EdCamp - What's It All About?

Ever go to a teacher's convention and discover afterwards that the best, most useful information you learned at the conference was from the informal conversations you had with other attendees? Ever go to a sectional, get bored, leave early, and sit next to a coworker discussing an educational topic that's infinitely more engaging? EdCamps are a new type of conference designed to increase those sorts of interactions.

After attending the charter school conference in August, I mentioned that when we host a similar conference when we are in dissemination that maybe it should take the form of EdCamp. There are several main aspects of EdCamps that are different than traditional conferences. In a nutshell (to the best of my knowledge) costs are kept to a minimum since the knowledge shared comes from the attendees. People attending come prepared to share about their area of expertise and with topics about which they hope to learn more. The first "sectional" is sharing the various topics and scheduling times for those that envoke the most interest. The following sectionals are all participant led discussions based on the topics people shared in the beginning.

Obviously there's more to it than that, but it is certainly an intriguing option. For more information, check Free Tech 4 Teachers where I got my first information. Then check the EdCamp wikispaces site. Also check out the website for past EdCamps (like Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, or Chicago) to see how they are run.