edCamp Every Day #edCampSV #edCamp

I just got back from #edCampSV and once again it was a day well spent. I attended two sessions in the morning, both involved great conversations around teaching and learning. The first session revolved around the very real challenges of integrating technology into classroom instruction from the perspective of two willing (but under supported by their district) teachers. The second session was all about building maker spaces and what others are doing to bring making into their schools. I then spent a very long lunch (we basically had our own session three at the lunch benches) talking about the future of edtech professional development. To sum that one up; more Pedagogy, less Cool Tools.

Upon returning home, I got to thinking, we should aspire to have edCamps happening on school campuses every day. It’s a format for meaningful collaboration and it’s educators having face to face discussions around common themes of teaching and learning. And not only for teachers, but for students, parents and administrators too. Building forums for open communication and collaboration, for sharing ideas, failures, successes and strategies are what being a connected learner is all about. So, have an edCamp every day on your campus. In the staff lounge, in your classroom, post a few topics and get together to discuss. It’s a powerful model for collaboration and learning and sometimes it’s refreshing to take a break from the tech tool overload, slow down, sit down and just talk. What do you think about that?