What in an Educamp?
Educamps are unconferences where educators and professionals from training industry come and share knowledge, discoveries and observations. There is no fixed agenda, just a broad theme and all participants are encouraged to share or participate in discussions.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/preetamrai/3296512103/" title="posting topics at a barcamp by preetamrai, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3296512103_4649294471.jpg" width="500" height="468" alt="posting topics at a barcamp" /></a>
Two participants are writing their topic on the topic sheet at the Bangkok Barcamp 2008, Chulalongkorn University. In a typical educamp people turn up at a venue and post the topic they want to speak about or discuss on a topic-board. Classrooms and timeslots are then allocated to the speakers. Each speaker or discussion leader gets 30 minutes for their sessions.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/preetamrai/2878669316/" title="Phnom Penh Barcamp by preetamrai, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2878669316_4319f4e67e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Phnom Penh Barcamp" /></a>
The session could be in the form of a lecture or a presentation or a discussion such as the one in this picture from Phnom Penh barcamp.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/preetamrai/3312215555/" title="Gadget Corner at Phnom Penh Barcamp by preetamrai, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3514/3312215555_079f91547f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Gadget Corner at Phnom Penh Barcamp" /></a>
Educamps also have a gadget corner where participants can try new technology. This one is from the Phnom Penh Barcamp in 2008 showing the 100$ laptop and couple of e-book readers.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/2103808569/in/set-72157603436149331" title="Educamp Columbia by Stephen Downes, on Flickr"><img src="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/2103808569/sizes/m/in/set-72157603436149331/" width="500" height="375" alt="Educamp Columbia" /></a>
Previous educamps were held in Colombia, China, Germany and Austria. Educators attending Educamp in Medellin, Colombia. Image via Stephen Downes originally licensed under Creative Commons attribution/non-commercial license.
Educamp Singapore
A barcamp was held in Singapore in March 2009 and some of the participants from educational institutions felt that it was a good time to run a educamp. Some of the topics we wanted to discuss are
Copyrights and Creative Commons for Education
Building educational videos
Google Maps and Google Earth in Education
Collaborative tools
Virtual Worlds in Education
Building better presentations
The educamp however, need no be restricted to these topics and we encourage educators to suggest topics and lead sessions. We want to invite the wider education community in Singapore to participate in the educamp.
The tentative date for the Educamp is Friday 26 June and it will held at Teaching and Learning Centre, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
More details will be available at
http://barcamp.org/Singapore-Educamp-1
Educamp Singapore
