Educamp Tai Tokerau 2012
On Saturday, I attended Educamp 2012, held at St Francis Xavier school. What a fabulous day this was!
Educamp is an 'unconference', where the workshops / discussions etc are based upon the needs of the people who come. Teachers attend with areas of interest and areas of expertise they are willing to share.
I spent the day absorbing knowledge - support for my blog, fabulous learning apps for my classroom, using augmented reality and QR codes, networking with local teachers and those who travelled from Hamilton. I spent the day being INSPIRED! I shared a little of my own knowledge, but left educamp at the end of the day with hundreds of new ideas, and clear directions for my blog and my classroom iPad/iPod use. I also left with new ideas to share at the next Appsters meeting, and have an idea for a new Morningside interest group - the ARQR team! (Augmented Reality/QR codes).
I have now organised my blogs into labels so parents can locate the blog entries that directly relate to their child - the 'blogfolio' idea put forward by Rachel Boyd and her blog. This way, my blog will start to become not just a 'brag' site, but a site that informs the parent of the vast range of learning their child is doing at school - or that is the intention!
Many thanks to the organisers of the day - I will definitely be there next year!
One thing to note - the topics of the day were ones that I was interested in, but some even challenged me. This was perhaps not the place to take the new ICT users on your staff, but a place to inspire those who are confident trying new things and are ready to share their own experiences as well.
