What if interactivity became an institutional reflex?

We often talk about pedagogical innovation in companies. But when a ministry starts embracing it, it inevitably draws attention. During a recent webinar, Tom Fernandez, Digital and Pedagogical Project Officer for the French Ministry of Sports, shared his experience.

Tom works within the RNSPF (Digital Sports Network for Training), attached to the Ministry of Sports. The network supports the development of digital skills within sports and youth training institutions. His mission is to guide, train, and support pedagogical transformation across the institutions in the network. And it was precisely in this context that Wooclap entered the picture.

Objective: breaking the wall of top-down training

As in many public administrations, the challenge is significant: delivering training that is useful, well-attended, and engaging, despite highly heterogeneous audiences and sometimes rigid institutional frameworks.

Tom explains it simply:

“It was necessary to find a way to capture attention, and above all, to keep it.”

The goal was not to revolutionize everything overnight, but to make training sessions more dynamic, participatory, and effective. And that is exactly what Wooclap enables, through interactive questions, word clouds, live polls, rankings, and more.

At first, Tom tested the tool in remote training sessions. The result? A genuine “wow” effect among participants. A co-construction dynamic emerged: trainers could instantly see whether concepts were understood, and learners became more involved and retained information more effectively.

A simple tool, but a cultural shift

Introducing a new tool into an institutional environment requires more than technical deployment. It requires creating the conditions for interactivity to become a habit.

Tom emphasizes the importance of support:

“You don’t just throw a tool out there. You have to train people, reassure them, show them its value, and most importantly, run demonstrations.”

In practice, he integrated Wooclap into train-the-trainer programs. He used it not only to engage participants, but also to demonstrate how to engage. A modeling approach, in other words.

The result? Highly positive feedback. Trainers themselves began adopting the tool for their own sessions.

And perhaps most importantly, a network effect emerged:

“When one organization uses Wooclap successfully, they talk about it to another. And that creates momentum.”

Pedagogical word-of-mouth works in the public sector too.

3 tips to integrate interactivity into your training

1. Start simple

There’s no need to use every Wooclap feature from day one. One or two well-placed questions can already create a shift. For example, a word cloud at the beginning of a session to break the ice.

2. Show the impact live

One of Wooclap’s greatest strengths is immediate feedback. Results appear in real time, and that changes the pace of training. Use this leverage to show other trainers, or decision-makers, how much the tool enhances attention and engagement.

3. Use it as an animation tool, not just for evaluation

Too often, quizzes are associated only with final assessments. Tom recommends using Wooclap throughout the learning journey, to energize sessions, re-engage attention, take the pulse of the group, or illustrate a key point.

What’s next? Toward broader adoption in public institutions

The successful integration of a tool like Wooclap within public structures depends largely on the human factor. It is essential to bridge digital tools with real-world pedagogical realities. Through this approach, the tool becomes an integral part of the learning experience. And the results speak for themselves: learners are more active, trainers feel more confident, and training becomes more effective.

Tom Fernandez’s example demonstrates something essential: pedagogical innovation is not reserved for startups or private companies. It can and should flow into public institutions as well. Provided it is implemented with structure and support.