AUTOFOD
Apprendre à Utiliser les Technologies et à Organiser la Formation Ouverte et à Distance
(Learning to use technology and organise open and distance learning)
1. Description
1.1
Origin of the project (issues and motives)
In 1997, 5 partners, namely 4 organisations or training networks: CESI, AFPA. the APP
network, CEGOS and Electricité de France/Gaz de France (EDF/GDF), the French electricity
and gas distribution company, through its training departments, agreed that “The advent of the
information society is generating radical changes in work organisation (e.g. networked
enterprises) working methods (e.g. teleworking), training methods (e.g.open and distance
learning).
“Employees of training organisations, and in particular the trainers whose task it is to assist
firms undergoing such changes, must, therefore, develop their information technology culture.
Failure to master the technology exposes them to the risk, in the short to medium term, of
finding themselves at a loss when confronted with the tools and mode of operation of the
information society.”
The AUTOFOD project was evolved within the framework of the Community’s ADAPT BIS
programme as a means of accompanying and assisting these future market developments and
the emergence of new training practices.
1.2
Aims of the project
A project was designed with the principal objectives of:
 raising trainers’ awareness of ICT and encouraging them to use it;
 training trainers to devise their own ODL systems.
It comprised two cycles:
- a short cycle: “Evolving one’s own ways of using technology for training purposes”,
whose objectives were:
 to be able to describe how the technology was generally used for training purposes
and to adopt at least one such method in their own professional activity;
 to be able to analyse the way in which their working environment had developed;
 to be able to work with others and share resources at a distance.
- a long cycle: “Designing an open and distance training system”, whose objectives were:
 to be able to apply training techniques in order to design open and distance training
that takes account of the new dimensions - economic, regulatory, organisational,
technological and pedagogic - deriving from the concept of service;
 to be able to plan, manage and complete a project concerned with the development of
open and distance learning;
 to be able to accompany change and become a vital source of innovative teaching and
training proposals.
2. Background information
2.1
The project
In 1997, the partners formed a consortium with a view to designing and implementing a new
system of training in order to make trainers and their organisations more aware of how new
technology could be used and to provide them with the tools necessary for designing open and
distance training systems.
2.2
Target area
The project targeted a section of the trainer population working in the field of vocational
training. It was conducted at national level with the majority of French regions being involved
in Module 1 (25 operating centres) and Cycle 2.
2.3
Target groups
The target group in a given region were the employees of partners in the project who were
involved in providing training or designing training courses or methods. In the last year the
scope was extended to include employees of training organisations. It was directed to trainers,
consultants, training managers and others involved in training activity.
In all almost 1100 people followed Module 1:
- 350 in 1998
- 500 in 1999
- 250 in 2000
More than half the target group came from the networks of APP (a personalised training
organisation) and CLP (a committee for assisting migrants and the disadvantaged); one third
came from AFPA (see below).
More than 130 of them attended one or more seminars organised in the context of Cycle 2.
About 120 professionals followed the whole of Cycle 2 (known as Module 2 the first year and
as Cycle 2 in the second phase when training became more personalised).
2.4
Funding
The project cost some EUR 5.5m, approximately 45% of which came from the ESF, 30%
from the public sector and 25% from the private sector.
Participants were not charged for training, which was carried out during working time.
2.5
Duration
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- Period covered: 01.01.98 to 31.12.00
- Total duration: 3 years
The first six months were devoted to designing the system. In June 1998 two experimental
Module 1 sessions were held in Ile de France and Rhône-Alpes.
In all more than 80 Module 1 and 6 Cycle 2 sessions were held.
The Module 1 sessions lasted 5 days. Those of Cycle 2 were personalised and lasted 20 days.
3. Project management
The project was managed by CESI, a private-sector, non-profit training organisation with joint
employer/union management associated with other private and public-sector bodies.
3.1
Partners
The five French partners were:
CESI - the project manager
CESI was formed in 1958 by five industrial firms with a view initially to upgrading their
technicians and foremen to enable them to become engineers. The CESI group currently trains
an overall 20,000 people a year in its various sectors of activity.
CESI specialises in training technicians, engineers and executives in industry. It is a training
organisation with an associative status under Law 1901.
CESI
Bernard Blandin
297 rue de Vaugirard
75015 Paris
33 (0)1 44 19 23 45
bblandin@cesi.fr
AFPA
Formed in 1949 under the supervision of the Ministry for Employment and Solidarity, AFPA
was the first organisation concerned with vocational training for adults in France and in
