On December 15, 2020, 67 computerized notetakers at George Brown College (GBC) received an email that all contracts would be terminated by December 18, 2020 and replaced by a software application called Note Taking Express. Although a few staff members would still be required to provide coverage for on-campus classes, all 5 GTA virtual classes in Winter 2021 would be replaced by the new service due to “a lighter volume of students.”

Now, members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union / Le Syndicat des employés de la fonction publique de l’Ontario (OPSEU/SEFPO) Local 557 at GBC are now calling on the institution to bring back notetakers and renew their contracts, arguing that “they provide a value added service that is superior to the app”.

A variety of concerns have been raised in regards to the quality of the notes provided by Note Taking Express for those who require these services. Andrew Lehrer, a previous notetaker at GBC, says that even if it is simply a matter of students receiving their notes two days later with Note Taking Express, they would still miss out on the synchronous note-taking that GBC’s computerized notetakers are able to provide for the students. 

“Live text-to-speech and automated text-to-speech services just aren’t the same,” says Lehrer. “If the notetaker isn’t in the class, the student can’t clarify something with the teacher and they don’t have the material. But we have the material. It’s almost like taking a course with the student.” 

Their key arguments were presented in an email to GBC president Anne Sado on February 8, 2021. The email outlined how notetakers provide notes in real-time which enables students to follow along in class, provide accurate notes within 24 hours that are copy-edited, and that they check with faculty when needed to clarify points and confirm names with terminology. 

“With a text-to-speech service, there are going to be key mistakes,” says Lehrer. “Yeah, you can kind of follow the discussion, but there are a lot of errors. The wrong homonym is used, the wrong name is used, there’s no context, so it’s just a very different experience.”

Because computerized notetakers are considered casual employees by GBC, the email clearly stated that seniority is not applicable and will not be provided once the contracts are up. In regards to whether these cuts were made because of the financial effects of COVID-19, president OPSEU/SEFPO Local 557 at GBC, Megan Carter, says these discussions happened prior to the pandemic but that the virus sped up the process.

“I do recall it being mentioned in the past that they were looking into different avenues of that role. That was mentioned probably over the last four years, it’s been a while since they first mentioned it.”

OPSEU/SEFPO remains concerned with the quality of the transcripts provided by Note Taking Express and asks whether or not the college is fulfilling its duty to accommodate students with disabilities, a legal requirement under the Ontario Human Rights Code. 

On March 25, Housing, Tenant Rights, and Urban Planning Critic MPP Jessica Bell and Opposition Accessibility Critic MPP Joel Harden sent a letter to Sado requesting that GBC reinstate the notetakers whose contracts were terminated. Mentioning that there is a “concern for the accessibility of the students with disabilities and for the loss of decently paid labour for the contracted workers”, the elected officials are calling for the notetaker contracts to be reinstated, as well as for the utmost to be done to ensure high quality and professional note-taking services to students with disabilities.

“From what I’ve heard from the staff, the students are saying it’s not the same and it isn’t up to the same level as it was before,” says Carter. “I don’t think it can [be replaced], because I think you’re missing an important piece which is the human factor and I don’t think you can replace these roles within a computer. I don’t think that’s addressing the needs of the students to the fullest extent.” 

Representatives from the college declined to comment when approached by the Dialog.