🎙️ Interview with Jérôme Payen, coordinator of the Magistère system at the Directorate of Digital Education. We had the pleasure of speaking with him during the Educatech Expo held at Paris Porte de Versailles from November 13 to 15.
After 11 years, Magistère is evolving to provide a better, more optimized training experience, tailored to today’s constraints and uses—whether in terms of ergonomics, distance learning, or interactivity.
Key Goals of the Redesign: More Interactivity and Speed!
Why was a change necessary? Several reasons, as Jérôme Payen explains in the introduction. Whether it’s to improve the platform’s ergonomics, aesthetics, or interactivity, users agreed that a comprehensive “refresh” was essential.
“To enhance engagement in training, interactivity is a must,” reports Jérôme Payen, summarizing feedback from trainers.
Another major demand was for a faster Magistère. “We had to completely overhaul the platform’s technical architecture,” explains Payen.
A Major Innovation: Splitting Magistère in Two
The revamped platform will focus on hosting training sessions. “It’s important to know that 70% of Magistère’s usage is in a hybrid format within regional continuing education academies,” Payen highlights.
Each trainer works with around 20 trainees, delivering hybrid training that alternates between in-person and distance learning (both synchronous and asynchronous).
Splitting Magistère to Isolate the Design Process
“All design-related aspects will move to a new platform called ‘The Designers’ Network.’ It will be simpler, clearer, and more effective to have a separate platform,” Payen explains.
On this Designers’ Network, team collaboration will be easier, and new tools will be available to aid in designing and scripting new training programs.
Interactivity and Modular Activities on the New Magistère
“We’ve added numerous interactive activities, such as word clouds and interactive quizzes, to engage participants,” says Payen.
The flagship feature of the new Magistère is the “module” activity.
This module allows trainers, with a single click, to integrate existing training courses available in the open-access catalog.
“A trainer can create a custom training program, plan their in-person sessions, and, when needed, incorporate a one-hour distance training session from the open-access catalog—and so on,” Payen elaborates.
With the module activity, trainers can design entire scripted training programs using resources from the open-access catalog. The process is now technically straightforward, unlike with the previous version of the platform.
About the Magistère Platform
Magistère is the hybrid and distance learning platform of the French National Education System. “Its purpose is to train all staff—1.2 million people, including 860,000 teachers,” notes Payen.
Last year, over 490,000 individuals participated in at least one training session on Magistère. Of these, 47% were secondary school teachers, and 37% were primary school teachers.
The volume of training sessions, already significant, is expected to increase further as regional training academies continue to rely on this system to expand hybrid learning.
“We know that hybrid training is essential since teachers need to spend more time in the classroom with their students,” Payen emphasizes.
Using a platform like Magistère allows in-person sessions to be reserved for when they are most effective, while everything else can be handled remotely. “This will help optimize training,” concludes Jérôme Payen.
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