Europe. It is involved in matters of training, vocational guidance and human resource
counselling. It has more than 500 trainers covering over 300 occupations. AFPA’s training
courses lead to qualifications approved by the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity.
AFPA/INMF
Av. Félix Gouin
13804 ISTRES Cedex
EDF/GDF - SFP: The vocational training service of the French electricity and gas distribution
company.
SFP
Tour Esplanade
3
1 rue Carpeaux
92815 La Défense Cedex
The APP and CLP network (via IOTA+)
IOTA+ was created in 1986 at the request of the Directorate General for Employment and
Vocational Training. Its supporting organisation is ALGORA Formation Ouverte et Reseau
(formerly ORAVEP).
Originally designed to provide technical assistance to all teams and partners involved in APP
operations, the activities of IOTA+ have resulted in the creation of a network of 460 APP
units, together with the relevant tools (website, journal, printed publications and videos)
permitting exchanges, sharing and general debates and discussions.
IOTA+/ALGORA
18/26 rue Goubet - 75959 Paris Cedex 19
Tel.: 33(0)1 48 03 90 00 - Fax: (0)1 48 03 90 21
www.algora.org www.app.tm.fr
CEGOS
The CEGOS group is an international training organisation. It provides training for firms, acts
as consultant and assists with recruitment.
CEGOS
204 Rond-Point du Pont de Sèvres
92516 Boulogne Billancourt Cedex
Partners assisting AUTOFOD (video production)
Videoscop - the audiovisual and multimedia centre of the University of Nancy. It is a publicsector body.
Videoscop
25 rue Baron Louis
54100 Nancy Cedex
University of Nantes (a public-sector body)
Université de Nantes
1 quai de Tourville
44000 Nantes
European partners
CRED (Centre for Research in Education and Development): A Welsh training research and
consultancy organisation.
CRED accepted Cycle 2 trainees as part of the second sequence “Visit to an ODL centre”.
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Marche Innovation Training: An Italian computer training institute.
3.2
Project management
The project was managed throughout by CESI (Bernard Blandin) under the control of a
steering committee made up of the partners and representatives of various ministries.
The five partners were involved in designing the system. They formed a technical working
party which met frequently in order to design and implement the system and exercise
pedagogic, technical and financial control.
Coordination of Module 1 was entrusted to IOTA+, the unit responsible for assistance and
liaison for the APP network (Benedicte Veilex). This made it possible to coordinate the
logistics of organising sessions by liaising with all the operating centres in the various regions
(at least one per region), to monitor activity, to exploit products using the platform, and to
promote exchanges between trainers and trainees in the different regions.
Coordination of Cycle 2 was entrusted to CESI (Jean-Luc Moreau) and in the final year to
ALGORA (Arnaud Coulon).
A network of “AUTOFOD correspondents” was set up within each network or organisation.
Internal or external operating centres - generally the former - were chosen to carry out
training.
3.3
History of the project
 1997: Project first conceived
 First half of 1998; System engineering and technical development of the platform
 June 1998: Experimental sessions held.
 end-1998/early 1999: Assessment of activity to date
 1999: System re-engineered:
- More personalising of route made possible
- Conversion and upgrading of the extranet to permit new communication
functions, more flexible management of individual sequences and routes,
opening up of part of the extranet giving free access to trainers not registered
with the system etc.
 2000/2001: start-up of AUTOFOD support: production of 200 four-minute videos.
Training was carried out between June 1998 and December 2000.
4. System design
4.1
Engineering
Engineering, which began at the end of 1997 and was mainly carried out during the first half
of 1998, took place during working meetings and at three two-day seminars. The members of
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the technical working party attended these seminars, as did outsiders brought in to deal with
specific matters.
This made it possible to work out training benchmarks, complete the first stages of pedagogic
engineering (duration, place, human resources, technical tools etc. for the various sequences),
select the first operating centres, and prepare technical specifications for each operating centre
and for the extranet.
Continuous assessment of the system by means of a questionnaire that was filled in by each
participant immediately on completion of training and again a month later, and a study carried
out by Cabinet Interface made it possible to develop the system so as to make it more “open”
and bring it more into line with participants’ needs.
In the first year, therefore, Module 2 was the same for everyone in terms of duration and
programme. Assessment revealed a degree of dissatisfaction on the part of trainees and their
wish for greater flexibility. Module 2 became a personalised cycle with a common core and “à
la carte” days in the form of seminars on special subjects and personal work.
5. Organisation of the system employed
5.1
Training
Module 1: Classroom training in a room equipped with multimedia workstations, and distance
training at the workplace or in the home.
Duration: 5 days (see details below) spread over a month or so.
Groups composed of at least 8 and not more than 20 people.
Every participant must have Internet access at their place of work.
Sequence

