When Nate Perry Elementary School teacher Christina Luce attended Edcamp Upstate New York in Queensbury last fall, she knew she wanted to bring the “unconference” for educators back home to Liverpool.
This past weekend, she did just that. The first Edcamp CNY was held Saturday, July 18, at Liverpool Middle School.
“We realized there’s a lot of potential here, a lot of passionate educators,” said Luce, who was nominated for the Bammy Awards’ 2014-15 Elementary School Teacher of the Year.
At an Edcamp unconference, there is no keynote speaker. There are no vendors hawking the latest classroom technology. And until Saturday morning, there was no schedule.
Per the Edcamp philosophy of self-directed learning, educators gathered for breakfast at LMS and brainstormed what lessons they could offer their colleagues.
“You go where your passions lead you,” Luce said.
The 80 or so teachers, administrators and parents who signed up for Edcamp CNY came up with 21 breakout sessions that focused on topics such as social and emotional learning, blogging, Common Core tips and more.
“It’s a facilitated discussion more than a traditional conference,” Luce said. “It’s an opportunity for educators to come together to share their resources.”
In addition to the organic knowledge-sharing it fosters, the Edcamp unconference is free of the pressure of vendors. Luce said teachers may feel freer to share their opinions about what does or does not work in their classrooms without having to worry about offending competing educational technology manufacturers.
“People aren’t there pushing a product, so you can be really honest,” she said.
That’s not to say there is no corporate presence at Edcamp. Luce said she’s grateful to Edcamp’s sponsors, many of whom are startups hoping to break into the educational market. These companies provide books, software licenses and other materials to Edcamp participants.
Edcamp began in 2009 in Philadelphia and is popping up in other cities. Luce said she hopes the Central New York event will become a yearly happening.
“The greater the number of people, the greater the diversity of thoughts and experiences,” she said. “That’s where the power of the camp comes from.”
Luce said Edcamp brings school districts together in a way that they might not normally encounter each other.
“Too often we’re isolated,” she said. “To see how that process plays out in other districts is beneficial. We’re better together.”
Edcamp CNY participants chronicled their unconference with the Twitter hashtag #edcampCNY, and notes from each session are available at sites.google.com/site/edcampcny2015/session-board.
