The LearningTimes community is pleased to be home to many "Live Online" professional development opportunities in the first few months of 2008 — designed especially for educators, trainers, library and museum professionals.

There are exciting new twists to annual events like the "Illinois Online Conference" (now in its 6th year), and brand new events like the "Museum-Ed Online Conference". And for the first time, each conference will include a component taking place in a 3D Virtual World, like Second Life or Qwaq Forum.

We've highlighted some of the conferences and courses taking place January through April, and will keep you posted about calls for proposals, registration, keynote speakers, sponsors and any pre-conference sessions. Please note that both IOC 2008 and TCC continue to accept new presenters through January 11th - see details on how to submit your topic ideas below.

  1 - Illinois Online Conference (IOC) on Teaching and Learning
  2 - Museum-Ed.org Online Conference
  3 - Public Library Association (PLA) Virtual Conference
  4 - Technology, Colleges and Community (TCC) Online Conference
  5 - AAM Online Seminar on the Digital Museum
  6 - Training Magazine Online Certificate Programs Including:
       Second Life Design and Producing Great Podcasts
  7 - Leading Effective Live Online Events Certificate Program
  8 - Other Opportunities

1 - ILLINOIS ONLINE CONFERENCE 2008
Leading Education Podcaster "Grammar Girl" Headlines as Opening Day Keynote Speaker

The 6th Annual Illinois Online Conference for Teaching & Learning takes place online, February 13-15, 2008. IOC 2008 brings together hundreds of education professionals for three days of online learning, collaboration and networking, featuring over 50 presentations by and for K-20 professionals. The opening day Keynote Speaker will be Mignon Fogarty, host of the award-winning education podcast "Grammar Girl". Other Keynotes will span both 3-D virtual and physical learning spaces. Julian Lombardi of Duke University will explore Croquet, an open environment for creating collaborative virtual worlds for learning, while Rachel Gutter, the School Sector Manager of the US Green Building Council, will focus on making our ground-based learning more eco-friendly and sustainable. Several IOC 2008 sessions and networking events will be held in 3D environments. There is still time to submit your proposal to speak at IOC 2008. Click here for more information and registration. Group rates are also available. http://www.ilonlineconf.org [ back to top ]

2 - MUSEUM-ED ONLINE CONFERENCE
Focus on Interpretive Writing for Museum Professionals

"Museum-Ed Online Conference: Focus on Interpretive Writing" takes place February 20-21, 2008. The online event — which is especially designed for museum education professionals — features live interactive webcasts with experts in the field of interpretive writing, such as Gail Davitt, DMA, Director of Education at the Dallas Museum of Art, and Kris Wetterlund of Museum-Ed.org. The conference is highlighted by a distinguished panel on professional writing for museum-related publications moderated by Carol Stapp, Ph.D., Director of the Museum Education Program at George Washington University. Register now at:

3 - PUBLIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (PLA) VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
Librarian Action Figure Model Nancy Pearl Delivers Special Online Session

The Public Library Association (PLA) Virtual Conference will be held March 25-29, 2008. This event, produced in association with the PLA by LearningTimes, will include 10 webcasts over two days, live from the PLA National Conference in Minneapolis. One of the "web exclusive" events for online participants will be a virtual Q&A session with Nancy Pearl, living model for the Librarian Action Figure and author of Book Crush: For Kids and Teens: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest; Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason; and More Book Lust: 1,000 New Reading Recommendations for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason. The New York Times calls Nancy “the talk of librarian circles,” and her appearances at libraries and bookstores draw standing room only crowds. This is your opportunity to get virtually up close and personal with Nancy to ask her your questions about books, reading recommendations, and her career as a lifelong book lover. Learn more at:

4 - TECHNOLOGY, COLLEGES, and COMMUNITY (TCC) ONLINE CONFERENCE
Longest-Running Worldwide Education Conference Enters its 13th Year

Technology, Colleges, and Community (TCC) is a worldwide online conference designed for university and college practitioners. Now in its 13th year, TCC 2008 will take place entirely over the internet April 15-17, 2008 — with pre-conference sessions on April 2-3. TCC is hosted annually by University of Hawai'i, in association with Osaka Gakuin University in Japan and LearningTimes. TCC recently extended the deadline for papers and general session proposals to January 11, 2008. This will provide a little more time, given the busy holiday season and the start of Spring semester for many campuses. For details about TCC 2008, please see the conference homepage: http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/ For information about preparing papers and proposals, please see: http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/2008/tcc/presentation-format.html [ back to top ]

5 - AAM ONLINE SEMINAR on the DIGITAL MUSEUM
Authors of New Book Gather Live Online for Interactive Panel Sessions

LearningTimes is pleased to partner with the American Association of Museums (AAM) to present an online seminar series entitled, "The Digital Museum: Transforming the Future Now". This four-part series of monthly, 90-minute online sessions based on AAM's new publication, The Digital Museum: A Think Guide, features interactive workshops with leading museum professionals. Anyone interested in the changing role of technology in museums should participate. Registration for the series includes a copy of the new book. Learn more at: http://www.aam-us.org/getinvolved/learn/webinars.cfm [ back to top ]

6- ONLINE CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS by TRAINING MAGAZINE for 2008
'Second Life Design' & 'Producing Great Podcasts' Among Most Popular Programs

LearningTimes is pleased to grow our partnership with Training Magazine Events in 2008 with a full catalog of popular and timely online Live & Online Certificate Programs. Examples of upcoming online programs include: Second Life Basic Design Certificate with Karl M. Kapp, Ed.D. Producing Great Audio and Video Podcasts with Jonathan Finkelstein E-Learning by Design Certificate Program with Bill and Kit Horton Basic Social Network Learning Certificate with Ray Jimenez, Ph.D. Creating E-Learning with Flash with Chris Florio See a full list of online programs and learn more at: http://www.trainingliveandonline.com [ back to top ]

7 - "LEADING EFFECTIVE LIVE ONLINE EVENTS"
LearningTimes Synchronous Certification Program Now in its 6th Year

8 - OTHER OPPORTUNITIES:
Endless Resources to Learn and Collaborate in Community

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