Positioning on registration (vocabulary, practice, what is available at the institution)

2-day interinstitutional group session
- knowledge of tools (1 day), vocabulary, common uses, strong points, weak
points
- discovering and using the AUTOFOD system (half-day): functionalities of the
system, interactive conventions, sources of information, resources.
- Definition of a user microproject working with a partner (half-day)

Microproject (1 day/month) Using the AUTOFOD system with partner and tutor,
training at the workplace or resource centre.

2-day interinstitutional group session
- presentation of microprojects (1 day): defending one’s choice, creating a
didactic scenario, analysing how one’s job has evolved.
- debates with counter-arguments (backed by evidence from those involved) and
exchanges (1 day); developing work situations, role of tools, financial
considerations.
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Cycle 2
Duration: At least 20 days spread over about 8 months
Organisation
Classroom training was used for group sessions and distance training with AUTOFOD
platform support. Distance working was also structured using study visits to centres and
production at the workplace in the framework of project management.
Common core
CC0 1 day
Welcome - Positioning:
One-to-one sessions
Sending questionnaire
General session on the Internet (chat)
(actual or
videoconference)
CC1 2 days
Situation of ODL
Actual group session
CC2 1 day visit +
Visit to a ODL centre
Individual or group visit
CC3 2 days
Project work: formalisation, planning
Actual group session in
Paris
CC4 8 days spread
over cycle
Individual project work with distance tutor
supervision
Days of coached selfdirected learning at the
workplace spread over the
cycle
CC
%
Presentation of projects
Actual group session
1 day
reporting
1 day
Optional seminars (4 are compulsory, to be chosen out of 11 options). Choice is validated
through negotiation and contracting between tutor and trainee.
Code Subject of the day
SO1
Self-directed learning
SO2
Personalisation
SO3
Impact of ODL on training
SO4
Obtaining information and selecting tools
SO5
Networks - videoconferencing
SO6
Succeeding with one’s project
SO7
Taking part in European programmes
SO8
Learning to learn with ODL
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ODL’s quality approach
SO9
SO10
Assessment of an ODL system
SO11 Development of contents
Supplementary personal work: reading notes, lectures, practical work etc. prescribed by tutor
or others (coordinators, trainers etc.) and carried out at distance.
Certification and Accreditation
ODL training did not lead to any accreditation or certification. Those requesting it were issued
with a document certifying that they had followed the course. We would stress that a number
of participants would have liked some form of recognition in whatever form, not merely for
personal satisfaction but so as to be able subsequently to use it, internally or externally.
5.2
Technical architecture

An electronic tool was developed specifically for the project. This permitted:

Decentralised management of registration for the various modules within each
network or institution.

