This is a guest post by Josh Allen, the instructional technology facilitator for the Papillion-La Vista School District and head organizer for EdCamp Omaha.
You can find Josh on Twitter, @j_allen, or by email,edcampomaha@gmail.com.
(Photo from twitter.com/j_allen)
Thanks to our sponsor
Attendees gather at EdCamp Kansas City on November 6, 2010. Photo by Wm Chamberlain via Flickr.
This weekend, over 100 passionate educators from six states will descend on the University of Nebraska Omaha for EdCamp Omaha. EdCamps, approaching their first full year of existence, are the education world’s version of BarCamps (see BarCamp Omaha). Like BarCamps, EdCamps follow the unconference model of an open session board filled up by the attendees on the day of the event. Most EdCamps, including Omaha’s, are free to any educator wanting to share his or her experience and learn with a great group of people. We are grateful to have sponsors willing to pick up the tab for snacks and any giveaways they may want to share.
Due to the “cost” and quality of professional learning at the events, EdCamps are gaining popularity across the nation at a time when budgets are a hot topic in school districts. EdCamps allow educators the opportunity to interact with colleagues from around their area and share some of the great things in their schools. It is truly magical when you can bring together that many people who all have such a strong passion for what they do. For EdCamp attendees, opportunities like these allow them to learn from the “crowd” to benefit their students. We hope attendees will find ideas to take back to their classrooms and new friends to continue the discussion long after the event.
A lot of EdCamps take shape using the educational learning community (example: #edchat) on Twitter. When I helped organize EdCamp Kansas City, I had not met anyone I was collaborating with face-to-face until the night before the event. Even as the head organizer for EdCamp Omaha, I still have one person on our team who I’ve yet to meet in person. Watching the tweets and emails swirling around EdCamp Omaha, many of us have started conversations online that will quickly carry over to the event, giving all of our in-person discussions a jump start. Ultimately, the connections, sharing and learning taking place will make it back to our classrooms to benefit the students we so greatly treasure.
For more information on EdCamp Omaha, visit our website edcampomaha.wikispaces.com or email us at edcampomaha@gmail.com.
