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Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport
Quebec Remote Networked Schools
Networking Project Rescues Rural Quebec Schools From Isolation and Makes Them Models of Teaching Innovation
Challenge
The Quebec Remote Networked Schools project arose from a growing concern in the Québec government over the closing of rural schools because of declining populations. The Department of Education of Quebec (Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, or MELS) wanted to provide quality education to small schools to keep them open and sustain vitality in their communities.
Solution
In 2002, MELS approached an organization called CEFRIO (Centre francophone d'informatisation des organisations) to examine how information and communications technologies might offer a solution to rural school closings. Established in 1987, CEFRIO is a liaison and transfer centre largely supported by the Québec government and comprising 160 university, industrial and governmental members and 60 associate and guest researchers. Its mission is to help organizations be more productive and contribute to public well-being through innovation.
MELS and CEFRIO subsequently established the Remote Networked Schools project, which today serves 60 rural schools, or 15 per cent of all rural schools in the province.
Participating schools use two telecollaboration tools, IP videoconferencing software and knowledge-building software, to engage in networked learning activities. Teachers, both in their own classrooms and with other classes in other schools, teach the core curriculum to students who collaborate via computers in the classrooms. Up to 30 per cent of teaching time is devoted to lessons delivered with the aid of the networked computers.
CEFRIO assembled a project team of academics and researchers from the Université Laval, McGill University and Université du Québec à Chicoutimi who are available five days a week to provide technical and pedagogical support to the schools. Over the project network, the CEFRIO team monitors in real time written and oral classroom interaction among schools in the project.
Results
The Remote Networked Schools project enhances the educational environment of rural schools by improving student motivation and socialization skills, expanding the boundaries of the school and the classroom, reducing the professional isolation of teachers in small schools and enabling teachers to share tasks and groups of students.
The project is clearly improving student skills and motivation and fostering professional development of teachers. The school in small communities is changing to become an important player in the revitalization of the community.
Since the advent of the project, a networking culture has developed among the participating schools and school boards. It has overcome the resource restrictions of teachers in rural schools and encouraged the development of new methods of teaching with emphasis on teamwork and active investigation of concepts by students. In some cases the project has aided the retention of teachers in the rural schools.
Monitoring of the Remote Networked Schools project has promoted a clear understanding among decision-makers of the potential of information and communications technologies to improve educational services.
Innovative use of Technology
To effectively use the IP videoconferencing software and knowledge-building software, teachers must alter their work methods, adjust the organization and supervision of student learning activities and make students much more active in their learning. Collaboration with another teacher requires network-based planning, elaboration of activities and a sharing of tasks that is demanding but also rewarding.
The knowledge-building software supports students in complex problem-solving situations. They progress by capitalizing on their peers' contributions, guided by the teacher, and are thus gaining both cognitive and social skills important to a knowledge-based society.
The project team has developed an innovative data-collection methodology to document observations of classroom activity. Data are collected every 15 minutes on what is happening in the classroom, making it possible to create a pedagogical activity grid. Forms have been devised to classify these activities. This is contributing to a significant advance in research devoted to education and telecollaboration.
A 2006 CIPA Winner!
For its exceptional application of information technology to develop new processes and bring benefits to stakeholders, the Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport has been awarded a 2006 CIPA Silver Award of Excellence in the Customer Care, Not For Profit category.
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