Digital training gets the green light

In order to maintain continuing education during the Covid-19 health crisis, and in the context of strict health protocols, the INSTN has shifted some of programs to partial or even 100 percent remote learning methods. By digitizing training courses during this exceptional time, the INSTN has been able to validate and accelerate a process initiated in 2018.

One of the first tests of the 100 percent distance learning program was concerned the training course "Estimating and controlling dismantling costs" - the last in-person session scheduled for March had to be cancelled due to the health crisis. INSTN's pedagogical teams reengineered the course in record time and rescheduled it for early April as an entirely "virtual class". Although technical adjustments - connection problems in particular - required special support, and despite the palpable sense of social distancing, participants reported being very satisfied with the virtual classroom approach.

INSTN has since applied the "distancing" experiment to other training courses in nuclear safety and engineering, gradually, extending the range of teaching methods: through secure access to the INSTN Instart Learning online training plateform, trainees have benefited from videos of lectures, flipped classes, quizzes, and surveys, in addition to virtual classes. Moving forward, this method could make it possible to limit the number of on-site trainees while providing them access to more training courses, without hindering interactions between trainers and trainees.

Based on feedback collected during the health crisis, the INSTN's overall approach to digitalization implemented two years ago, and the institution's acquired experience, the INSTN is currently redesigning a selection of its training courses to include a combination of distance and in-person training.