Attend a Live Webinar

On Wednesday, July 31, at 10:00 a.m., I attended a webinar hosted by Simple K12.  Melissa Edwards presented Cultivate Creativity and Critical Thinking of Gifted Students with Project-Based Learning.  I chose this webinar because I am interested in PBL and have never implemented it in my classroom before but would like to give it a try.  The webinar began with the host introducing the presenter and providing her educational background which I believed was important.  Both the host and the presenter were very enthusiastic!  Melissa shared very simple and attractive PowerPoint slides with text and photos which were very helpful and complemented her informative presentation very well.  She also added wonderful examples that spanned many disciplines.  This webinar ran smoothly, and Melissa provided resources during her presentation.  The website also delivered a backchannel with notes and chat.  The webinar concluded in 30 minutes as promoted with a question and answer session.  All of these aspects were viewed as strengths and created a wonderful atmosphere for learning.  I actually feel that there were no weaknesses to this webinar.  It was a fantastic experience! 

I would definitely participate in another webinar hosted by SimpleK12.  The people involved and the site itself were very friendly and easy to navigate.  The website offered numerous topics and presenters.  I would certainly recommend these webinars to my colleagues.  Since many of these webinars are only 30 minutes, it would be manageable to incorporate this type of format into the classroom.  Because there are so many topics offered by Simple K12, it would be “simple” to find subjects to share with your students.  For example, if you wanted to implement blogging or iPad usage in the classroom, you could locate webinars on Blogging or iPads & Mobile Learning and share with your students via projector or application share (Blackboard), thereby making them attendees through the teacher of these “mini lessons.”  As broadcasters, students may even be motivated to create their own “webinars” on topics of their choice to share with others.  The possibilities are endless with these informative webinars which can be utilized by teachers and students in and out of the classroom…free of charge!