You’ve probably attended a webinar or two along the way in your career. If you’ve had good experiences, you may have thought: “I can do that!” You’re right, you can! Webinars are great for business of all kinds, but there are some important things to consider before you jump in.

Over the past 10 years or so, webinars have grown increasingly popular and increasingly effective for marketing and training because they work. You can find thousands of articles and webinars about how great webinars are for lead generation. Many of the webinar software vendors offer webinars about various related marketing topics to generate leads for their companies, and include pitches for their software. But, they might not give you the nitty-gritty behind the scenes reality show version of the story. That’s where I come in.

In as much as I am an evangelist for webinars, I’m also a realist. I have presented and produced webinars for the past 10 years. I attend at least one and sometimes up to three webinars per week. However, as a producer and as a consumer, I have to be realistic: There’s good, bad, and ugly news about webinars that you should know before you build them into your marketing plan.

The GOOD

Webinars generate leads, begin a cycle of engagement, and can help you nurture relationships. Presenting on the Internet is a great way to introduce people to your organization, your products, and to your expertise. Webinars are also great for:

• demonstrating products
• orientations
• professional development
• parent meetings
• building your brand by demonstrating your thought leadership
• Any presentation in which you or the intended participants would otherwise have to travel.

Online presentations are like a virtual handshake in the beginning of what will hopefully become a deepening authentic relationship with those who attend. Depending on the content you present, they can help you nurture leads into sales, advocates into donors, and constituents into conducting. And, obviously, the convenience and cost effectiveness of attending or presenting a presentation in your jammies or at your desk is hard to beat.

Great. We’ve established that conducing webinars are a strategy worth exploring. So, what’s not-so-great about webinars?

The (Potentially) BAD

Well, there’s nothing inherently bad with webinars, but there are some potential problems that might not make them the ideal tactic to use without some planning, practice and preparation.

Producing and delivering online presentations can be time-consuming because:

• You absolutely MUST HAVE great content that is relevant, meaningful, exciting, and delivered exceedingly well. Developing content that will attract the right kind of audience can be time-consuming.
• Typically, it takes time to build up a critical mass of people who want to consume your webinar content and are willing to invest their time in your webinars. Having just one will not have as much impact as having a series or multiple series. Be prepared to generate a lot of content.
• You must research the webinar software vendors and pick the one that strikes a balance between the technology you need and your budget.
• While you are getting started, researching best practice in webinar production, and practicing your presentation (A LOT) are paramount.
• You will have to make sure the graphics are compelling and exciting and are not cluttered with a lot of text.
• The key to success is filling the seats! You will need to spend time marketing and promoting the webinars.
• You will have to be prepared to follow up with webinar attendees with meaningful practices.
• Initially, you will need someone to help you practice, prepare and monitor the session while it is live. (When you become more experienced, you may not need the help, but you will initially.

Well, so far, the bad isn’t bad. It’s all just a matter of preparation, right? You’d think so…

The UGLY  

Even with the best software, great content, lots of practice, preparation, and promotion, things go wrong. There are many variables to being successful with webinars, only a few of which are addressed here. Even though I have a lot of experience producing and presenting webinars, I’ve had a bad experience or two. It happens. Once you’ve made a poor impression on attendees, it’s hard to recover. You might not get a second chance.

I’ve only scratched the surface of the pros and cons of delivering webinars. For more detailed information about webinar software vendors, best practice in webinar production, and presentation tips, you might want to:

Join me for a presentation on

11/9/2012 from 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM

NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo, 2012

in Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia World Congress Center, Room B308

Despite the drawbacks, I strongly encourage the use of webinars for many businesses. As a matter of fact, I offer webinar production services that are designed to help the uninitiated get started, and for the business that don’t want to be troubled with the technical details. If you would like to chat about webinars, give me a call or drop me a line. I’m here to help.

Marietta loves her job.  She is an enthusiastic and dynamic Director for a very successful child care program. Her colleagues, the staff and the families in the center consider her to be an exceptional leader. Each year, she devotes hundreds of hours per year to providing mentorship and professional guidance to staff members and peers. Despite her obvious leadership skills, Marietta often feels isolated and unsure about how to accomplish difficult changes. Her wavering confidence cause her to struggle to manage board meetings and communications with vendors and community businesses. Marietta needs support and guidance that staff members, friends, and family can’t provide. She needs a professional mentor.

