No 8, November 2021

The 8th issue of the journal Mediations and medializations is the first regular or varia issue since its creation in late 2018. The various articles in this issue highlight the questioning and difficulties experienced by different types of educational actors. Theyinvite us never to forget that from pencil to computer, from primary school to university, humans beings through theirinteractions are at the core of educational and training institutions. This first varia issue comprises one research article, two practitioner articles, three debate-discussion articles and one testimonial article. 

The Student-Researcher Digital Notebook (SRDN) is a learning environment whose primary function is to scaffold inquiry-based learning, notably improving the phrasing of scientific claims like hypotheses or research questions. We carried out a field study with four teachers in two elementary schools and two middle schools to see how  practitioners used the technologyWe used Engeström’s activity theory, and more specifically, the notion of contradiction, to identify the tensions that arose from using the scaffolds that we had designed. Although the objectives underlying the SRDN were aligned with official curricula, the teachers appeared reluctant to be constrained by scaffolds into inquiry-based learning approaches that they were not familiar with. It increased the risk of misuse of the features that we had designed. Scaling up teacher training through such digital scaffolds, one project's initial goals, appeared likely to fail.

In France, research laboratories are increasingly asked to join educational technology design projects, in which they are not in a position in which they can influence design choices significantly. To produce scientific results, researchers are faced with the need to formulate their research questions so that the inevitable hazards of long-term design projects do not significantly affect the productivity of their work. In this contribution, based on a case study, the Student-Researcher Digital Notebook, we highlight the trajectories of different research questions. Some remained unchanged, while the others needed to disappear or evolve due to technical issues with the prototype. A question appeared during the design process when the opportunity arises to produce original results. We detail the reasons behind these choices.

The École en Réseau (ÉER) initiative supports teachers to collaborate on inter-class projects to enrich and diversify the digital learning environment (Allaire et al., 2008). The practices implemented have made it possible to develop expertise in networking and connected learning in l’ÉER (Bruillard et al., 2021). In the spring of 2020, the global situation forced the educational world to rethink their ways of supporting students. Transposing from the networked classroom to the remote classroom was easy for l’ÉER teachers. The article chronicles the innovation, collaboration and network learning of this particular form of teaching implemented by ÉER for distance training of teachers and distance education in preschool and primary schools

This paper argues that digital transformation and digital leadership are myths. Digital leadership is an illusion and does not exist. There is only good leadership and bad leadership... or no leadership. It is a fallacy to think adding more technology will alter leadership quality and lead to organizational transformation. Digital transformation is not about technology, it is about visionary leaders who can lead systemic change and bring a new continuum of benefits to all stakeholders. These leaders embed shifts in the values, culture and purpose of the organization.  Digital tools are but one resource that assists leaders in this quest. Today, the quality continuum for open and distance learning is stronger than n ever in the profession. Indeed, there will be future shifts in pedagogies but powerful pedagogies already exist for the most part. We simply need to unbundle them and integrate them across disciplines with digital tools. Visionary leadership that brings empathy and trust to empower and engage students, faculty, and the community is the most powerful tool available to us in the future. People, not technology, are our organizations’ most valuable resources

Distance school, asynchronous course, synchronous online courses: the global pandemic is leading to students' schooling both face-to-face and virtual. This article offers a reflection on the virtual school. Based on both parent-researcher observations and scientific literature, the article highlights the positives and negatives of virtual school. In particular, the virtual school can become a long-term solution, neither for the pupils and their teachers nor for the parents. The virtual school is, therefore, a short-term emergency solution during this pandemic.

Synchronous online teaching brought its share of challenges for elementary and secondary school teachers since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Based on observations made with ten elementary and secondary school classes in Quebec and Ontario and discussions with teachers, this article presents some observations on classroom management, which seems much more challenging to do online than in person. Therefore, teaching virtually remains an emergency solution if the situation requires it. Otherwise, face-to-face instruction remains the best we can offer to students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had and will have, profound effects on adult education (Boeren, Roumell & Roessger, 2020; Kapplinger & Lichte, 2020) and online learning practices. The impact was unprecedented and led to the largest and quickest transformation of pedagogic practice ever seen in contemporary universities (Brammer & Clark, 2020). Although it is too soon for a full assessment, the first step is to gain insight into an understanding of the macro trends taking shape inside and outside the walls of institutions and then explore how these trends may affect the future. Against this background, a question arises: How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping the future of adult online learning in higher education? Drawing on adult education and higher education scholarly and practitioner literature published over the last year, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (i) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to identify and analyze emerging trends that could shape the future of adult online education in higher education, (ii) to analyze these trends over a longer time span in the literature, and (iii) to explore the possible futures of adult education and online learning in higher education.

To train high-calibre researchers who will contribute to the country's scientific development, three Colombian universities have partnered to offer a doctoral program in engineering, including three research areas: automation, energy, and computer science. The program has been approved by the Colombian Ministry of Education to be offered in a face-to-face mode. To comply with the physical attendance requirement, students must go to the institution's campus where they are enrolled. However, each course is taught through a video conferencing system by a professor located at any of the three partner universities. Due to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, neither students nor teachers have been physically present in the telepresence classrooms and have been forced to conduct their courses entirely at a distance. This new reality has been the catalyst that pushed the university authorities to transform the program's delivery modality. In this interview, three professors present their views on this transformation.