Management of individual routes

Providing trainers with all the communication tools used in training, particularly
distance training (generally at the workplace. This meant that each trainee had an
electronic mailbox and access to subject forums, a chat room and so on and was thus
able to communicate with others such as group members, all trainees and their
supervisor in Cycle 2.

Sharing of all material produced
- by instructors (printed documents, video clips)
- by trainees in the course of personal projects

Quantitative access monitoring through detailed connection statistics,
6. Outcomes
6.1
Assessment
This task was entrusted to Interface, an external contractor which conducted evaluations of
Module 1 sessions in 1998 and of Module 2 in early 1999. Its based itself on:

a study of various sources of information:
- self-positioning questionnaires completed prior to training
- an assessment questionnaire completed by each participant at the end of the last
day of training
- an assessment questionnaire concerning what had been contributed and gained
in professional terms sent to participants about a month after the end of training
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- records of attendance and reports on sessions, prepared by coaches
- Platform access statistics

Interviews with trainees, coaches and training managers

Telephone interviews
Following the Module 2 assessment the system was re-engineered:

Module 2 was converted to a training cycle permitting personalised routes in which
11 seminar days could be chosen “à la carte”.

The www.autofod.com platform was further developed.
Two assessment reports are available from the project manager bblandin@cesi.fr
6.2
Results
Among the difficulties encountered were:

Unequal mobilisation at partner network or regional level

A steady increase in the load of registrations within the system (difficulty in filling
most of the first modules while later ones were fully booked)

The nature of the trainer/employer relationship. An employer must be convinced of
the importance of the training proposed, particularly in the case of Cycle 2. The
difficulty for a trainer of designing a project if the training organisation that employs
him does not itself understand what ODL is about or has no plans in this direction.

The fact that many trainers were new to ICT and some were using the Internet for the
first time (hence the need to give a basic introduction to the tools themselves). Some
did not have access to a computer or had no personal e-mail address.

A low level of commitment on the part of the trainers’ managements.
Among the positive points were:

Targets for number of trainers trained were reached

All the metropolitan regions were involved

The discovery by many trainers (apart from those of APP) of the principle of
personalisation (often resulting from introduction to the ODL system).

The advantage of partnership both in setting up the project and for the mix of trainers
in the different modules.

The joint development of tools, involvement of regional partners, large number of
comments received etc.

The creation of a point of reference for competences and a system for the training of
trainers.