When was the last time you reached our to support a colleague or encourage an emerging leader?  When was the last time someone reached out to inspire you? We think it happens far too infrequently. In fact, we wonder if there sometimes there is a little bit of the “mean girls” (mean people) phenomenon in our field.  Is it possible that early childhood leaders are often so focused on the quality of our programs, and the children and families we serve, that we forget to get the support we need to grow? Are we so busy we don’t have the psychic energy and compassion to “pay it forward” to other aspiring educators and leaders? And, secretly, sometimes, do we professionally undermine our colleagues and peers? Fess up.  It’s time to reflect. It happens in every profession. Just because we are considered to be “nurturing people” by virtue of the fact that we work in early childhood doesn’t mean we are immune to human nature to be professionally envious and mean-spirited. Time to make some changes?

Marietta’s story is just one example of a challenge early childhood leaders often experience. Knowing first-hand how isolated even the most extroverted Director can be, we set out to offer a free webinar that will help others explore the meaning of mentorship — how to provide it, and how to get it.

After more than a year of pursuing her as a speaker for Early Childhood Investigations Webinars, we’re finally lucky enough to have landed Kathy Korman Frey as the presenter for our mentorship session on May 23, 2012 at 2 PM.  Kathy is a charismatic and motivating speaker who founded The Hot Momma’s Project® and inspired us to pursue mentorship training and bring her  her “Guerrilla Mentoring” method to early childhood educators through our webinar series in this fascinating session, Guerrilla Mentoring for ECE Staff – The Goldmine of Self-Sustaining Mentoring Practices.

By Margaret A Powers and Fran Simon

Could you choose a more exciting time to be working in the field of early childhood education (ECE)? These days, it doesn’t look like it! There is so much important and exciting work occurring right now in ECE, particularly around the topic of technology use in the classroom. With the release of the new NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center technology position statement: Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age there is now even clearer guidance for teachers who are interested in integrating technology into their classrooms in developmentally appropriate ways. To support this integration, a number of new resources have also been released by the Fred Rogers Center (The Early Learning Environment “Ele”), the Erikson Institute (The Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center), and our sister site, ECEtech.net

Q.  What is the best size for a Board?

A.  There is not a one size fits all but I generally say between 9 – 13 board members.  You want enough members to avoid “burn out” in getting the job done but not too many that you cannot get through a discussion or must spend a great deal of time on coordination and organization of the Board.  Remember not everyone who is doing work for the center needs to be on the Board.  They can work on a committee or just carry out a task because of their skills and interests

Q. How can you get members to be on a board when no one seems to want to be?

A. You will have to work hard to make being on the board important and easy.  Often the “gossip” is that being on the board is a lot of time, work and burn out.  Change that!  Make meetings start and end on time, meet regularly but not too often, serve snacks, acknowledge and thank the board.  Put up a Bulletin Board with photos and bios make it look impressive to be o n the board, add “Message to the Board” in your newsletter.  Add a welcome letter and “About the Board” note in the new enrollment packet.  Have teachers work with the Center Director to identify the most likely candidates – cooperative, hard working interested in the center individuals– and have the teacher approach them about this opportunity.  Infant parents are often the most eager to get involved and then you have them for a few years!

Q. What about teachers and staff on boards?

A. Attending a Board Meeting is very helpful and informative to the Board but voting is another thing.  A teacher or staff member may have vested interest in certain policies, just as parents sometimes do.  Attending as a non-voting member is very appropriate.

Q.  Do most Center directors have a vote on their boards?

A.  No, the Center Director is a critical part of the board sharing expertise and best practices but is generally a non-voting member.

Q. How do you discuss staff benefits with staff on the Board?

A.  Staff can be very helpful regarding staff benefits but they must understand they are there to help provide rich discussion but will not be a part of the voting.  Staff members must also work to represent all staff voices not just their personal opinion or needs.  This can be very tricky when talking about benefits such as child care discounts and tuition.  Any staff member who cannot be professional at a board discussion should be counseled not to attend but to submit their concerns or needs in writing for consideration.  Some board meeting had the best intentions of information gathering but ended in tears and yelling.  Staff surveys or appointing one staff member to collect thoughts and ideas from staff can work as well.

