Dear Learning Lab Registered User,

To ring in the new year, we at the Smithsonian Education team are changing up the way we support you in using digital museum resources for learning! We're launching revamped Getting Started and Creating Collections sessions that combine what you already love about the original sessions with the open Q&A of our former Online Office Hours!

Don't miss this month's Cultivating Learning: Deconstructing Text with Critical Reading! In this interactive session with a Smithsonian curator and educator, learn techniques to help students build skills to navigate complex issues, construct their own answers, and more with primary source documents.

Not able to attend a live session? No problem! All the webinars will be archived and made available at the same link. You’ll also find the archives, and our schedule of upcoming sessions, in our Help Center. 

We look forward to learning together with you!

Best,

The Smithsonian Learning Lab Team

Cultivating Learning: Deconstructing Text with Critical Reading
Professional Development

In the Cultivating Learning series, join educators as they model teaching techniques for using digital museum resources to support student learning in diverse learning environments.

Join Ashleigh Coren, the Women’s History Content and Interpretation Curator at the National Portrait Gallery and the Acting Head of Education at the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, to learn techniques to help students build skills to navigate complex issues, construct their own answers, and more with primary source documents. In this interactive session, we will model transferrable techniques to closely analyze and annotate documents and discuss strategies for adaptation into different learning environments. Participants will leave with ready-to-use activities and digital museum resources to use with learners.

Thursday, January 20
5–6 PM, ET
Join the Webinar Here

Getting Started: Digital Museum Resources and the Smithsonian Learning Lab
Professional Development

Explore the basics of using the Smithsonian Learning Lab to support learning with digital museum resources. We’ll introduce how the site works, share examples of engaging interactive learning experiences (“collections”), and demonstrate how to search for digital museum resources and collections. This session is designed for educators and others who are new to the Learning Lab.

In the second half, we’ll answer any burning questions you have for the Learning Lab team! Need help finding a resource or using one of the Lab’s tools and features? Want feedback on your Learning Lab collection? Just want to say "hello"? Take a minute to tune in to our live Q&A!

Thursday, January 13
4–5 PM, ET
Facilitator: Philippa Rappoport, Manager of Community Engagement
Join the Webinar Here

Creating Collections: Digital Museum Resources and the Smithsonian Learning Lab
Professional Development

Learn how to create and personalize collections of digital museum resources on the Smithsonian Learning Lab to support your teaching. We’ll demonstrate how to start your first collection, add interactivity to engage learners, and upload resources from external websites and your computer to supplement what you’ve found from the Smithsonian. This session is designed for educators and others who are already familiar with the basics of the Learning Lab.

In the second half, we’ll answer any burning questions you have for the Learning Lab team! Need help finding a resource or using one of the Lab’s tools and features? Want feedback on your Learning Lab collection? Just want to say "hello"? Take a minute to tune in to our live Q&A!

Monday, January 24
5–6 PM, ET
Facilitator: Tess Porter, Digital Content Producer
Join the Webinar Here

Note: All sessions are also streamed live to the Smithsonian Education Facebook page.