Webinars and Professional Development

These webinars are just the best! I don’t know if they’ve been around for very long or not. I don’t think they have. It seems like they just appeared in full force overnight! Since January, I’ve “attended” two as a paid participant, and two as a non-paid participant. The advantage of being a paid participant is that you have the opportunity to interact with the panelists and participants, and although I hesitate to jump in, I love being there for the real time conversations.

My first webinar, “Excellence and Equity-Then, Now and Next: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums”, was presented by the American Association of Museums. After just a few clicks on the computer, MGP’s registrar Jim Whiteley, the Living History Interpreter Tim Poteete and I found ourselves with colleagues from across the nation… and incredible presenters such as Elaine Heumann Gurian, who has accomplished so much in her life. She received the American Association of Museums “Distinguished Service to Museums Award” (2004); the “Outstanding Learning Disabled Achiever Award” for the Lab School of Washington (1993); “The Distinguished Service Alumni Award for the Class of 1958” from the Brandeis University; and the “Museum Educator’s Award for Excellence” (1985). This webinar was of particular interest due to the fact that it was all about the first attempts made by museum professionals (early 1990s), to define the role of education in museums, which in turn resulted in the “the first major report on the educational role of museums ever to be issued by AAM—a report that continues to stimulate and challenge multiple generations of museum professionals” (Pitman) and led to refocusing on major AAM programs and initiatives, including the evolution of accreditation, the Public Dimension Assessment of the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), and Museums and Community.

These webinars are such a great opportunity to connect and learn from top notch professionals from around the nation (and sometimes from around the world), get in touch with current trends and new directions, make some new freinds....all in an afternoon or two, without spending time or money on travel, without missing a beat at work... they are just the best!