This is #EdCampLondon


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EdCampLondon

@TeacherToolkit

Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2010, and today, he is one of the 'most followed educators'on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the '500 Most Influential People in Britain' by The Sunday Times as a result of...
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This is a holding page for #EdCampLondon (UK) and is a proposal for alternative CPD for teachers in the autumn of 2015.

We seek feedback from you, our potential audience.

Facts:

  • This event is being organised by @HecticTeacher and @ICTEvangelist and @TeacherToolkit.
  • This is NOT a TeachMeet because the programme will be curated on the day itself, by those attending.
  • This means that you help organise the day. Everyone has a say and it will be encouraged.
  • This is high-risk and grassroots. We call it teacher-led CPD.
  • The venue will be either be at a school or at a London university venue.
  • The proposed dates are either; Saturday 31st October or Saturday 21st November. We anticipate a 10am-4pm programme.
  • Tickets: will be promoted via Eventbrite. Freely or costed; including lunch is yet to be decided.
  • You can leave your feedback here and have your say in how the event is formed.
  • Read on for the rationale …

EdCampLondonVisit: www.edcamplondon.eventbrite.co.uk

Rationale:

What is an Ed Camp?

“Ed Camps are organic, participant-driven professional development experiences created by educators, for educators. All topics and discussions are generated collaboratively on the day of the event by all of the learners in attendance. Ed Camps emphasise internal motivation, choice, and interactivity” ‘The Ed Camp Model’ – Kirsten Swanson Founder of the Ed Camp Foundation.

The first Ed Camp was held in May 2010 in Philadelphia US in response to the growing call for training and professional development where teachers and educators were able to meet their individual needs as well as share practice and ideas. Since 2010 over 1000 Ed Camps have taken place worldwide and they continue to spread.

Ed Camps are professional development opportunities that allow teachers to feel empowered and in control of their own professional development. They create opportunities for face to face interactions where like-minded teachers are able to discuss and share ideas and resources on a variety of topics.

Ed Camps are flexible and events which allow teachers to create a program on the day which meets their specific needs and interests. There is no pre-arranged set program of sessions as the participants create them on the day, this means that it truly does meet their needs.

Why Ed Camp?

Because ED Camps are flexible it allows the participants to meet their specific needs and network with like-minded colleagues. Ed Camps are unique because all participants are actively involved in the day which creates a collaborative and positive atmosphere where teachers feel included and listened to. With the events usually taking place on weekends, it means that there is no additional cost to schools in terms of cover or impact on the CPD budget.

How does an Ed Camp work?

The average size of an Ed Camp is between 150 and 200 participants, but they vary as much in size as they do in content. When participants arrive on the morning of the event they are invited to post session ideas on the board in the form of a question or idea along with their name and/or twitter handle. Participants then “vote with their feet” in terms of deciding which sessions they would like to attend and which ones they feel meet a need within their own development.

Sessions last between 30 and 45 minutes usually with a 10-15 minute gap in between. Each session has a Google.doc which all participants are able to add to so that participants who can’t attend that session due to being in another can still learn from it. Cloud drives are also set up to facilitate the sharing of resources between participants. Sessions are facilitated by those who suggested it usually, however this facilitation usually consist of starting the conversation which will then flow and adapt organically amongst the group.

Feedback Wanted:

Vote

 

 

 

 

Visit: www.EdCampLondon.co.uk

How the day will work?

  1. Participants arrive and mingle
  2. Opening speech, explaining how the day works, use of Google docs, breaks and housekeeping.
  3. Mingle and Workshop ideas
  4. Keynote speaker (possibly) whilst sorting rooms and timetable from the participants ideas.
  5. Sharing of workshop timetables.
  6. Participants attend workshops as they wish taking lunch when appropriate (most Ed Camps do not provide lunch, but we hope to!)
  7. Mingle and coffee between workshops (Am and Pm)
  8. Closing Keynote/Panel
  9. Plenary
  10. Follow-up …

Organisers:

From our research into how EdCamps have worked in the USA, we have also found out that the participants attending write their workshop ideas out as a question to give them a starting point for discussion. We think this could be a great idea. We could curate this in terms of the colour-coded post-it ideas so that it is quicker to identify similar ideas to create the timetable for the day.

E.g:

  • Primary = Yellow
  • Secondary = Green
  • FE = Pink
  • Leadership and Research = Blue
  • Technology in the classroom  = Orange

 Interested?

Tickets

 

 

 

 

Visit: www.edcamplondon.eventbrite.co.uk

Sponsors:

Could you provide a venue for us? Provide sponsorship, lunch and/or prizes? If so, please get in touch with one of the organisers above.

 

*we will update this page as the EdCampLondon idea evolves. Watch this space …


3 thoughts on “This is #EdCampLondon

  1. Best Wishes Ross, Mark, and ‘Hectic’ (apologies, I don’t know your name) with this Edcamp endeavour. I am a fangirl of the Open Space Technology model upon which it is based, and can attest from experience that good things will happen.

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