A Collaborative Learning and Sharing Opportunity

This week’s pre-class activities introduced me to the ‘unconference’ model of EdCamps. As this format was entirely new to me, I found its focus on participant- driven professional development refreshing. This model honours the expertise of the participants rather than relying on a top-down approach.

One of the videos that I watched “The EdCamp 2015 Victoria BC” video highlights EdCamps as a dynamic learning opportunity for collaborative resource sharing among educators, students, and families. What I learned from the video was that EdCamps are unique as participants have the opportunity to vote on what they would like to learn about during the day and then decide on what session(s) they would like to be a part of to share their voice and to learn from others. 

One of the benefits of the EdCamp model is its ability to provide personalized learning experiences that unites people together with shared passions and interests in education. This collaborative environment is important because it helps to equip educators with professional development and a local learning network.

During our class time, we had the opportunity to actively participate in our own leaning-pod EdCamp. The break out room that I chose to be a part of was on outdoor learning. Our classmate Liz did a fantastic job facilitating our large group which had 17 participants, ensuring that everyone in the group had an opportunity to share. Some of the things that I enjoyed the most about our own mini-EdCamp was that it was cross-curricular, authentic, and organic. Our conversations flowed naturally, with everyone’s ideas building upon each others.

In summary, I truly value the participant-led nature of EdCamps and look forward to participating in a future session to collaborate with others.

Amy