Q. What does MOU stand for?

A. Memorandum of Understanding – generally a document between an agency and the non-profit Board outlining the conditions of working together.

Q. What do you do when you are the director of a program, and there is an executive director above you, and she is the one who goes to the board meetings in which you are not even invited nor included in attending?

A. See how you can become her partner.  Ask if you can attend too in order to learn and grow.  See if there is some way you can be helpful to the Executive Director ask what tasks can you take on to support the Board work.

Q. We are a long time preschool, always had two teachers and the executive director on the board–voting members.  Push back now is to have “executive session time at each monthly board meeting when all staff leaves so other members can speak their mind “freely.”  Pretty volatile times here.  Any suggestions?

A.  Unfortunately this dysfunctional cycle can happen.  It is important to work on re-building trust and a working relationship with this board.  Don’t take it personally.  What would you do with a parent that has lost trust?  Reach out to them communicate more, ask how you can help, offer your services without being upset if they don’t take you up on it, give it time, Reach out to the President first, ask to come have coffee before a meeting hold honest professional pre–meetings, be helpful ask how can we work on building our partnership again?  Don’t gossip or spend a lot time worrying, With the right amount of attention and professional actions they will rebuild their trust.

Q. We are run by a parent board and have problems with them being too involved in decisions as well as bringing up personal concerns in an unprofessional manner at meetings and I am not sure how to approach them regarding this without offending them.

A.  Start by working with the Board President and discuss if you are both seeing the same thing.  Then take a look at the Board tools.  Is there a job description, new member orientation, or a code of conduct that helps board members to understand that they must make decisions on what is best for “all children”?  Is there a clear chain of communication that outlines if a parent has a complaint whom they should go to?  The board president is the “gate keeper” for ensuring board business is talked about at the board meeting and parent business goes to the teacher or center director at a separate meeting.  You and the Board President may want to practice some phrases to keep things in order such as “That sounds like a parent issue at this time, will you work with our Center director and then let us know if it needs to come to the Board” or “As the Center Director I can help you with that, let’s meet tomorrow.”  See my Board Book for some sample tools and forms.

Q.  How do you implement these new ideas? Do we need a board retreat to start this healthier process?

A.  A board retreat would be fantastic but is often hard to schedule.  The important part is to start with an honest evaluation of how well is the Board operating at this time.  Use an evaluation tool such as in the Board Book.  Then pick 2 -4 priorities in conjunction with  the Center Director such as adding a new board member with a marketing background, developing a communication policy, working on staff education benefits, raising funds to repair the playground.  Pick the priorities that are the most important for a high quality program and that will make the biggest difference for meeting the mission.  Then work on action items, who is responsible and by when each priority will be completed.  Report monthly on the activities and progress adjust action items as needed but stay focused on the priorities until complete.

Q. My program is in a rented space. my board is talking about buying a space.  I am really anxious about this issue because I really think we cannot afford it. What should I do?

A.  This is a very important decision.  Make sure you have strong financial and real estate thinkers helping you on this one.  You can even bring on a local financial expert (perhaps pro bono) to help analyze your financial situation now and into the future in order to make the best decision.  Once you understand the finical obligations and the pros and cons then all parties can make an informed decision.

Image from: http://ow.ly/8v2dP

After reading Ellen Galinksy’s recent article in NAEYC’s Young Children about Professional Learning Communities, I was inspired by the empowering and collaborative nature of these groups. Ms. Galinsky outlines ten key characteristics (listed below) of learning communities she discovered researching the communities that formed to share information and ideas from her book, Mind in the Making.

As she defines them, learning communities are groups “of people who come together to learn with and from each other and then seek to act on what they learn. Their reason for being is ongoing inquiry for the sake of improvement.” This emphasis on learning with and from each other and then taking action from that shared teaching and learning, truly speaks to the power of collaboration

By building and acting as a community, participants from all different areas of early childhood education (e.g., teachers, parents, administration, policymakers) can come together as change agents to enact new policies and design new practices in response to community needs and tied directly to children’s development.

