"I've Been Globalised"

@Mr_Lincheck edcampGlobal Badge

As a long time EducampNZ fan I was keen to participate and contribute to edcampGlobal this year. A 24 hour learning experience edcampGlobal took the traditional edcamp unconference experience to another level of ubiquitous learning and networking.
The programme over 24 hours included a host of sessions to select from via Google Hangouts on Air, Twitter chats and Periscope.

I posted an invite to our educampNZ community and was joined by awesome kiwi educators and educampNZ organisers +Philippa Nicoll Antipas +Juliet Revell +Barbara Reid +Annemarie Hyde +Anne Kenneally

Below are Google Slides we used to guide our conversation and share strategies and resources for organising an unconference event, plus a recording of the Hangout on Air.  Can't thank the team enough for stepping up at 11am NZT on a Sunday!

I also took a couple of minutes to share some of my thinking about the value of social networking and user generated professional learning. Starting at 5:52 in the Hangout, notes are below.  

If we were to use pop culture and the celebratory tweet to measure the value of social media for professional learning I suspect the majority of my online professional learning communities would be gathering dust by now. However social networks that enable educators to connect, collaborate and engage in conversations that matter to their learning are recognised by many educators as critical to improving professional practice.

The belief that great learning is social is a concept that continues to resonate for me (via Dr Claire Sinnema... "Because context matters... inquiry is important")

This is in reference to Teaching as in Inquiry in the NZC… "a framework that teachers can use to help them learn from their practice and in response to the needs of their learners."

The teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning opportunities aimed at achieving prioritised outcomes. 

While Teaching as in Inquiry is informed by research the value of a teacher's past practice and that of colleagues should not be overlooked. 

"What good are the approaches, principles and mechanisms in the research? Why inquire if we know what works? ... Because context matters. 

The framework provides us with a common understanding and language for inquiry into our practice, the context is what brings life to the inquiry and to the learning." Dr Claire Sinnema

I believe this is where the true value of connecting and building a professional learning network via social networking, informal and participant driven professional learning can add value. Individuals are able to connect with a far wider community of educational professionals, in their context, while using the lens of their Teaching as Inquiry focus to inform decision making for learning and changing practice.