What’s the average number of talks, workshops and seminars you can attend a year? 3? 30?
This number may be determined by your physical location, whether you are a student at the moment or not, the information you can access about these occasions, etc.
These are excellent opportunities to learn something new, broaden your mind, socialize with fellow teachers, grow professionally in general. The thing that keeps me away from these events is the price of the ticket and the 6 hours spent on the train with slightly unpredictable heating conditions.
For me it is WEBINARS!
Definition: a webinar is a 30-60 minutes long online PD session that you can attend in pajamas or even naked.
OK, more precisely, you enter a virtual room, most of the time you see the presenter (who is often an expert on the other side of the world you have no chance to meet, I will never forget Stephen Karshen and his red hoodie once) talking in a video box, the slides in a bigger box, the list of the usernames of the other participants, and a chatbox where everyone can write whatever they want. You are not seen or heard, only read. (Then pajamas don’t matter.)
To enjoy the experience you will need internet connection, a computer or a mobile device with free, easily accessible, fool-proof software. Webinars come in all shapes and topics. If the time is not convenient, you can watch the recording later.
Here is a recording of one of Shelly Terrel’s wonderful Friday webinars:
What I especially love about them is the chat session. It practically means multiple participants back-channelling the webinar. The comments, questions popped in by the large number of peers help me see the main or underlying structure of what is being presented. You can ask questions, make new friends and have dinner/do the laundry/mop the floor while learning loads.
Look out for webinars on Twitter and Facebook.
For webinars see these links:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/present?id=292127
(Free Friday Webinars by Shelly Terrell & American TESOL)
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/webinars
(British Council TeachingEnglish webinars)
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/turkey?page=0%2C1
(Story Sharing Web Conference )
http://vickyloras.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/from-zug-to-belgium-a-belta-webinar/
(very fresh From Zug to Belgium – A BELTA Webinar by Vicky Loras)
Share your webinar experiences with us, give us tips or ask us about them. And pajamas up, go webinaring!