One computer per fifth-grade student in Quebec schools

In Quebec City, all elementary school students at First Seigneuries Service Center will have a laptop in fifth and sixth grades by June. However, the decision was not unanimous: parents applaud, but others oppose it.

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The initiative was “approved almost unanimously by the board of directors, directors of the foundation and school teams,” asserts Martin Schweinar, First Government Secretary General.

During a board meeting this fall, many parents have already welcomed the initiative, and been able to monitor it Newspaper.

However, others raised eyebrows when they learned that a Chromebook – a Google laptop – would be provided for their children, including for homework, according to usage policies that differ from country to country and from school to school.

Sebastien St-Pierre, a father of three, denounces this decision loudly. He claims to actually struggle to manage screen time for his 12-year-old son Jacob, who became addicted to video games during the pandemic with online school.

Mr. St-Pierre seriously restricted his access to the tablet and the family computer, but now another device, provided by the school, has appeared in the house. “I find it completely stupid, meaningless. At that age, they wouldn’t be mature and responsible enough to manage the device themselves,” he says.

We must therefore redouble our efforts to properly supervise the period of homework, in order to ensure that the screen is indeed used for schoolwork, which is far from always the case, it is a pity.

The past few weeks have proven that he was right. Jacob wanted to play Fortnite online at night using his school computer. “I had to tell the school that I no longer wanted to see the computer at home,” says Mr. St-Pierre. But the boy still sometimes brought the device home, without the knowledge of his teacher.

However, in the school service center it is said that “on the whole” the situation is well received by parents. “It is often not a student’s first device. The student learns how to make a difference between a device for student work and other devices for leisure.”^me Chouinard.

Promote success?

In this school service center, access to a computer for each student in particular is aimed at “promoting his success”, can we read in a letter sent to parents.

“At the end of last school year, and in the context of the pandemic, teachers have testified to the advantages of using digital technology in teaching and the impact this has on student learning,” said Ms.^me Chouinard.

However, according to the most rigorous studies that have been done on the topic, the use of technologies in the classroom has only a very weak effect on academic success, which is “limiting insignificance,” according to Steve Bissonnett, a professor in the Department of Education from Cairo University. flair.

“Yes, the use of technology has an impact on performance. But (…) the impact is so small that we cannot believe that it will become a major lever for improving student performance,” he says.

However, deploying computers could be “helpful” in the context of the pandemic, in order to ensure that every student has access to a computer in case the school is closed, Mr Bissonnette adds. “It all depends on the goal,” he says.

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