Several years ago I started hearing about these untraditional conferences known as Edcamps or unconferences. Unlike a traditional conference, where a list of breakout sessions with titles and descriptions are given ahead of time and you can decide on which sessions to go to, you instead help decide the sessions the day of and create a schedule based on what the majority of participants would like to do.
It always sounded a bit messy and unorganzied to me and I wasn’t sure it would be worth it to go and not find something I wanted. That’s my type A personality coming out; always planning and having an idea of what I’m heading towards. But this fall, one of the teachers I follow on Twitter posted about EdCampNoVA, a event happening near me. I really wanted to meet this person and pick their brain , so I decided to finally give an edcamp a try.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at what I experienced. This particular event happened at a middle school in Loudoun County. I got checked in and designed my name badge and while I waited for it to get started, I sampled some breakfast options and recorded myself answering questions with Flipgrid for a later chance to win a Flipgrid tent (I didn’t win) and then chatted with a few other participants. At the front of the room was a big board where participants could post the topics they most wanted to talk or learn about.
Then one of the organizers takes the most popular topics and sets them up in a room and organizes a schedule from a preset template. Participants can then decide which topic you want to visit during each rotation. Someone in the room will start with an idea or lesson or issue they are having and the discussion builds from there. Everyone gets access to a shared Google Doc with notes from the discussion and links to sites and tools brought up, along with contact info for those in the room if you want to keep the conversation and learning going.
It really showed me how much I do know about instructional technology. One of the sessions I attended was on coaching teachers and I wanted to specifically hear strategies other coaches use. It surprised me that so many comments were similar to my own thoughts and ideas. I often hear specialists and coaches say how their jobs feel like they are on an island and sometimes wonder if they are missing something or could be doing something a different way. It really cemented for me that what I’m doing isn’t so different and in fact, my experiences and thoughts were able to help other newer coaches just getting started.
I also attended topics on Podcasting and Gamification in the classroom. Podcasting was huge about 10 years ago and I used to provide training and did a couple of classroom projects, but it’s making a resurgence again and I wanted to catch back up on it. I’m seeing other schools, like Woodbridge High School create podcasting clubs and I remember reading about an elementary school that makes a weekly podcast show by students and allow students to use their phones in hallways and at lunch to listen to the show.
One of my takeaways from this session was that podcasts are the new essays. Students still have to cite sources and use the writing process to write and edit a script, but by recording and publishing it for others to hear, are giving themselves a voice and taking more ownership of the process and others can comment and provide feedback.
However, it was the Gamification in the classroom session where I got lots of great ideas! I’m really just starting to dive into this topic, but wanted to explore it more. Some of the ideas I received we’ve put to use in the Environmental Science classes this semester.
Overall, it was such a good experience hearing how teachers and coaches are doing things in their buildings and districts and taking ideas back to mine.
I hope this post has enticed you come give an edcamp a try! The spring EdCampNoVA is taking place next Saturday, May 4 at O’Connell High School in Arlington from 8am – 1pm. I know it’s hard to give up time on a weekend, but it’s a free event and you will absolutely get to meet great educators and take learning away! Check out their site and register here: https://edcampnova.org.
I can’t wait and I hope I’ll get to see you there!
Ms Priester EDU 