We invite you to explore this year's Professional Learning and Development (PLD) programme. Register early to secure your place on the courses of your choice.
Online learning is a strong feature of our 2014 PLD. We also offer face-to-face courses.
The PLD programme is intentionally designed to build skills, knowledge and understanding among all school staff, ensuring the school library can play an active role in supporting student learning and achievement, either directly or indirectly.
Digital tools and e-resources feature strongly throughout our PLD programme.
- Does your school need to transform its library services so they’re more closely aligned with the learning needs of your students?
- Are your teachers looking for inspirational ways that your library can support literacy and ignite enthusiasm for reading?
- Is your library working closely with teachers to serve the needs of your priority learners effectively?
- How is your staff addressing digital citizenship issues?
e-Learning with the National Library: your time, your place
For those of us who struggle to get away from our jobs in order to train, an online option is fantastic and opens up new skills to a much wider audience. - Library manager, urban secondary
Whether you’re in the Far North or the Deep South or a point in between, we invite you to join with other teachers and school librarians over a period of five or six weeks in a supportive online learning environment.
- Delivery is via the VLN Moodle platform. You will need access to a computer with a fast broadband Internet connection - at home or at school.
- The required time commitment is around five hours per week.
- We offer a maximum of 20 places on each online course.
- A trained e-facilitator will support you throughout the course.
- Following the course, we'll invite you to join the online professional learning group, Learning beyond borders, hosted on the VLN.
- We offer our online courses to New Zealand residents only.
School libraries online: engaging your learners 24/7 (five weeks)
Congratulations on this inspirational, uplifting online course. I like how I could complete either at school or at home. – Library manager, urban secondary school
Through this course you’ll explore features of an effective, integrated school library online environment. Then you’ll move on to develop or improve a fully integrated online school library environment in collaboration with others in your school, with the learning needs of your students in mind.
Two intakes: 10 March - 11 April, and 12 May - 13 June 2014
Curating content for digital learners: helping students manage information overload (five weeks)
Content curation minimises the risk of digital distraction. If the students are presented with quality, relevant resources, which are curated and which are accessible 24/7, they are likely to be engaged and stay on track.- Secondary librarian
After exploring a range of tools and looking at some great examples of content curation, you’ll work on a curation of your own, relevant to your students, in consultation with teaching colleagues in your school. Further details here.
Two intakes: 26 May - 27 June, and 4 August - 5 September 2014
Connecting readers: creating a reading social network (six weeks)
Thanks for giving me six weeks of some serious thinking! I enjoyed it! Now to do it all! I loved the readings too - and I think this course has made me reflect more than I have done before on not just the what I do – but on what benefits we [and our students] get from what we do! - Library manager, high decile urban secondary school
You’ll build a deeper knowledge and understanding of how various social media can be used to develop, support and promote reading and reading communities.You’ll investigate and experiment with different social media in a supportive and constructive online environment.
Please note, we highly recommend you have some prior experience in using social media, or participate in the School libraries online course, before taking part in this course. Further details here.
One intake, 28 July – 5 September. If this is over-subscribed we will offer a repeat
Face-to-face courses
Register early for our two new one-day courses for 2014, sure to be in high demand:
- Commemorating the First World War: supporting your students’ research
- Introduction to Digital Citizenship
For new school library staff, we offer a completely redesigned three-day School libraries supporting learning (SLSL) course. Over the three course days, most being a term apart, we've adopted an action learning approach. Using a mix of scenarios and activities, the course focuses on what a new member of the school library team needs to be able to do, rather than what they need to know.
We're offering the three-day package at a heavily discounted price this year. For new library staff appointed mid-year, you'll now be able to register for SLSL from Day 2 or Day 3, with the option of registering the following year for whichever day/s you have missed. These separate days are charged at the normal rate for a one-day course.
For more experienced library staff keen to have a refresher, Extending horizons is the new title for the course formerly entitled: Redefining the role of the school library. School libraries supporting learning: a refresher for school leaders & experienced library teams.
Schools are focusing on the learning needs of priority learners. Given the part school libraries have in supporting their learning we’re offering a course with this as the focus: The role of the school library in lifting the achievement of priority learners.
Enriching inquiry learning: effective library & classroom collaborations is being offered widely, in response to demand.
Free short workshops we're offering in 2014 include Poetry power (Whangarei), E-books: issues and options (Auckland) and the series of Summer Reading workshops which will be advertised later.
For further details and delivery locations for each course, see the 2014 Course catalogue.
Sail into Summer Reading Programme
The Sail into Summer Reading programme of three free workshops was developed to address the 'summer slide' - the reading loss some students experience over the long summer break.The programme provides strategies and support to schools to enable them to keep students reading over the summer. This includes strengthening or creating new connections between schools, families/whānau, school libraries and public libraries, and encouraging school staff to read for pleasure.
There are still some places available for Workshop 3, Summer reading, how did it go, being held in Term 1, 2014.
Earlybird discount: 20 percent
The Earlybird discount applies to all registrations (including for online courses) received by the stated Earlybird close-off date, four weeks prior to course date, after which the full course fee applies.
Registrations
Registrations close one week prior to each course, including online courses. Select your location on the right-hand sidebar, select your desired course, and you can then access the online registration form.
Terms & conditions
The terms and conditions outline our policy on all aspects of course delivery, registration, course cancellation, Copyright and privacy.