The Spring 2020 Workshop season has gone virtual! To continue providing professional development safely, the decision was made to convert Heinemann’s Spring 2020 One-Day Workshops to be virtual workshops. Rather than gathering in a hotel or conference center as has been done for decades past, our already scheduled off-site workshops will be presented online. 

In this post, we’ll tell you what to expect to make your virtual workshop a fulfilling and inspiring educational experience. 

This has been a big change for everyone involved: the author-presenters, Heinemann personnel, and of course, all of our attendees across the country. If you’ve registered for an upcoming workshop and you’re a bit hesitant about how it will work, we are here to help! If you were thinking about possibly joining one of Heinemann’s Spring 2020 Workshops—now virtually—this post is designed to give you the information you need to make that decision.

The Technology

• We will use our new On-Demand Course platform at OnlinePD.heinemann.com to host our virtual workshops this Spring! You’ll get this link a couple of days before the event.
• The platform has directions for you on navigating the site and getting the most out of your experience. On the left, you’ll notice a tab labeled “Resources”—you’ll find your handouts here.
• You might choose to use the “Notes” tab on the left, to keep digital notes on the workshop.
• The workshop itself will be accessed through a password-protected Zoom link. You’ll find this in the online learning platform in the section called “Join the Virtual Workshop”.

Things to Know Before Your Workshop

• If you’ve already registered for a Spring 2020 Workshop, you’ll receive an email with details about how to join in the virtual workshop a couple of days before the event. New enrollees will receive the same information in their confirmation email.
• Each workshop will run from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm, during the date and time zone of the originally scheduled workshop. If you want to sign up for a workshop that was originally not in your area, of course, you are welcome; please make note of the beginning time and time zone!
• Log in 15 minutes early to give yourself time to get set up. And, please start out with your camera off and your microphone muted. 
• Heinemann’s Virtual Workshop facilitator will start the day by letting you know best practices for participating in an online workshop and how to make the most of the day. The author/presenter will outline the objectives of the day and what you can hope to learn. 
• Each day is broken up into presentation blocks of an hour and fifteen minutes, interspersed with short breaks so we can all stretch a bit. The lunch break will be an hour long.

During the Workshop

• There will be at least two members of the Heinemann staff facilitating a virtual workshop, to help you with any issues or questions you may have. You can see who we are because we’ll have an “H:” before our names in the chat and onscreen.
• There’s a chat feature in the live Zoom sessions, so please add questions or comments at any time during the workshop.  
• At times throughout the workshop, the author/presenter will detail new discussion topics, and you’ll be sent to virtual breakout sessions in smaller groups of attendees. Think of this as turn-and-talk time online, and seeing you and the rest in your break-out group is key, so turn your microphone and camera on here! 
• Once any break or break-out session is over, you’ll be brought back to continue the virtual workshop with the full group. 

After the Workshop

• All virtual workshops will be recorded and uploaded to OnlinePD.Heinemann.com two business days after the workshop has concluded—and you’ll have access to this recording for 30 days following the event!
• After the workshop concludes, you’ll get your certificate of completion emailed to you along with an online survey. Please tell us how we did!  

It’s as easy as that! We look forward to seeing you at a Spring 2020 Virtual Workshop! 

If you have questions, please email Workshops@Heinemann.com.