 2021, the government invested a further $3.9 billion over the next five years to solve the labour shortage through the usage of scholarships to provide financial support for students studying in the information technology, engineering, and construction fields (CBC News, 2021).

Recommendations & Conclusion

                The Québec government is recommended to renew its commitment to the digital action plan as 2023 is the final year of the plan. Although many early aspects of the plan seem to have been completed, the COVID-19 pandemic is assumed to have set back the progress of many features of the plan such as eCampus Québec and the incorporation of coding in the curriculum. As the government mentioned in the action plan, Nova Scotia added coding into its curriculum in 2015 while British Columbia incorporated coding, computational thought, and robotics in their curriculum also in 2015 (Québec Ministry of Education, 2018a). It may be beneficial for the government of Québec to seek out advice from the governments of Nova Scotia and British Columbia to fast-track the addition of coding into their curriculum. The action plan also mentions how eCampus Québec is influenced by the creation of eCampus Ontario, so it also may be beneficial to partner with the Ontario government to fast-track the creation of the eCampus.

In the recommended digital action plan renewal, it would also be beneficial for the Ministry of Education to revamp its entire curricular programs as some were last shown to be updated in 2001. It should be seen as a necessity to update all programs to further emphasize the usage of technological pedagogy as technology should be meaningfully implemented across all curriculum areas. Without updating the curriculum to support technological pedagogy, eLearning abilities will be hindered.

Finally, it is recommended that the government release progress reports throughout the duration of the next digital action plan. This would aid in keeping the government accountable by reporting yearly progress for each of the measures on the action plan. As the final year of the digital action plan continues, the government of Québec must renew its focus on eLearning and begin reporting meaningful progress to the public if they are committed to fostering the success of all Québecers.

References

Bates, T. (2001). National strategies for e-learning in post-secondary education and training. UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000126230

CBC News. (2021, November 30). Québec unveils $3.9B plan to attract 170,000 more workers to offset labour shortage. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-new-funding-labour-shortage-1.6267912

English Montreal School Board/Commission scolaire English-Montréal. (n.d.). The Québec School System. https://www.emsb.qc.ca/emsb/about/school-board/school-system#:~:text=The%20Quebec%20education%20system%20comprises%20four%20levels%3A%20preschool,attend%20the%20education%20system%20either%20part-time%20or%20full-time.

Enseignement supérieur Québec. (2022, April 8). La future vitrine Campus numérique [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKcjFCj_g08

Hamori, M. (2018). Can MOOCs solve your training problem. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/01/can-moocs-solve-your-training-problem

Québec Liberal Party. (2017, December 13). Québec becomes a global leader in digital transformation. https://plq.org/en/press-release/quebec-becomes-global-leader-digital-transformation/

Québec Ministry of Education. (2001). Québec education program approved version. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/education/jeunes/pfeq/PFEQ_presentation-primaire_EN.pdf

Québec Ministry of Education. (2017). Policy on educational success. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/PSG/politiques_orientations/politique_reussite_educative_10juillet_A_1.pdf

Québec Ministry of Education. (2018a). Digital action plan for education and higher education. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/ministere/PAN_Plan_action_VA.pdf

Québec Ministry of Education. (2018b). Digital action plan for education and higher education 2018-2023 infographic. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/ministere/PAN_Tableau_synoptique_VA.pdf

Québec Ministry of Education. (n.d.-a). Learning to be prioritized for the 2021-2022 school year in the context of the pandemic. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/teachers/learning-to-be-prioritized/

Québec Ministry of Education. (n.d.-b). Québec education program. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/teachers/quebec-education-program/