Edcamp Ottawa 2014
by Amy Bowker
November 10, 2014
This was my first Edcamp that I planned by myself. It is a lot to plan but always extremely worth it.
Edcamp’s always start with me running around like a crazy person putting up signs and getting set up.
I love this year that we had a lot of ‘keeners’ who arrived very early which was great. The board began getting filled slowly as attendees got the hang of it.
Slowly getting filled up:
Since this my first year really planning Edcamp by myself, it was the first year where I started Edcamp with a presentation explaining how the day worked. I think it went really well.
1st Session: Student Compliance vs Engagement
This session was hosted by Lino DeGasperis and was a very interesting discussion. We chatted about students being late, the trouble for planning for students you don’t know yet at the beginning of the year, the structure of schools and bells and so much more.
It really was a thought provoking discussion but in true Edcamp style, it ended with us encouraging each other to continue to make a difference and to try new things.
Session 2: Google first responders
This session came out of me asking the amazing Chris Webb to help me figure out why my google drive doubled most of my files and to get rid of the doubles. The wonderful James Peterson and Chris both helped campers with their questions about Google. They shared Google’s new inbox and how to do a Google Hangout (GHO) which we had too much fun doing.
Session 3: Minecraft in the classroom
I went to a session on Minecraft basically because I know my students love it and I had no idea what it is. Andrew Forgrave taught us how you can get your own Minecraft server with MinecraftEDU for $40 and then you can play with your students. There are 2 different kinds of play: 1) creating a world and 2) survival mode where you start with nothing and have to build up.
I think Minecraft is something you need to learn more about, aka play with in order to figure out how you can teach your students to play. I was thinking it would be cool for the students to build a community for social studies this year. Hmm….
Session 4: Digital Citizenship
This session was a round table discussion about Digital Citizenship led by James Peterson, Chris Webb and Lise Galuga. We discussed what we thought it was and how important it is to teach. We need to teach our student their rights and responsibilities BEFORE they touch a computer. Instead of calling it a digital footprint, we need to call it a digital tattoo since the outcomes can last forever.
Some great digital citizenship resources:
http://blog.telus.com/tag/digital-citizenship/
-everything is archived https://archive.org/web/
Photos from Edcamp Ottawa can be found here.