10 key characteristics of learning communities are that they:

1. Bring new players together.
2. Seek to reach the most “in need” among us.
3. Focus on learning from and with each other and share a belief that there is expertise among us all.
4. Focus on active learning that is experiential and engages participants in self-reflection and self-discovery.
5. Use new media to connect in creative ways.
6. Actively create new curricula based on sound principles of child and adult learning and development.
7. Focus on assessment, but tie assessment to child development.
8. Reframe teaching as teaching AND learning together.
9. Connect policy to practice.
10. “Play it forward.”

These characteristics indicate the importance of building a collaborative community that is inclusive and works together to think creatively and empowers one another to teach friends and colleagues, to learn from them, and then to “pay it forward” and share that newly built community knowledge with others and invite them to join or start a learning community.

One of the particularly exciting aspects of these communities is characteristic #5 and the possibility to use new media, such as digital tools and spaces, to host and share these learning communities. For example, a learning community focusing on inquiry around technology in early childhood and ways to improve its implementation in the classroom, can utilize the #ecetechchat space on Wednesday nights on Twitter to dialogue across disciplines and time zones about ways to connect policy and practice and design new curriculum for early education classrooms.

As Ms. Galinksy suggests, technology plays a very important role in 21st century professional development. From Facebook, to YouTube and LinkedIn, and all of the other fabulous social networks, we have unprecedented freedom and ability to connect with one another for professional growth, support, and inspiration. As a matter of fact, Early Childhood Investigations is an electronic learning community. The series was established to use technology  to “pay it forward” to the field and develop a community of early childhood educators who share a passion for ongoing professional development. Our sponsors and presenters contribute to the effort to connect educators and leaders whose paths might otherwise never have crossed. We’ve found that the “backchannel” conversations that participants have through the question and answer function in each webinar has been an additional element of support and inspiration for the participants and has engendered its own community that thrives well beyond the webinars. This is a powerful example of the role technology plays in learning community development in 2012.

We’re thrilled that Ellen Galinksy will join us on February 1^st for another free webinar for Early Childhood Investigations. The session, Modern ECE Professional Learning Communities will bring the principles Ms. Galinsky outlines in the article in Young Children to life– right from the source. I’m excited to hear more about her knowledge of learning communities and learn from some of the examples she shares from early childhood professionals who lead some of these innovative learning community initiatives! If you haven’t registered for her webinar yet, you can sign up here.

Maggie Powers is currently in the final semester of her graduate program, completing her master’s in International Training and Education at American University and working as a Graduate Assistant at the University and as an independent Education and Technology Consultant.

Maggie manages social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) to connect students and alumni and increase student recruitment. She supports webinars on early childhood education and social media for Early Childhood Investigations, manages websites, conducts research and compiles data on technology services and early childhood education. Maggie is profoundly interested in using technology to connect educators around the globe.

By participating in the contest and the awards ceremony, I learned that the REAL benefit of the Edublog Awards is not the recognition and the logo for your website or blog (even though, those prizes are priceless). The most impactful result of the awards every year are the links to outstanding resources and examples of best practice. As I participated in the awards ceremony (with many other early childhood leaders like Karen Nemeth, Vanessa Levin, Janet Landsbury, and many others) I added fabulous new ideas and resources I will use for a long time to come. Best of all, we can connect you to these resources by sending you to the Edublug Award Shortlist of finalists.

If you voted for us, or any of the resources we nominated, thank you! Next year, ECE will sweep!

Last week we posted our list of nominations for the Edublog Awards. Now, the voting is open! From now until December 13, you can vote for a winner in every category one time a day. We hope you will vote for our nominees and for Early Childhood Investigations (which was listed as Early Childhood Webinars) in the Best Open PD/Unconference/Webinar category.

Let’s represent! Help us ensure that early childhood educators are among the Eddie winners this year, and vote every day!

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We couldn’t have offered this great series without the generous support of our founding sponsor, Judi Coffey, and her product, The InvestiGator Club and our current sponsor, Julie Bartkus, and her company, Motivate Teachers.  Thank you to our generous sponsors!

One of the reasons we love being early childhood educators in the 21st century is how easy it is to learn more about our work from some of the best leaders in our field. With only a few keystrokes and an Internet connection, we can learn just about anything we need to know in early childhood. We can also broadcast what I learn to thousands of others in our field with little more than a click. And, there is so much to share! That’s why we’re nominating a few of the best resources for Edublog Awards this year. Unfortunately, there are only a few more days in the competition, but it’s never too late! Voting ends December 2, 2011! HURRY!

