The 3 powers I learned because of Edcamp Voxer
The 3 powers I learned because of Edcamp Voxer
I was on twitter reading various posts as usual when I happen to read a post about an event called edcamp voxer. I’ve been to a physical edcamp but this one was virtual and over the Christmas break. I signed up and took part on a pretty amazing experience. Reflections are a great metacognitive strategy so I thought it would be a good idea for me to write what I learned from my first edcamp voxer experience.
Power of a Professional Learning Network
I recently began a conversation with a site administrator I work with on creating a maker space. The conversation got me thinking of possible research opportunities associated with maker spaces. I instantly thought of reaching out to my dissertation chair to get some ideas. I’m still going to reach out to him, but I was able to expand my PLN through edcamp voxer and met various individuals with the same passion for research. Because I participated in this virtual conference, I met many educators and came up lots of practical ideas for research. When I finally meet with my advisor, I’m going to have more things to talk to him about because of my participation. I also have access to other willing educators who have access to classrooms and maker ideas. Not only can I perform a project locally, but I can reach out to other parts of the country with like-minded educators eager to learn more about maker spaces. This makes my work more impactful and exciting.
I also discussed some possible collaboration on maker projects. The collaboration will include some possible planning, sharing, implementing, and reflecting on a similar project. I’m hoping this collaboration can shed some more light on how to authentically assess maker projects. I am certain a collaborative blog post will result.
The Power of Making
The edcamp voxer was similar to other edcamps where the conversations were open ended and you were able to join or leave a group as you saw fit. I joined many groups and tried to keep up with as many as possible. One group that I was very engaged in was the maker group. I talked earlier about some possible research that may result because of my PLN, but having conversations about making was very interesting to me. I think the most interesting thing for me was how many other people are actively engaged in creating maker spaces. I was embarking on this makered space in isolation. I work with several people within our organization. Hearing the perspectives of others that are creating maker spaces really drove me to continue with this work. The out of the box conversation about writing in maker spaces, design thinking, and the interdisciplinary nature of maker spaces transformed my thinking about maker spaces. I now see making as a possible disruptive force that can change how science is taught. I think of the science behind autonomous cars or space travel and wonder how our students can engage in activities that can yield those kind of discoveries. We can have students investigate science in an authentic creative way through the use of maker spaces.
The Power of Social Media
I was able to take part of this edcamp while sitting in my house and enjoying my family over the holidays. I learned about this opportunity through someone I follow on twitter. The actual edcamp took place on a social media platform called voxer. Without social media I could not have taken advantage of an opportunity like this I am now authentically connected to more educators now than ever before. I have loads of followers on twitter and facebook that I interact with as well. My goal now is to be able to spread the use of social media to other educators to have more opportunities like edcamp voxer to connect with on a real authentic level. For those of you reading this post and don’t know where to start on social media, find a platform and use it until you get the hang of it. That’s what I did and it is paying off for me.
