Jean Montgomery, with the Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation (MI), shared a new website with me, created by the Michigan Coop directors to disseminate information about library training opportunities in the state. As I was looking at the first two training announcements, I noticed they both are virtual (or potentially virtual). It got me thinking about training in an online environment.
We’re doing a bunch of webinars at MaintainIT. WebJunction has been hosting them for a while, too. The OCLC regional training groups like SOLINET, Amigos, and BCR provide them. OPAL provides numerous free training opportunities every month. Whenever I see one mentioned that is potentially interesting or useful to me, I jot the details down in my calendar. I then probably attend about 25% of those interesting webinars. Most of them are an hour long and many don’t require pre-registration, so I can spur of the moment decide whether or not I have time on a given day to attend.
I have delivered many trainings and presentations in the webinar format and I still feel like I have a lot to learn about how to make the most of the medium. As readers of this blog know, I’m a BIG FAN of interactive learning… and in some online environments that’s possible, but in others it’s a challenge.
I’d love to hear from others out there providing webinar style presentations and trainings. What are your secrets of success?
Brenda Hough 