When I explained EdCamp Global to some colleagues in June and invited them to join me, they looked at me as though I was crazy.It wasn't in my mind, a couple even told me they thought I was crazy! Staying up for 24 hours to do online sessions? Not one of them wanted to join me.
Well, it was most definitely their loss! Here is some of the learning I have done over the past 24 hours.
I joined a Voxer chat about the importance of finding your people. The conversation was meaningful and, best of all, I added several new people to my PLN. Have you tried Voxer? It is such a nice way to have a conversation that is synchronous, but that keeps going into the asynchronous once time runs out. You can leave a voice message, so the conversation feels very personal, but you can share taxt and images too to convey what isn't easy out loud. I highly recommend that you check out Voxer.
The first challenge that participants completed was to each make a slide to introduce themselves in a shared Google Slides deck. I was asked to use the slides to create a collaborative EdCamp Global 2016 movie, something I have done for previous events. Here is the result:
One of my main goals during this event was to being broadcasting on Periscope. I have been exploring the possibility of using Periscope for about three weeks since EdCamp Voxer. I decided that I needed some motivation to just start, and EdCamp Global was it. I participated in a session on the Power of Periscope with Heather Marrs (@hmarrs24) and Cassie Reeder (@reeder_cassie). The session was great because it included tips about how to do a good scope and how to get followers. We also shared our handles and followed each other. Now I feel like I have a group of buddies who are just starting out with Periscope too as well as some mentors to answer questions. I had a ball completing the scavenger hunt scopes for this session. I will definitely be using this tool to connect with teachers during the school year.
Here is one of my very first scopes. It is about my summer reading.
I need to go back and re-watch the #BookSmash and #AppSmash sessions to be sure that I remember all the great tools and ideas that were shared. That's the beauty of these session - you can go back! I added some of the Hangouts on Air that I wanted to check out again, or that conflicted with other sessions to a YouTube Playlist. I also added plenty of shared files to a folder in Google Drive. The EdCamp Global learning doesn't end this weekend because I can go back anytime during the year and access the information and tools when I need them. I watched scopes about Augmented reality and virtual reality, and generally dreamed of possibilities.
One of the last scopes I attended was about developing your PLN on social media. This session brought everything together. I need to promote social media and development of PLNs for our teachers this coming year.
Thanks for a great 24 hours, EdCamp Global. I think I'm fired up enough to get to Christmas!!
