Teaching and Learning in a World Saturated with Information    

Many of today’s CEGEP teachers attended high school, community college, or university at a time when the Internet played a much smaller role in how people learned and obtained information. In 2000, barely one in three Quebec adults used the Internet. According to the NETendances 2025 surveys, today, 97% of Quebec Internet users aged 18 to 34 use social media daily, and nearly three-quarters use it to stay informed. Many turn specifically to influencers: 42% of Internet users aged 18 to 34 say they regularly follow those who specialize in current events.

In this context, the relationship with information has changed profoundly in the classroom. The challenge is often no longer about accessing information, but about sorting through the information that comes to us, knowing which information to choose, how to evaluate it critically, and how to mobilize it to develop one’s own thinking. It is also about recognizing what one does not know, even as repeated exposure to certain content and algorithmic filtering can give the impression that one already knows everything. The development of generative AI exacerbates this phenomenon by offering immediate answers without ensuring that students are able to understand them or evaluate their reliability. 

How can we help students interpret, stay informed, and reflect? How can we teach people who are already overwhelmed by a constant stream of information? What pedagogical approach should we take in light of these new realities?  

This thematic issue invites reflection on the ways in which our relationship with information is transforming teaching and learning at the college level. It explores several possible avenues: 

• Developing media and information literacy: How can we help students learn to search for information, evaluate the credibility sources, and navigate a sea of information and analyses of varying value? This includes AI literacy, specifically the ability to understand how AI works, evaluate its responses critically, and recognize its limitations. 

• Managing the cognitive and emotional burden associated with information overload or content promoted by algorithms: How can we address information that may cause anxiety or mistrust, or lead students to consider information or perspectives different from those to which they are exposed?   

• The evolution of teaching and evaluation practices: What pedagogical approaches should be adopted in a context where a wealth of information is immediately accessible? For example, what role should memorization play? How can we rethink evaluation so that it reflects learning achievements and developed competencies, while addressing issues of intellectual integrity? How can teachers themselves integrate new informational realities, including generative artificial intelligence, into their practices, and then diversify and update their sources?  

To learn more about how to submit an article and to view the call for contributions, visit the AQPC website: https://www.aqpc.qc.ca/fr/dossier-thematique. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the editor-in-chief.  

The deadline to submit a proposal is Friday, January 8, 2027, via email: revue@aqpc.qc.ca.