The scope of the project and the fact that initial objectives were achieved.
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Levels of impact
At local level training centres were obliged to manage and/or accept change, assist trainers
and - in some cases - mobilise new resources in order to develop new methods of training and
the range of services they offered, as well as their organisation. The impact is felt in different
areas, both as regards teaching practices and organisation of training and professional activity:
closer supervision, greater openness to the environment, group projects, new strategic
thinking.
At national level the opening up of the system to organisations outside the consortium such as
business or consultancy firms may be regarded as added value over and above the initial
objectives. It has made for a greater mix of trainers and still greater mutual enrichment.
AUTOFOD may now be regarded as having set a standard for the training of trainers in
France.
Finally an entirely new and transferable knowhow has been evolved by the operating centres
and partners involved in the project and has been passed on in various ways. From a more
global perspective one may consider that certain ODL systems existing today owe their origin
directly or indirectly to the AUTOFOD project.
7. Outputs
Module 1:
Training activity is organised to take up twice two days of group sessions with, in the interval,
personal work with partners on a microproject estimated as taking up one day per person. This
work, which is presented at the second group meeting, leads to the crediting of a fifth training
day. Participation in the training may be broken up; registration is taken as an undertaking to
complete the entire module.
Number of sessions: 82 Module 1 sessions were held with some 1100 people.
Cycle 2:
Cycle 2 is an personalised system of open and distance training. It is made up of a common
core of three group sessions, a study visit with subsequent reporting, optional seminars and a
personal project distance-monitored by a supervisor. The cycle is estimated as covering 20
days, spread over several months; but may vary depending on the project concerned.
Number of sessions: 8 Cycle 2 sessions were held. 120 people completed the entire cycle and
130 others attended seminars.
Production of documents
A number of documents and media were produced before or during the project. They included
technical specifications, a positioning tool (questionnaire), a skills benchmark, an ODL
project management chart, a glossary, assessment notes, administration documents, video
clips, summaries, and project and microproject notes.
Technical output
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The AUTOFOD extranet platform
Production of audiovisual material
In order to illustrate how open and distance learning is carried out in practice in France, a
situation report was prepared. This took the form of 205 four-minute video clips dealing with
factual, strategic, instrumental, and engineering aspects and the new practices of trainers and
trainees for 25 systems actually in operation. This situation report was supplemented by
interviews with those actively involved, researchers and others making major contributions
concerning the current development of open and distance learning. They were broadcast in an
“Amphis de la Cinquième” programme on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between April and June
2001 and will be repeated between September and December 2001. They are also available on
cassette and DVD-ROM and accessible in summarised form on the Internet (http://.canaleducation.fr/amphis/). The cassettes can also be borrowed from the Ministry of Employment
and Solidarity’s video library.
8. Innovative dimension
8.1
Innovation
The AUTOFOD training system is innovative from several points of view.
 Partnership
Partnership at the level of system guidance, in organising the training and in the target
population. The system uses a mix of trainers from different institutions with different trainees
and different modes of thinking and working, who are brought together to share ideas and
experience and collaborate.
 Training methods
The AUTOFOD system is innovative in terms of architecture and methodology. The two
cycles offered to trainers were organised as open and distance learning courses combining
classroom attendance with supervised distance learning. Moreover, use of the AUTOFOD
extranet made it possible to ensure a degree of consistency between substance and form.
 Developments in professional practice
One of the objectives of the system was to lead trainers to question their own professional
activity and to devise new training methods.
8.2
Transfer
The AUTOFOD system was transferred to two overseas departments (Guadeloupe and
Martinique). It is being used today for training new target groups: CFA trainers employed by
the Ministry of Finance.
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Pedagogic engineering carried out as part of the AUTOFOD project was transferred to these
new training courses but part of the system has been further developed and the technical
architecture of the platform is now different. The www.autofod.com website has been closed
