The beginning of Adult Learners's Week is less than a week away (April 6-14). 

In addition to the locally organized events across the province, "La Grande Lecture" event will be held twice--once in Quebec City April 10^th and then again April 12^th in Montreal.

In Quebec City: Espace Hyperion, 190 rue Saint-Joseph Est at 11:30
In Montreal: Cabaret leLion D'or, 1676 Rue Ontario Est at 11:30

The event in Quebec will be hosted by the author Alain Beaulieu with the participation author Isabelle Forest, actress Marie-Ginette Guay et singers Yann Perreault et Marie Philippe.

In Montreal, preformers Stéphane Breton et Catherine Bérubé, entertainer Jici Lauzon, slam poet Ivy, with musical guest Caïman Fu and flamenco artist Stefano Pando will all perform at "La Grande Lecture" hosted by Marianne Moisan.

Spokesperson for la Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation 2013, actor Guy Thauvette will be on hand at both events to get things rolling.

If you would like to attend these events, please contact Isabelle Gagnon, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 514 948-2044 or tool free at 1 877 948-2044, poste 245 to reserve your place.

Radio-Canada will be presenting a collection of the most touching stories of adult learners (Ma plus belle histoire). Those stories can be read on the Radio-Canada website after April 14th.

For a complete list of events across the province consult:
www.adulteenformation.com 
www.icea.qc.ca 

by Darren Mathews, Humanities teacher at the Lennoxville campus Champlain College

This past semester I had my Issues in Biomedical Ethics students engage in a little experiment. We had been looking at the moral and ethical implications of addiction and society’s responsibility to prevent it. The classic examples of this include the big three - cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. In an attempt to mix things up and add a little controversy I brought in an article on internet addiction which referred to a study carried out by the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda (ICMPA) that followed students at the University of Maryland as they went without any form of digital media including internet, social media, phones and music - for one day. In that study, although many students liked the fact that they had an excuse not to have to keep up social media and respond to every single message, tweet or comment, they also experienced negative symptoms such as loneliness and boredom. More significantly many also experienced physical as well as emotional symptoms of withdrawal normally associated with addition such as feeling fidgety, headaches, loss of focus, irritability and depression. I asked my students if they thought they would experience similar symptoms to those of the students in the study. There was a fair bit humming and hawing but with a little prompting many came out and said that didn’t think they would experience any ill side effects beyond boredom. So, on the spur of the moment I asked them, “How many of you are willing to try the 24 hours unplugged experiment yourself?” About a third of the class put up their hands.