What is an EdCamp?
An EdCamp is a collaborative learning event that allows participants to democratically brainstorm, select, discuss, and learn topics of interest together.
https://digitalpromise.org/edcamp/According to their website, the tenets of EdCamps are:

  • Free and open to all.
  • Participant driven: participants have an active, vital role in shaping what the experience will be.
  • About experience, not experts: Everyone present is invited to bring their experience to the table and learn from one another.
  • Rule of Two Feet/Clicks: Participants are free to move between discussions at any time.
Image: Michael Paskevicius

We had an EdCamp of our own in class on Friday. We brainstormed a list of topics, voted on the ones we most wanted to discuss, and then hosted three round-table talks in three spaces which classmates moved between freely:

  1. importance of nature-based learning
  2. importance of social-emotional learning
  3. should students be able to opt out of “core” classes?

I ended up sticking in nature-based learning the whole time, but I heard from my classmates a bit about the discussions in the other rooms. I loved having a chance to talk about something that many of us are passionate about but wouldn’t necessarily find the time to discuss and it was especially engaging to have a variety of subject areas sharing ideas. I hadn’t heard of an EdCamp before this one (although I’ve been to a number of snooze-worthy conferences with pre-determined keynotes and breakout sessions) and I can absolutely see myself using this in the classroom. I think it could be an excellent supplement to a play or novel study (topics could include different characters or themes to discuss) but it would also scale beautifully to a general whole-class or even whole-school format. I would also love the opportunity to participate again with other teachers so I am definitely going to keep an eye out for more EdCamps.