Since 2005, Edublogs has been hosting blogs and providing custom blogging platforms to teachers, school districts and  students, and the folks that operate the platform have a yearly competition to recognize the best resources as nominated by users. The awards are presented the resources that receive the most votes. Early education is underrepresented, mostly because our field has taken a bit more time to embrace social media and the Internet as sources for professional development. I think we’ve arrived now, so it’s time for us to collectively nominate and vote for the resources we think are most valuable. We’re going to have to do a lot of voting, because we, collectively, are a fraction of the overall field of education.

You’ll be surprised to see many more categories than just simple blogs. Here are the 2011 Edublog Award Categories:

* Best individual blog       * Best individual tweeter

* Best group blog               * Best new blog

* Best class blog                 * Best student blog

*Best ed tech / resource sharing blog

* Most influential blog post

* Best twitter hashtag       * Best teacher blog

* Best librarian / library blog

* Best School Administrator blog

* Best free web tool

* Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast

* Best educational wiki

* Best open PD / unconference / webinar series

* Best educational use of a social network

* Lifetime achievement

Early Childhood Investigations Webinars Edublog Award choices:

* Best twitter hashtag : #earlyed

* Best individual Tweeter: @KarenNemethEDM

* Best group blog: Early Ed Watch by New America Foundation:
http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogmain

* Best educational use of a social network: Child Care Aware Parent Network: http://www.CCAParentNetwork.org

* Best teacher blog: http://www.teachpreschool.org/

* Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast: Bam! Radio Network

* Lifetime achievement: Ellen Galinsky

Ellen is blogging everywhere and has been for a long time. Check her out:

On Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-galinsky
On Mind in The Making: http://mindinthemaking.org/
On MomsRising: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/author/Ellen-Galinsky/
On HBR Blog Network: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/05/learning_to_taking_on_challeng.html
On Families and Work Institute http://familiesandwork.org/blog/

And, so many other blogs… to many to mention! You go, Ellen!

Make your choices! It’s easy to nominate… Just follow the directions on the Edublog Awards page!

Q: I am an assistant director of a child care center. Could completing a director credential help me in my career?

A: Yes. As an assistant director you will likely find a director credential useful to your career. Director credentials focus on the core knowledge and skills needed for the program administrator role, so will help you with your day-to-day work in the center. Additionally, achieving a director credential might be a logical next step for you to potentially boost your résumé for a future director position. To revisit the ways that a director credential might benefit you, take a look at the slides from this session:  http://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Im-an-ECE-Administrator-Webinar-FINAL.pdf

Q: Can someone who is not currently a director apply for the Aim4Excellence credential?

A: Yes. Aspiring directors can certainly enroll in Aim4Excellence. To do so, they must have regular access to an early childhood program in order to complete the assignments.  Participants also must have solid (undergraduate-level) writing skills to complete assignments.
Q: If my state has director’s credentials is it possible to earn my Aim4Excellence National Director Credential instead?

A: If your goal is to earn points toward the Alternative Pathways in order to meet the director qualifications as part of NAEYC program accreditation, then you can certainly consider Aim4Excellence instead of your state credential. In some states, Aim4Excellence is linked into state professional development and QRIS systems and might be used instead of a state credential. A list of links within state systems is available at: http://aim4excellence.nl.edu/about_overview.html

Q: What options are available for those interested in taking Aim4Excellence for college credit?

A: Participants can take Aim4Excellence for undergraduate or graduate-level college credit. Undergraduate-level credit is available through National Louis University or the University of Southern Indiana. The University of North Dakota offers graduate-level credit for the Aim4Excellence modules. All coursework is completed online. For additional information regarding enrollment and tuition costs visit: http://aim4excellence.nl.edu/about_credit.htm

Q: Can I enroll in Aim4Excellence if I live in another country?

A: Yes. The modules can be accessed from anywhere with a high-speed Internet connection.

Q: Can I take Aim4Excellence for credit regardless of where I reside?

