Support and FAQ
What Does This Cost And How Do I Register?
You don’t! The Educator Collaborative’s biannual K-12 Literacy Conference called, “The Gathering,” is FREE. No registration, you just click on a session page to watch live on YouTube during the event or to view recordings later. It is our free gift to the education community.
If you wish to receive a Clock Hours Certificate or State Hours Certificate from us for attending the Gathering, then there is a separate registration and fee required for processing. See the question below for more information.
Joining Live Chats?
The best way to join the Chat during LIVE sessions is to open the workshop on YouTube and sign-in to the chat.
To sign-in to the chat, you must have a Google account. You likely already have one if you have access to Google Classroom, Google Drive, or Gmail (including a Gmail-hosted work account). If you do not have an account it is free to create.
The chat is only available until the workshop has ended.
By using the chat you agree to the YouTube Community Guidelines which include human and machine reviewers. The Educator Collaborative may also have additional moderators who, at The Educator Collaborative’s sole discretion, may help to enforce these Guidelines and support a safe and positive experience for presenters and attendees. You understand that in a live, online environment it is possible that comments may miss moderation and appear despite these levels of support. You can assist the community by reporting these comments to YouTube.
Trouble Accessing Sessions!
1. Refresh Your Page.
This often corrects any streaming issues.
2. Clear Cache.
Some browsers hold old versions of pages (called “caching”) to speed up your searches – you can reset these by clearing your “browser cache” in your broswer settings.
2. Check your connection.
Check that you are not behind a firewall. You must be able to access YouTube to view the streaming sessions.
Be sure you are on a fast Wifi connection for best live viewing.
3. Follow Us on Facebook or Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
We will post updates on our Facebook page @TheEdCollab
Or subscribe to our YouTube channel @TheEdCollab where we will post direct links to session videos throughout the day
4. Check the schedule.
Sessions show a countdown clock shortly before they are ready to go live.
After the session ends, it may take anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes for a session to be archived and available for replay, during that time some video links may remain blank.
Clock Hours or State Hours for Licenses?
Educators may always join the Gathering conference for free, without registration. However, Clock Hours and State Hours do require registration and paying a registration fee. For the Fall 2024 Gathering please visit this page to learn more and register.
The Educator Collaborative is the only approved provider for granting Clock Hours Certificates or State Hours Certificates for the Gathering conference.
We give limited permission to accredited K-12 districts and schools to provide Clock Hours or State Hours only under the following circumstances:
1. Hours may only be provided to their own employees.
2. Certificates must list the district or school as the provider, not The Educator Collaborative. The Educator Collaborative does not process certificates or keep records for third parties.
No other entities may provide Clock Hours or State Hours for the The Educator Collaborative’s Gathering.
Can I Host a Viewing Party?
We encourage you to view with friends! We have a few requirements, though, and some answers to common questions.
1. Never Charge.
One requirement of sharing the Gathering with others is that you can never charge a fee (this includes no fee for entry to your event, professional development credit/hours, etc.). You may collect donations for things like food or space rental, however failure to pay cannot bar someone from watching.
2. Viewing always takes place from TheEdCollab’s site or channels.
You may not embed, record, or use other means of redistributing the Gathering beyond viewing from our event pages or social media. You may project on screens, invite colleagues to a computer lab, or post links to our site/channels on a shared resource.
Optional: Attend on a smart TV or device!
Be sure you have the YouTube app on your smart TV or device. Then, find our channel “The Educator Collaborative” and watch the current playlist.
1. Check if your smart TV or device has the YouTube app. If not, download it.
Check the user guide for your Smart TV (e.g. roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV stick, Google TV Samsung TV Plus, etc) or smart device (e.g. phones, iPad, Surface Pro, etc.) on how to download the YouTube app (then, go to Step 2).
On desktops and laptops you do not need an app. Instead, simply open your web browser and go to our YouTube page, @TheEdCollab (then, skip to Step 3).
2. Open the YouTube app and search for our channel
In the search bar, type “The Educator Collaborative”
Click on our channel when it appear (it typically looks like our lightbulb icon).
3. From our channel page, scroll or search for playlists.
Look for our playlists. Find the one called “Fall” or “Spring” + the year and Gathering (e.g. “Fall 2024 Gathering”).
4. Open the playlist. Choose workshops to watch as they premiere (or after).
Sessions show a countdown clock until shortly before they are ready to go live. View the Gathering agenda for times.
After a session ends, it may take anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes for a session to be archived and available for replay, during that time some video links may remain blank. Once archived, you can watch from the playlist page for at least 6 months or more (unless noted otherwise on the agenda).
Does TheEdCollab Provide Literacy Consulting?
Yes! The Gathering is our gift to the education community, but it is only a small fraction of what we do. Our main work is providing literacy consulting, workshops, and trainings in-person and online.
Contact Us with requests for literacy consulting or speaking engagements.
Learn more about our K-12 literacy consulting.
Learn more about or speaking services.
Other Questions or Feedback?
We’d love to hear from you. Please note that on Gathering days we are all-hands-on-deck and generally unable to respond to specific questions in a timely manner. If you have questions that have not been answered in this FAQ or would like to share feedback with us, please write to us from our Contact Page.