The “webinar”, a modern and accessible version of the seminar!

Short training sessions offered by an expert or planned discussions on a specific topic: this is what "webinars" offer, modern online seminars. Portrait of a way to share knowledge in the 2.0 era!

Sharing new knowledge as well as exchanges concerning new technological tools and learning methods are essential in our constantly changing environment. At one time, seminars greatly contributed to this type of exchange, but in the age of 2.0, it is the “webinar” that constitutes a most interesting platform. Some sites even offer this kind of service for free.

For example, every week, the American site Education Week offers a free one-hour webinar (in English), facilitated by university professors, people from new technologies or educational consultants. They share their knowledge and expertise on the integration of technologies in classrooms and the impacts of digital ink in the educational process, among others.

These webinars also provide the opportunity for participants to expose ways of operating within their own institution.

To attend such presentations (usually offered during the day), you must first go to the Education Week website in the section Webinar, register for the webinar of your choice and log in on the date and time announced.

Create your own webinars

More and more, the webinar and knowledge sharing platforms are used in companies, but also in schools (both in terms of pedagogy and management). Sites like Google Hangout or Webikeo notably offer the possibility of creating your own webinars, in addition to other videoconferencing platforms such as Via, Webex, Adobe Connect, etc.

The development of a rich collaborative space as well as a social network of expertise are at the heart of the popularity of webinars. They make it possible to bring together all the workforce of an organization or a group of people with common interests in a single moment, without having to leave their screen. For example, the Virtual meeting of the RÉCIT In this way, the RÉCIT facilitators from all Quebec school boards are brought together for a virtual conference in June each year.