Edcamp Boston!

I attended my second Edcamp Boston Saturday, making it my 3rd official "unconference." Edcamps are really more of a movement than anything, an acknowledgment that we as educators have so much we can learn from each other! The unconference format forgoes pre-set agendas, structured proposals, presentations and PowerPoints in favor of informal sessions run by people who are passionate about education and collaboration.  Each session looks much more like a conversation than an "info dump," and the process of sharing experiences, ideas and resources is just, well, inspiring. You can see the schedule that was formed in real time here.

Both the interior and exterior of the Microsoft NERD (um, New England Research and Development Center) are also inspiring.

I was a bit crispy (as in, burnt) going into Edcamp, it being a very busy season at school and with presentations lately, but I found myself re-energized by the environment and, even more so, the people. I went to a few sessions on iPad facilitated by Liz Davis, learned about iBooks Author and current work in Project-Based Learning, and facilitated a session on QR Codes and Augmented Reality. You can see the notes from my session here on the Edcamp Posterous, which also gives you a great overview of the whole experience.

The day ended with the classic alternative PD session, a "Smackdown." Smackdowns are sharing sessions that do not involve wrestling but rather participants coming front and center to share resources (with a 2-min time limit for each participant).  You can see the list of shared resources here!

Edcamp Boston was a great experience.  Thanks so much to the organizers:

@dancallahan
@ldelia
@lizbdavis
@karenjan
@tsocko