A quote from the digital promise ed camp website: “Edcamps are free public events that leverage the knowledge and experiences of attendees by allowing educators to collaboratively determine topics for discussion the day of the event.”
Last week we tried using the Ed camp philosophy in class and I loved it. Not only does it allow us as students to feel engaged and present in our learning, but it puts us in the drivers seat and lets us choose the direction. Despite my cohort being future teachers, we have found that in a lot of our classes we have been treated as less than simply because we are young- which I somewhat understand as its a difficult job for our profs to be teachers teaching other teachers. However, it was in this specific activity that I felt the most respected and trusted, as we were left in charge of how our breakout groups went, and what we would be discussing- it was awesome. I also think using a form of this activity would be great in a classroom to practice trust with your students, and I felt that it allowed all of us to have a structured discussion while also creating space to be creative with your thinking.
While I was surfing the internet for more info, I found that there has been an edcamp held at uvic in 2018 – so hopefully there will be another soon!