EdCamp for EDCI 336 – a day to unconference.

Using miro.com as an online whiteboard, the members of our class typed in topics for conversation/exploration on digital sticky notes. After the topics were organized and sorted into themes, with digital stars, we each voted for the topics we wanted in the EdCamp discussions. Decolonizing learning; How to manage difficult behaviour; Unstructured play; Authentic community engagement for students; Tools for ELL students; and, Implementing inquiry programs in a public school were the six topics chosen.

With two twenty’ish minute timeslots and three session areas, we could choose to sit in one-to-three sessions per time slot. I stayed in one place for the duration of each timeslot: How to manage difficult behaviour during the first 20 minutes, and Implementing inquiry programs in a public school for the second 20 minutes.

Of course, this activity allowed everyone the opportunity to offer a topic for discussion; to democratically vote on which six topics would become the EdCamp; we were given autonomy to join whichever discussion we wanted to – and we could stay or topic-hop, however we pleased.

This activity reminds me of Piaget’s theoretical process of assimilation and accommodation, which is, as well, connected to the importance of play. As we are given, or experience, new information, our brains need to sort, code, and connect this information to prior knowledge, or existing schema. The more we are able to play with that new information, the more connections that piece of information develops to the prior knowledge or existing schema. This discussion activity allows us to explain what we know, listen to the perspectives of others, and ask questions to invite further discussion, and ultimately, play with ideas. This type of activity could a great way to do formative assessment at any time of a unit, and I imagine with some parameters and expectations laid out, it could be used for summative assessment as well.

I WILL do this type of activity during my practicum, but I imagine I won’t use the computers to organize it. I seem to recall two comments in class about the benefits of using the miro.com app being: the ease of privacy and, not needing to waste resources (i.e. paper, pens, etc.). I agree with the privacy aspect. It was very easy to type in a topic and vote on a topic while remaining anonymous. With some easy planning however, this level of privacy could also be done with paper, albeit with a slightly longer process. But I would also argue that if we want, for example, governments or corporations to become more transparent, practicing transparency from a young age might assist in our transparency endeavours. By practicing openness, as a society, we may shift our trajectory to becoming more open.

The other point, which seems to get overlooked, especially when we’re talking about technology, is one that a lot of people seem to overlook, or want to overlook…

While I understand the argument that using paper-based post-it notes may, in fact, perpetuate a culture of one-time use/waste, I don’t think post-it note companies are cutting down old growth forests so that we can jot down ideas. To make computers, however, there does seem to be a lot of mining going on all over the planet (and hopes of mining beyond our planet). There are also a lot of factories in Asia where employees aren’t making a wage that reflects the market value of the product they are assembling.

But, I don’t know. Maybe the big tech companies, the social media companies, and the governments that glean from everyone are right: continue buying. It seems slightly ironic though, that using tech for privacy concerns, such as voting for a topic of discussion in a university classroom with adults who are going to become future teachers of our children is more important than the privacy concerns of GPS always knowing where you and your phone are, of having all of your photos, videos, chats, preferences, etc. stored in a server for future use. But again, maybe I just don’t know. Overall though, it was a great Friday afternoon discussion with peers, and a much needed activity.