{"id":8771,"date":"2023-06-07T08:49:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T06:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/?p=8771"},"modified":"2023-07-04T11:13:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T09:13:32","slug":"digital-tech-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/en\/digital-tech-education\/","title":{"rendered":"The digital and tech in education, poutine & caribou version"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nThe Digital 2023 summit was held in Montreal last May 4th and 5th. For its 11th edition, the organising committee did not skimp on pedagogical digital innovations or the quality of the speakers. Inspiring lectures on artificial intelligence and virtual reality, ultra-practical tools to create your educational podcast (or \u2018balado,\u2019 as Quebec would say) and participatory workshops enabling you to code straightforwardly. kingkong was there, let us tell you all about it!\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n

It is Thursday, the alarm clock has gone off, a banana in our stomach, one coffee \u2018to go\u2019, the Montreal metro station is jam-packed. We get off at \u2018Bonaventure\u2019 and enter the lobby of the hotel where the congress will take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10th floor. Ding! We go to pick up your badge, then find our friends from the \u00c9cole Branch\u00e9e and Edulab and enter the lecture hall for the opening address. It is Gabriel Bran Lopez who first takes to the floor. Fifteen years ago, he founded Fusion Jeunesse and Robotique FIRST. Fifteen years?! YES. Fifteen years. That just goes to show how open-minded Quebec has been regarding digital pedagogy. Whilst in Belgium we struggle to get projectors and Wi-Fi into the classrooms, across the pond there is clearly a very different philosophy regarding technology in the service of learning processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that you understand the Belgian context, let us provide you with a short summary of the situation. Starting from September 2023, in a few months, in other words, the school system will have to adapt to a reform of teaching practices. A new skills-based framework will come into being, one clearly reflecting the obvious need to assist the younger generation to take on board the digital in a civic and critical manner. Inherently, this is a good thing: schools must at best be brought closer to the contemporary realities of life and of the world of work. Today, the digital and technology form an integral part of our daily lives. It is thus time for the school milieu to evolve and adapt to the deep-seated transformations society is undergoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So \u2026 we could make the most of this article to question (critique?) the system\u2019s directive that teachers imagine new series of courses starting from scratch (the lack of information and available training, a basic knowledge gap, etc.), but that is not why we are here (ho-hum).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This opening lecture laid the foundations and validated an engaged position in the speaker\u2019s job as a teacher: allow pupils to flourish, to learn to be kind and properly equipped to become the citizens of tomorrow. BANG. Instead of seeing the digital as an impediment, an obstacle, the teachers here at the summit see in it new opportunities, the possibilities of making use of these digital, technological and robotics tools in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst we had so many marvellous encounters during these hectic and intense 48 hours, with kingkong, we have decided to focus on two innovative, powerful and fascinating presentations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sowing the seeds of an idea <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first workshop we followed was on pedagogical podcasts (well, well\u2026). Perhaps we have become accustomed to hearing (and understanding) the Quebec accent, but that spoken by Prune Lieutier was very subtle. We even thought that she was French, which tells you something\u2026 This woman is an independent producer of sound experiences for young people. In short, she creates podcasts by bringing together creatives, researchers and scientists, the desired outcome being an immersive, ludic and relevant creation on diverse subjects. And quite frankly, we were hanging on every word of her presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a start, we were totally persuaded by the approach: the majority of their content (200 podcasts, all the same!) consists of docudramas. The idea is to transform the documentary format into something entertaining for children. And it is not for being engaging and ludic that the idea of explaining science in understandable terms is put to one side: each podcast aims to impart knowledge. And honestly, it all comes off brilliantly. She gives us the example of a project consisting of four series produced with Space for Life (Planetarium, Insectarium, Botanical Garden and Biodome). Intended for children aged 7 to 9 (that\u2019s the core target, but even we binge on it), each series consists of 6 ten-minute episodes on the theme of the specific space. What has stayed in the mind above all is the series \u2018les insects ont le cafard\u2019 (\u2018the insects have the blues\u2019) which subtly makes us think of \u2018Space Goofs\u2019 \u2026 go figure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You will among others get to know a caterpillar which is scared of changing, a honey bee which feels that it is never up to the task, or an Atta ant which doesn\u2019t like mushrooms! Discover how these tiny living beings play such a big role in the equilibrium of the biodiversity!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to it here!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And alongside all these productions intended for children, the association also offers balado creation mediation workshops with \u2026 children for other \u2026 children. In addition to developing technical skills, it also involves the whole task of looking for information, forms of expression, creation, analysis, but equally the development of \u2018soft skills,\u2019 as one would say today\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9Sommet du Num\u00e9rique<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oh my ChatGPT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The second workshop involves THE STAR of 2023: artificial intelligence! Well, there you go, what a surprise. Phew, we signed up for the lecture in good time, because it is obviously sold out. The hall is bursting at the seams and we wait impatiently to meet Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Mercure from the national RECIT unit, active in the field of the development of the person, and Marie-Eve Lapolice, who likewise works at the national RECIT unit, but in the area of arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their subject? \u2018ChatGPT and the other AIs: why, when and how to use them in education?\u2019 RE-BANG! It makes a change from the resistant reactions expressed by a large number of Belgian teachers when it comes to this new technology. Admittedly, on a day-to-day basis, we are in touch with teachers who are endowed with the resources and the imagination to incorporate AIs into their courses, but clearly the advent of this new innovation provokes fear rather than appeal (we for that matter invite you to read the article by Laurent Di Pasquale<\/a>, a third-year secondary education teacher at Liege who is working enormously on the question of the digital and who incorporates AI into his courses).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their presentation is arranged around three very simple questions: why, when and how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because it could aid teachers in certain tasks in education, in the generation of content primarily. The acronym GPT (in English please) stands for<\/p>\n\n\n\n