Think Different: The Unconference Learning Experience
Educators around the nation are getting together to discuss what is going on in education, and they are doing it on their own terms. With edcamps popping up all over the country, unconferences are becoming a very popular choice among educators when it comes to professional development. An unconference is different than most conferences because it is a conference that is run by the people who attend it: educators show up on a Saturday to a donated space and decide on the day’s agenda when they arrive. This model lends itself to a powerful learning environment because the attendees are the presenters and the topics are based on the issues of interest and need that day for that group of people. There is an unspoken understanding between the attendees that it is perfectly acceptable to move freely from one session to another, because the goal of the day is for each person to leave feeling like they benefitted from all of the sessions they attended. As the organizers behind edcamp NYC like to say, the purpose of an edcamp event is to “Learn. Unlearn. Relearn.”
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending edcamp Boston, where I spent the day learning, unlearning, and relearning from forward-thinking educators and discussing what I am most passionate about: using technology to individualize and change students’ current learning experiences. I had the rare but exciting opportunity to meet some awesome members of my Personal Learning Network and discuss a variety of resources, tools, and strategies to help improve the educational experience for students. Towards the end of the unconference, I saw an interesting tweet from Lindsey Barlow: “Such a great day of learning at #edcampbos Makes me think-Could our students learn in an edcamp structure/setup?” This is a great question that leads to some serious follow-up questions:
Can students be trusted to have control of their own learning? And maybe an even bigger question… can educators give up control of students’ learning? Is an unconference model appropriate for students? Are there appropriate times for students to have this type of exposure to learning? After thinking a good deal about where my own learning takes place and the many different ways I choose to learn, I can definitely say that I learn best when I have an active role in the planning of my own learning experiences. The unconference was evidence that other educators agree with me. But do students feel the same way? Apparently some do, as I had the chance to sit and chat with high school student Ben McNaboe, who attended edcamp Boston to try to better prepare himself for college. He spoke a good deal about his excitement to go back to school and share what he had learned with his peers, and I must say that I felt the same way about the day’s events. I left the unconference thinking about possible answers to some very thought-provoking questions. What I realize is that these questions certainly require educators and students to get creative and think outside of the box for solutions.
It is no secret that I love using Apple technologies. I admit that I have been called a fair share of names because I am so passionate about using Apple products (iManiac, Apple Freak, iCrazy, just to name a few). Risking the possibility of more name-calling, I took a moment at an edcamp Boston session about mobile learning to share Apple Inc’s old commercial “Think Different”. The commercial is a great example of why I value Apple’s innovative products and core philosophy about thinking different:
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
The commercial’s powerful words remind me that it is OK to step outside the box, regardless of what people think, or what they call you. It reminds me why educators gave up a Saturday with their families to learn from each other. It reminds me to keep listening to what students are saying about how they learn. And it reminds me why I am writing this post right now.
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