Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education: The Driving Force Behind a Plethora of College Initiatives Introduction to the Special Issue

On May 30, 2018, the government of Quebec unveiled its Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education (Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur [MEES], 2018). More specifically, this plan was created because the shift to digital was – and remains – a unique opportunity for the development and growth of Quebec. This digital action plan was developed in the hopes that digital technology will permeate a range of development initiatives in various fields, especially in education. As the fourth major industrial revolution after mechanization, electrification, and automation (Cristol, 2019), digital technology is changing the way we think, create, communicate, learn, and work. Quebec's education system is an important incubator of change and innovation (Karsenti & Bugmann, 2017). To a large extent, education and higher education are what will enable us to adapt, both now and in the future, and allow all members of society to have equal opportunity, educational success and the possibility of achieving their full potential. Given the ubiquity of digital technologies in every area of our lives, Quebec’s education system must not only adapt, but become an agent of change and innovation. To achieve this, all students, teachers and educational institutions must be able to seize the many opportunities afforded by digital technologies for teaching, learning, communication and creativity (see in particular Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2019). Major advances in digital technologies, namely robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (Karsenti, 2019), confirm the need to respond to the technological, ethical and social issues associated with innovations that are changing the way we live and work. With this in mind, and with the desire for Quebec’s education system to become a leader in the digital revolution (Deschamps de Paillette, 2019), the focus should be on digital skills and better educational practices in order to prepare learners for the challenges of tomorrow (Karsenti, 2018). That is why the Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education is rooted in the effective integration and optimal use of digital technologies to foster the success of all Quebecers, thereby promoting lifelong skills development and maintenance (MEES, 2018, p. 24). In concrete terms, this action plan translates into three major orientations. The first orientation involves contributing to the modernization and adaptation of the types of education and training offered, supporting the development of the digital skills of young people and adults, as well as promoting a digital culture. The second focuses on the optimal use of digital technologies by generating innovative practices, pooling resources and services, and developing a distance education offering adapted to the needs and realities of today’s and future generations of learners. Finally, the third orientation involves monitoring learners’ educational path, implementing adapted and flexible governance, and ensuring fair and safe access. These three orientations are broken down into 33 measures designed to give new impetus to the digital shift in the education system and to contribute actively to the development of Quebecers’ digital skills (MEES, 2018). These actions will be implemented over a five-year period, from 2018 to 2023, in close collaboration with education system stakeholders and partners. This action plan is intended to initiate an iterative and continuous process, since education must allow people to strengthen their ability to think and act in the face of rapidly evolving technologies (MEES, 2018). This is the background against which this thematic issue of the International Journal of Technologies in Higher Education came to be. While our journal often presents scientific research backed by empirical data, its mission also includes highlighting experiences and practices that integrate digital technology, facilitating the sharing of papers on the pedagogical dimensions of …