down. Maintaining a website of this size was only possible as part of a system as broad in
scope as AUTOFOD because of the high cost of management.
Finally those involved in the project developed their own knowhow, which is now being
applied to different tasks within the various institutions: training of trainers, accompanying
change, ODL project engineering etc.
The AUTOFOD project has been discussed in the specialist press on several occasions:
 Lettre de IOTA+, the APP journal (Nos. 32, 33, 34, 36, 38 and 43),
 Ressources, la lettre d’ALGORA (formerly ORAVEP) No. 52, as also on its website,
 The publications of the Centre Inffo concerned with open and distance learning (AFP
Nos. 157 and 160), Inffo Flash Hors Série, December 2000.
 Entreprise et Carrières No. 413,
 Entreprise Formation Nos. 112 and 118.
AUTOFOD has also been mentioned in an article in the newspaper Le Monde (25/02/98).
The results of a study on the dissemination of Module 1 were presented at an international
colloquium on self-directed learning held at CNAM in June 2000.
The project was also presented at the second national congress of training managers at Reims
on 25 November 1999 and at the Fourth Colloquium on self-directed learning at Dijon in
December 1998. It was the subject of a presentation in the context of the Open University
programme on the information and network society on 15 April 1999 and 17 June 1999, as
well as at FORM@TIC 2000 (the first exhibition of information and communications
technology in the service of vocational training) held at Nancy in June 2000.
The audiovisual products were broadcast on French TV (La Cinquième channel - see above)
on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between April and June 2001 and will be repeated in the first
quarter of 2001.
They are also available through other channels:
 They can be hired from the video library of the Ministry of Employment and
Solidarity
 They can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet (http://www.canal-
.education.fr/amphis/) in Realvideo and QuickTime format
 They are on sale at cost price as videocassettes (order through Videoscop)
 They are on sale at cost price as a set of 3 DVD-ROMs (order through Videoscop)
The key points of the experiment which deserve in-depth study with a view to transferring
them to the entire network are:
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 The transfer of knowledge and skills acquired in a work situation
 The conditions under which the project was carried out
 Interinstitutional partnership as a means of assisting the emergence of projects
 Project methodology
 Development of new practices and assistance to trainers
 Use of the AUTOFOD extranet
9. For further information
9.1
Keywords
 Inter-institutional character
 Open system
 Use of technology for training purposes
9.2
Contact
Bernard Blandin
CESI
297, rue du Vaugard
F-75015 Paris
Tel.: 33(1) 01 44 19 23 45
e-mail:bblandin@CESI.fr
9.3
Webliography
http://www.autofod.com
http://www.canal-u.education.fr/amphis/ (link. formation de formateurs-autofod)
http://www.algora.org/autofod/index.btml
http://www.citesciences.fr/francais/web cite/informer/tec met/universite/texte/ext9924.htm
http:www.ffod.org/resumes/150499.htm
9.4
Bibliography
(Articles)
C.Parmentier & F. Arfaoui:Tout savoir sur la e-formation, Les Editions d’Organisation, Paris,
2001
AUTOFOD pour former des ingènieurs de formation, in: Inffo-Flash Hors Série, Centre Inffo,
December 2000
FOAD: l’accompagnement pédagogique et organisationnel, conférence de consensus, in:
Ressources, la lettre de l’ORAVEP 52, May 2000
13
AUTOFOD: lutter contre l’illétrisme technologique, in: Entreprise Formation 118,
March/April 2000
AUTOFOD: Renforcement, in: IOTA+ 43, Nov./Dec. 2000
CESI-AUTOFOD: in: Les actes de la 2ème assemblée nationale des responsables de
formation, Alain Renaud Communication, Reims, 25/26 Nov. 1999
Module 1 AUTOFOD dans les locaux d’AFPA de Brive, in IOTA+ 38, Sept./Oct. 1999
AUTOFOD: former les formateurs à l’usage et à la conception des nouvelles technologies
educatives,in: Actualité de la Formation Permanente 160, Centre Inffo, May/June 1999
AUTOFOD (ADAPT-ESF): Premiers résultats des actions menées in 1998, in: IOTA+ 36,
March/May 1999
AUTOFOD: un appui aux formateurs, in: Entreprise Formation 112, March/April 1999
Le réseau des APP et le programme européen AUTOFOD, in: Actualité de la formation
permanente 157, Nov./Dec. 1998
AUTOFOD in: IOTA+ 34, Nov./Dec. 1998
Les stagiaires s’expriment sur la plate-forme AUTOFOD, in: IOTA+ 33, Sept./Oct. 1998
AUTOFOD: apprendre à utiliser les technologies et à organiser la formation ouverte et à
distance, in: IOTA+ 32, June/July 1998
Formation de Formateurs, in: Le Monde, 25 Feb. 1998
AUTOFOD lutte contre l’illétrisme technologique, in: Entreprise et Carrières 413, 9-15 Dec.
1997
9.5
Related research
Arnaud Coulon and Frèdèric Haeuw: Study on the development of trainers’ skills using open
and distance learning systems
http://www.algora.org/kiosque/cd publ.htm
Frédéric Haeuw: Management of the ODL project by skills in the state education system
(Digital Campus projects)
http://www.algora.org/competice.htm
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