Tips from the Training Room:
An Interview with Dr. Lynell Burmark

On November 1, 2006, Dr. Burmark presented An Exploration in Visual Literacy. Since this was CILC’s first Spotlight Session and Dr. Burmark’s first webinar experience, I asked if she would share her thoughts about it with us and for others who may have never considered or are considering delivering their professional development via webinar.

The following phone interview took place on January 12, 2007:

Dawn: Dr. Burmark, recently, you presented a training via webinar which was a new delivery method for you. What did you have to do to prepare for this presentation that was new or different for you?

Dr. Burmark: Actually, I just sent my PowerPoint presentation and a .pdf of my handout. The CILC team walked me through what to expect and they took care of everything else.

D: What, if any, challenges and/or benefits did delivering via webinar present for you?

Dr. Burmark: I love feedback from live audiences. Before I presented, I felt a webniar would be more like radio. I’d have no idea if I was falling flat or connecting with my audience.

I was pleasantly surprised. Within three seconds into the presentation, I was receiving feedback through the chat on their end. There was a constant stream of comments coming to me.

I ended up with more feedback from the webinar audience than in a live conference setting with 400—500 people in an auditorium! In that setting, some might be shy and not respond at all plus it’s always difficult to hear comments from other participants.

D: What did you learned from this experience?

Dr. Burmark: I will definitely continue to use this as a presentation method for professional development. I want to do as many as possible. It is less expensive for participants—they do not have to pay for my travel, hotel, or the extra time travel entails.

I am not willing to dilute what I do, and I didn’t have to do that.

I learned, and CILC appreciated, that the highly visual nature of my presentations works particularly well in a Webinar format. Using full-screen photographic images rather than the typical bulleted text has the following benefits:

• You avoid using your slides as a teleprompter and reading to audience. First, that is insulting to them and second, you could have emailed them the PowerPoint—why would they spend money to hear you read it to them?
• With images, the presenter’s voiceover narration adds to rather than repeats what the audience getting on the screen.
• The added benefit for me, using pictures instead of text, is a lot more flexibility in my responses because I’m not tied to specific words on screen.

D: Was there anything you didn’t like about presenting via webinar?

Dr. Burmark: You don’t get any hugs at the end! Just a few from the CILC staff.

D: Would you do this again—present via webinar?

Dr. Burmark: I would encourage anyone who knows about me to consider a webinar if it fits into their staff development scenario.

It would work for

• a group after school for an hour.
• an all day in-service—the webinar could be the opening/keynote for the day.
• setting the tone; to inform, inspire, or motivate—whatever the goal.
• local staff development where people have breakout sessions.
• giving information upfront and then letting participants apply what they learned from the webinar during rest of day, making it more economical. In this scenario, I would let them know what I would be sharing ahead of time and help them plan the rest of day.
• closing an in-service.
• a week long or two or three weeks long professional development program. (A little bit at a time over a period of time.) It offers a limited amount of time at reduced cost for professional development and consulting.

D: What advice would you give to others who share professional development—should they try this?

Dr. Burmark: Absolutely! If they do not have these technologies to use, it’s like presenting with your hands behind your back. I’m Italian. That’s impossible!

D: You also did this session over videoconferencing. How did that go?

Dr. Burmark: Videoconferencing is great too, but it was not new to me. I used it several years ago. It is a comfortable venue for me, as I can see the audience. I like seeing faces.

This time I had a small audience which provided an intimate setting; like sitting around table and having conversation. If I had large numbers, it would be similar to an auditorium of 500 people or so.

D: Have you ever considered combining the two—videoconferencing and webinar?

Dr. Burmark: No, but I can see that it might work well. I could open with a webinar and then let them work in groups. We could connect over videoconferencing to touch base with each small group as they work on projects; over one day or a longer period of time. This would depend on the technology they have on their end.

This gives us so much flexibility. I could work with them on site for 1-2 days. A smaller group might choose to work on projects for credit. I could schedule meetings for these subgroups to see their work and give them feedback.

In the past, I have contracted with a district for a week’s professional development. I flew in for that week. With webinars and videoconferencing, I could have followed-up with participants, helping them apply the learnings in projects, etc.. It would not have been cost-effective for the district to fly me in for these multiple follow-up sessions.

D: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Dr. Burmark: Yes. If you’re considering doing webinars or videoconferencing, definitely try it. You’ll love it! You’ll wonder why you never did it before!

About Dr. Burmark
Dr. Lynell Burmark earned her PH.D. from Stanford University, where faculty and students elected her to receive the Walter Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. After eleven years of classroom teaching (kindergarten through graduate school) and nine years in administration, Lynell joined the Thornburg Center for Professional Development. She now consults to high-tech companies and school districts, and presents at dozens of conferences every year.

Lynell’s book, Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn, a widely adopted textbook for teacher education and instructional technology programs, won the book of the year award for publisher ASCD in 2002 and is now expanded, updated (2006) and available as an eBook. Lynell is featured in a 30-minute segment on Canter & Associates video for the Masters in Instructional Technology with Walden University. She also produced a 10-minute video on visual literacy, which is distributed free to educators through 100% Educational Videos.

Energetic, encouraging, often humorous yet serious about her content, Dr. Burmark considers the highest praise to be "You practice what you preach."

Visit Dr. Burmark’s website or contact her by email.