EdCamps: Easy Online PD

Aiming to revolutionize the way educators approach professional development, EdCamps take the traditional conference, personalize it to each attendee and put it all online.

Because educators’ time is limited, attending face-to-face professional development conferences can be difficult. Additionally, many conferences are broad, covering a multitude of topics. By taking the conference online, EdCamps allow attendees to customize available resources to fit their needs. Additionally, with no conference fee or travel costs, camps go easy on tight school budgets.

“EdCamps are hosted worldwide and are a different way educators are coming together for professional development,” said EdCamp advocate and teacher trainer Shelly Terrell. “EdCamps are revolutionizing the traditional conference model in that educators from anywhere attend this conference for free, suggest topics at the event, then present the workshops and presentations so that essentially teachers are teaching teachers.”

While the online nature of the EdCamps is a boon to those who otherwise may not be able to attend the conference, the structure of the event itself is also vastly different from that of most face-to-face professional-development gatherings. By design, there are no keynote speakers and no set schedules. All sessions and presentations are driven by the group, so the discussion grows organically. This, organizers say, lets attendees get more out of the experience. For more information, see a promotional video.

How does this look in practice? In preparation for an upcoming EdCamp in San Diego, participants suggested session topics Via Twitter. These included:

• Public, Charter, Private: Can't we just all get along? How can we help each other?
• What do you think about grades? No grades? Assessments? Testing? Standards? Common Core? NCLB? RttT?
• More interested in educational philosophy? Progressive? Traditional? Lectures? Homework? Recess?
• Is tech your niche? What do you want to discuss? Assistive technologies? BYOD? The cloud? Social media? iThings?

For those interested in attending an EdCamp, visiting the official Web site is a must. The site’s stated purpose is to “provide planning space for EdCamps as well as a place for interested educators to connect and pull together ideas. You can search the calendar to see all upcoming events. If you notice there is already an EdCamp being organized in your area, maybe that’s a good opportunity to work together or combine the two events. If there is not an EdCamp in your area, you should create your own page on the Wiki. This is a great place to start brainstorming and organizing.”

There are dozens of EdCamps set up in cities across the country. Each one has its own site and stated goals. The official EdCamp Web site at WikiSpaces maintains a national schedule of conferences and links to local camp sites. If an educator happens to live near one of the sites, s/he can attend in person, but the real advantage of EdCamps is online participation. Teachers can electronically “attend” a conference in San Diego one day and a week later, attend a completely different one in Philadelphia, without having to board a plane or book a hotel room.

Each EdCamp is run independently, so contacting the organizers is key to virtual attendance. Most camps operate via Twitter or other social media platforms. Teachers can find out which online venue is being used and register an account there, if they don’t already have one. Then it is simply a matter of following the hashtag, or monitoring the wall or chat room, to experience the discussion. Virtual attendees can participate by submitting their own thoughts or questions to the group.

Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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