How do you keep up? Part 3: A new season of Webinars (and live chat)

In the past couple of posts about keeping up with news and trends relevant to practice, we looked at harnessing social media in the form of portals for sharing slide presentations and curation sites for current awareness.
Now let’s turn to the fabulous and nearly overwhelming array of webinar/conferency-type professional development available to you free on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile.
Many of these impressive, free efforts spotlight the hard work, leadership and generous sharing of volunteer teams of library organizers, moderators and presenters.
Mark your calendars!
TL Café:  The first Monday of each school year month (unless a US holiday, like Labor Day, conflicts), at 8:00 PM Eastern US time, the TL Virtual Café presents conversations about teacher-librarians, educational technology, and collaborative connections to facilitate meaningful and lifelong learning skills. No need to register just show up!
The 2014/15 calendar is still a work progress, but count on a crowd-sourced Back to School Special on September 8, with great ideas for opening your library from tentatively scheduled guest hosts: Tiffany Whitehead, Gwyneth Jones, and Jennifer LaGarde.
Our conversations are hosted n Blackboard Collaborate. This tutorial video will help you prepare your computer to successfully attend the webinar.
Thanks to Steve Hargadon, a serious friend of librarians everywhere, for his continuing support and gift of space for our professional development.
Can’t make the webinars live?  Don’t worry, the conversations are archived.  Here are a few great examples from last school year’s sessions:

• Digital Image Factory
• Show Me The Data!
• Libraries and the 1:1 School
• re Thinking library
• GeniusCon
• Leading From The Library!
• Level Up Your Blog – Taking Your Blog to the Next Level!
• Flip It! Flip It Good!
• Back to School Special

#TLChat Live on Twitter!: The second Monday of each month, at 8:00 PM Eastern US time, join in or follow the live action on Twitter.  Using a Twitter poll, we choose a different topic each month, pose a variety of questions around the theme, and engage in fast-paced, global conversation.
Join in by following the moderator’s Q1/A1 format and tweet using our beloved hashtag: #tlchat.  Don’t worry if you can’t keep up.  The chat is archived.
Last year’s TLChatLive events included:

• May 12, 2014: Reflections & Predictions From Your Library
• April 14, 2014: Hacking traditional notions of the library: collection, instruction, reading, space/design, budget, walls, rules, and especially expectations.
• March 10, 2014: Library Promotions: What, Where, When, Who, How & WHY?!
  Feb. 10, 2014: From Library to Learning Commons: Tips, Tricks, Must Do’s & Pitfalls to Avoid
• Jan.13, 2014: Questions Librarians Need To Answer starring @jenniferlagarde & @blueskunkblog
• Dec.9, 2013 Kindergartners Can’t Research. Research Tips & Tricks for Grades K-12.
• Nov. 11, 2013: Collaboration: Tips, Tricks & Hints
• Oct. 14, 2013: Libraries & Connected Learning: Embracing a Participatory Culture
• Sept. 16, 2013: Back To School-Follow up from TL Virtual Cafe Webinar

Note: A number of states, other organizations, and popular hashtags also host live twitter chats.  Check with the leadership of your own state organization for details.  For instance, Meeno Rami,  a teacher at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, hosts #engchat on Monday nights from 7 to 8 PM Eastern.
TL News Night!:  Join us on the 3rd Monday of each Month, at 8:00 PM Eastern US time, for a live news show featuring a news wrap-up–This Month in School Libraries, discussion of topical school library issues with special guest experts, and a focus on a local library organization.  The show on September 22, 2014 will feature the Association of Indiana School Library Educators (AISLE).
You can relive past TL News Nights by viewing the archived videos.  This special edition was broadcast live from ISTE.

Last year’s other TL News Nights included:

• May 19, 2014: Alabama School Library Association (ASLA)
• April 21, 2014: Minnesota Educational Media Organization (MEMO)
• March 17, 2014: Special Spring Break Edition of TL News Night featuring Andy Plemmons, Shannon Thompson Stacy Ford and Dhaivyd Hilgendorf
• Feb. 17, 2014: Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) PLUS Hilda Weisburg from School Librarian’s Workshop
• Jan. 20, 2014: Georgia Library Media Association (GLMA)- The Changing Role of the Georgia Media Specialists PLUS Laura Fleming from New Milford High School
• Nov. 18, 2013: Vermont School Library Association (VSLA)- Vermont’s Education Quality Standards-What Happened to Librarians?
• Oct. 21, 2013: Texas Library Association– Library Leadership
• Sept. 23, 2013: New York Library Association- Cuts to School Libraries

Emerging Tech webinars: Each month, Follett’s EdWeb.net community hosts, Michelle Luhtala’s Emerging Tech webinars. Michelle, who is head librarian at New Canaan (CT) High School online conversations with colleagues across the country, and around the world, exploring thoughtful use of technology in school libraries.  Free registration is required to attend and to access the archives.
Upcoming sessions include:

• Weds. Aug. 13 at 5 PM Eastern Google Apps for Education – It’s a New Year! with Elisabeth LeBris, Director of Library Technology Services at Kenilworth Public Schools in Illinois
• Weds. Sept. 17 at 5 PM Eastern RU Ready 2 Trust ’em? Why Access is Essential to Developing Citizenship among Millennials

Now in its 5th year, Library Journal /School Library Journal’s The Digital Shift: Libraries @ the Center free virtual conference is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1st, and will

focus the attention of library professionals on libraries’ central role in the transformation of our culture from analog experiences to digital experiences.
Participants will engage in a dynamic day-long conversation about our shared digital future. We’ll examine how libraries drive change like no other institution, reaching classrooms and communities around the globe, and will provide actionable answers to some of the biggest questions our profession faces, including:
How can libraries adapt and adopt emerging technologies and tools, new ways of learning, and the evolving publishing ecosystem?
How will libraries continue to be at the center of their communities?

Registration is free and sessions address three key areas in school, academic, and public library work:

• Content, Containers and Beyond
  How libraries are creating, curating, and licensing, digitizing, archiving, and delivering content in today’s fast-changing digital world.
• Collaboration and Innovation
  How libraries are repositioning themselves as the digital nexus for their communities.
• Leading the Learning Revolution
  How libraries serve as essential links in a learning continuum.

Sessions scheduled include such topics as:

• StatBase: Open source data management for libraries
• Partnering with Small Organizations to Digitize Local Content
• Bridging the K12-College Information Literacy Gap
• Digital Strategies for Job Search Training
• Hack Your Notebook: Leveraging Libraries for STEM-Literacy Connections
• Identifying and Delivering Meta-Literacy Skill Sets to Adult Learners
• Making Space for Play

The fourth annual Library 2.014 Worldwide Virtual Conference will be held October 8 – 9, 2014. This virtual conference is completely free and scheduled across multiple time zones.

Please read the welcome letter by organizers Dr. Sandy Hirsh of San José State University and Steve Hargadon of LearningRevolution.com.  I am honored to be keynoting, along with this international line-up of library/information heroes.  A YouTube channel features presentations from sessions presented in past years.

• Gaming in Ed, September 15 – 19
• Global Education Conference V | November 17 – 21

Filed under: #tlchat, advocacy, professional development, TL News Night, tlcafe, tlchatlive