Group 2: Digital Overtake

Context

In the year 2049, education has shifted to become de-streamed within all of Ontario, specifically becoming digital.

After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the government realised that they could save so more money by continuing to have education online. Therefore, the government decided to make learning solely online. However, due to parents protesting about no one being able to stay home from work to look after their children, the government decided to still keep school boards intact. Students would still come into the school building, however they would be on their digital devices (chrome books) during their class period to attend their online classes. There would be teachers (and people hired and trusted by each board) physically present within the classrooms to supervise. By the year 2035, there would be one teacher for every subject of every grade level. The lessons would take place online so every student in Ontario could attend the same class. Every student would receive the same type of assessment and could use digital technologies to complete them. Grading would be done by AI in order to ensure equal and fair practice. There will still be staff within the building for administrative aid and maintenance, but no teaching will be done by any of these staff within the building. Students have different class periods and schedules and go to different classrooms to attend each of their online classes. Post Secondary admissions would shift from only considering grades, to also including interviews with students in order to help select students who could demonstrate civic responsibility without the use of digital tools.

Government/Politics Structure

From a GDP viewpoint, Ontario is thriving in comparison to its other provinces. In the year 2030, a new party had formed and been selected to represent the province; The Independence Party of Canada (IPC). The IPC stood for neoliberal ideologies that privatized the economy. Ontario was in the midst of unaffordable housing, increased homelessness, rising food prices, a mental health epidemic, and declining public institutions such as healthcare and schools.

In 2030, the IPC highlighted how the economy was to blame for these problems. The Ontario government had created these problems through mismanagement of public funds. Despite putting more money in these areas than ever before in its history, the situation continued to spiral. Therefore, the solution was to increase privatization, so that the province will gain more money overall, and success or failure in this neoliberal economy will be a result of the individuals’ merit.

Education was the IPC’s primary target. The IPC presented the pilot project of one teacher per subject for each grade. In 2023, the Ontario government had been spending $34.7 billion in education. By the time of the 2030 elections, it had increased by an approximate $600 million per year to a total of $40 billion . In the pre-election political debate, the IPC promised Ontario citizens that they would save them 40 billion per year which would then be reinvested to supporting infrastructures in society. Their platform was based on the ideology of meritocracy, and the equitable learning that remote learning and AI grading provided. The IPC won by a landslide.

The IPC selected highly qualified curriculum developers who had written a number of academic articles that listed the benefits of privatization. These curriculum developers ensured that the Ontario curriculum from K-12 would allow students to reach their full potential through usage of digital technology, and an equitable grading schema that utilized AI to grade. The AI was developed to grade based on having key words in students answers which would highlight their usage of the IPC ideology. The entire curriculum aimed to create responsible citizens by teaching them values of meritocracy. The curriculum encourages digital competencies, and as such the IPC has invested in accessible centres for using digital technologies called Digital Labs. These centres replace public libraries, as anyone can access laptops using their Digital Lab ID cards. These centres ensure that anyone can participate on social media, have access to news, and utilize the internet and apps needed to complete work or school work. This way, even if someone were too poor to afford a phone or computer, they would not be left behind by the digital divide.

While teacher unions were against the implementation of the pilot project, it received a lot of support from parents who just wanted their children to be successful in schools. However, in the year 2042 after over a decade of the system in place, graduates of this system began protesting against it, as they believe that it is actually being used in favour of the upper-class who have the connections and social capital to perform better in interviews, and receive better jobs than the majority of the population that has become completely digitally dependent. The IPC and its supporters who provide generous donations to the province, deny the accusations. They vouch that the current system is a reflection of meritocracy, and those who work hard will obtain the occupations they want.

Across the province students have a graduation rate of 90% regardless of class, gender, or race. These statistics are often cited in public speeches because it highlights how the current system has created a successful and equitable curriculum for secondary students. This change in schooling had a ripple effect on other elements in society, primarily the workforce.

The economy has had an increase in GDP. However, this is due to job creations in manufacturing and low-skill areas instead of unionized white-collar positions that have become extremely competitive. As students graduate high school, instead of developing critical thinking as the curriculum intends, they are digitally dependent on AI for completing school work. As such those who do not work hard to practice for interviews or know ahead of time the buzz word responses that the interviewers are looking for, consequently do not perform well and so they are unable to be admitted into post-secondary despite having near perfect averages in secondary schools. Current secondary school graduates have taken to protesting on the streets that despite their achievement in grade average, the system has made it even harder for students to enter post-secondary or have a chance at a secure job.

As the majority are stuck with the decision to either work in low paid, no benefits, and precarious conditions, or no job at all, there has consequently been an increase in crime and homelessness as some people do not think it is worth working super hard without the benefits being reflected. Meanwhile, many higher paid jobs are kept exclusive to the generations of upper-class as they require social capital not taught in secondary schools to perform in the interviews, and often learn skills from private tutors or attend private schools to prepare them in literacy, and mathematical skills without the use of AI, that are needed for post-secondary.

Ultimately, while the economy has increased thanks to neoliberal privatization, the overall living conditions for people have declined. The gap between rich and poor grows, and student graduating from secondary school do not have the knowledge needed to be successful in the current system.

Links to Individual Narratives

Individual Narrative for Education

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Linda's Individual Narrative