A: Yes. The modules and credit can be accessed from anywhere with a high-speed Internet connection. Those pursuing graduate-level credit through the University of North Dakota must be accepted into the university’s graduate program to enroll in the courses.

Q: I am from Canada. How can the Aim4Excellence National Director Credential help me?

A: The information included in the Aim4Excellence modules focuses on the core knowledge and skills early childhood program administrators need to deliver high-quality programming for young children. That said, regardless of where you live, you will likely find the content useful to you in your role as a program administrator.  Additionally, there is the opportunity to take the modules for college credit which might help meet you might job or professional development requirements.

Q: After I finish an Aim4Excellence module do I still have access to it later as a resource for future reference?

A: Each module is accessible for 8 weeks (56 days) from the date of initial log-in.  We recommend that you print out the resources and assignments from the module and organize them into a folder or binder for future reference.

Q: How much does the Aim4Excellent cost?

A: Each module is $150. If you were to complete all 9 modules to earn your Aim4Excellence National Director Credential you’d pay $1,350 ($150 x 9 modules): http://aim4excellence.nl.edu/about_prices.html  Additional tuition costs apply to those taking the modules for college credit.

Q: What if I already have a director credential or past early childhood administration coursework? Can I apply any of this to the Aim4Excellence National Director Credential?

A: To earn your Aim4Excellence National Director Credential you must successfully complete all nine of the modules. Waivers are not granted for past coursework or credentials.

Q: Does the Aim4Excellence National Director Credential have varying levels?

A: No. Aim4Excellence does not have varying levels. Participants who successfully complete all nine modules achieve their Aim4Excellence National Director Credential.

We know from learning theory that we all learn differently. Obviously, some delivery formulas are going to work better for some people and less well for others. In general, though, we know people learn best in real-life situations and with a combination of various approaches. Here at Early Childhood Investigations, we offer webinars that are often overviews of a specific concept, theory, or idea. They are morsels of information intended to lead learners to dig deeper and pursue more information.  While obviously, we love webinars and think they hold enormous potential because they allow people to engage in learning remotely, we know webinars and online meetings (also known as “synchronous” online learning)  are best combined with other approaches to professional development. In fact, webinars are great for extending learning begun in a live session, or for introducing information before it is offered in a live session. Online meetings are great for regular coaching and mentoring sessions that bring consultants, supervisors, or experts together with staff members between formal stand up training sessions or to support on-the-job training and critiques. But, as much as we love webinars, we know webinars should not be the only way you or your staff members participate in professional development. There’s just too much to learn that can’t be conveyed online!

Hopefully, you have a program-wide professional development plan that blends a lot of approaches. Ideally, every teacher and every director should have a personalized professional development plan that combines on-the-job training with formal classroom training, coaching and mentoring, and synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Just as teachers plan for their classrooms and for individual children, so should you plan objectives and strategies for the whole staff and for individual teachers.

The options for professional development are virtually limitless. The only boundaries are your imagination and funding.

Here are some options to consider:

• Live Onsite Training at your program
• Conferences (Great for networking and revving up enthusiasm, too!)
• Virtual Conferences
• Live training offered off site to individuals
• Webinars or “asynchronous” online sessions offered to the public
• Customized webinars designed specifically for your organization
• “Synchronous” or self-paced online learning
• Professional Learning Networks
• Online Professional Learning Networks
• On-the-job training with supervision and direction
• Mentoring by more advanced or experienced staff members or supervisors
• Coaching by supervisors, consultants, or other experts

One of the first places to start to locate professional development for your staff members is your local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency. You can find your local CCR&R by entering your zip code on The website of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. And, if you are looking for professional development for Directors, you should start with the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. Of course there are thousands of consultants, businesses, and organizations that provide all types professional development. Be sure to do your homework to ensure the consultants and organizations are legitimate before you hire someone to provide your staff with training.

The next three sessions on Early Childhood Investigations are related to professional development. Be sure to check out:

• I’m an ECE Administrator! Now What? Scaffolding for Career Development and Program Improvement
  Directors and investing in their own professional development
• Sandbox Social Media: Early Childhood Educators Making Digital Connections
  Online professional learning networks and more
• ECE Leader’s Guide to Effective Staff Development – How to Get Your Money’s Worth
  Extending your professional development wisely.