Trends in Educational Technology

EdCamp by July Miranda

As educators we all attend various professional development events throughout the school year and even in the summer. As educators how many of said events can we also say are fun and educational? I am guessing that many will answer that not many of those PD conferences are that exciting and even educational because in most cases the PD conferences involve educators sittin down for most if not all of the event. PD conferences are there to teach and inspire educators but many times we are left in boredom and fatigue. When we are in regular PD conferences if we are placed in groups, we must remain in those groups. Wouldn't it be better if we can have PD conferences in which we can walk around and "converse" and be able to walk away with no consequences if a conversation about a certain subject does not interest us? I personally enjoy and learn more from things that I have more interest in, for example if I'm in a PD that is referring to things about lower grade levels but, I work with upper grade levels I obviously will not pay attention or gain anything from it..

EdCamp is an ‘unconference’ event with a focus on education and learning. Most professional learning is done where participants listen to one person who shares their presentation with the audience. EdCamps on the other hand are meant to encourage conversation and participation among the attendees. Participants determine the topics for the day and take an active role in setting the direction of the conference. In the first hour of EdCamp NEPA, attendees will meet and interact over coffee and a light breakfast. An empty session board will be available for everyone to post session titles. From that, a session board will be constructed that will provide the schedule for the day.

EdCamp has gained national traction because it gives educators more input into what they want to talk about or what they want to listen to. There are obviously pros and cons to any new idea and the only way to decide whether it's something that you might be interested in, is to learn more about the topic. I have prepared a short presentation to give more information and details about EdCamp. Presentation on EdCamp