Case Study: French Ministry of Education scales nationwide online classrooms with BigBlueButton

French Ministry Of Education Chooses BigBlueButton

The French Ministry of National Education faced the urgent challenge of deploying a nationwide online classroom solution during the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. They required a platform that could scale to serve millions of students and educators while strictly adhering to European data sovereignty and protection guidelines, which ruled out many US-based services. They turned to the open-source web conferencing platform BigBlueButton.

Partnering with cloud providers, the ministry implemented a scalable, cloud-based BigBlueButton solution. The deployment was a tremendous success, becoming the primary mode of online learning for France and later expanding to all French state administration. BigBlueButton was praised for its functionalities like breakout rooms and whiteboards, and its adoption was further validated when it was selected as a qualified tool for the presidency of the European Union. The ministry's financial support for BigBlueButton's development has accelerated new features, benefiting educators worldwide.

French Ministry of Education

Laurent Le Prieur

French Ministry of Education