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MLA

    Professional Development

    How MLA Works With Instructors to Turn Proposals Into MLA Offerings

    MLA works with instructors to develop a course description and marketing text, ensure course materials are accessible, and plan and prepare to deliver webinars and instructor-led courses.

    From Proposal to Course Description

    MLA education committee members and MLA staff evaluate MLA Instructor-Led Course Proposals and MLA Webinar Proposals. If a proposal is accepted, staff work with instructors to turn it into a course description for MEDLIB-ED, our learning management system and course catalog, and to solicit material to use in promoting their course.

    We send instructors a course description template containing guidance on writing a description and relevant material from their proposal, Marketing and Promotion Questions, and the MLA Webinar Guide, if they are doing a webinar.

    We work with instructors to create an engaging course description that informs MLA members and other health information professionals what they will learn, how they will learn it, and the benefits to their job and career of what they learn. We ensure that a course description addresses template guidance, learning outcomes align with course content, and other aspects of good course design are met. Answers to the marketing questions inform the course description and help MLA create powerful messages to promote a course.

    MLA Webinar & Instructor-Led Course Needs

    If you are interested in doing an MLA webinar or Instructor-Led course and want to know about the needs for offerings in the MLA Competencies for Lifelong Learning and Professional Success areas, the Data Services Specialization, and the Systematic Review Services Specialization, please contact medlib-ed@mlahq.org.

    Systematic Review Webinars

    If you are doing a systematic review webinar for the first time, advice and guidance from a systematic review expert  is available. For more information, please contact medlib-ed@mlahq.org.

    Developing Accessible Course Materials

    To meet MLA’s strategic goal of ensuring inclusion and accessibility to MLA offerings, we require MLA instructors to meet accessibility standards for documents and platforms used in webinars and courses and for communicating virtually and face-to-face with participants. The Education Steering Committee DIA working group led the work on meeting MLA’s strategic goal of ensuring inclusion and accessibility to MLA offerings, of which these guidelines are part. A member of the Accessibility and Disabilities Caucus provided expert guidance and made substantial contributions to the guidelines. Members of the Education Steering Committee, Accessibility and Disabilities Caucus, and others provided feedback on drafts of the software accessibility guidelines.

    After your description is final, staff schedule your offering and preparation sessions and send you a contract and these documents:

    General

    PowerPoint

    Word

    Excel

    Communication

    Planning and Practice Sessions

    Webinars. MLA schedules two Zoom sessions prior to your webinar. In the first session, about 4 weeks before a webinar, staff talk with you about your presentation, plan ways to engage participants, and give feedback on your slides. About a week before the event, you’ll meet to review slides and practice the activities you’ve planned.

    • Four weeks before your webinar: Planning Session: Discuss, plan, and provide feedback (30 minutes)
    • One week before your webinar: Rehearsal Session: Walk through and practice all activities. (45 minutes)

    Instructor-Led Courses. Staff work with you to plan and deliver your course. They schedule a Zoom session to discuss how to engage learners before, during, and after the live virtual sessions. We discuss how to incorporate the use of Slack to send messages to participants and encourage dialogue and questions during the course.

    Course Evaluations and Instructor Feedback

    In four to six weeks after a course or webinar, staff send instructors student evaluations and a request for feedback on their experience working with MLA. The former helps you improve. The latter helps MLA staff work more effectively with instructors.

    Please contact medlib-ed@mlahq.org with questions or suggestions.