Québec Schools On Line : Opportunities for English-Language Education

In 1996, The Advisory Board on English Education (ABEE) prepared a brief on the integration of technology into English language schools, noting the particular needs of these schools, especially in rural areas, and making recommendations on accessibility, teacher support, and school organization, among other issues. The current Board notes how much—and how quickly— the technology has changed since 1996 but, based on its strongly held belief that technology is subordinate to pedagogy, it endorses in principle the content of this earlier document. Yet the technology available for classroom use has changed, it has done so at a speed unimaginable in 1996, and done so qualitatively as well as quantitatively, making it imperative that a broad-based discussion of technology in teaching take place as part of our changing understanding of teaching and learning. In addition, the problems in English language schools and centres caused by demographics, distance and dispersion have become more acute and more in need of ingenious solutions so that their graduates are prepared for the 21st century, and potential solutions to these problems through Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) merit discussion. This brief addresses both the general issues and those pertinent to the English education system in Québec, and includes a set of recommendations to help in the formulation of MELS orientations.