Reflecting on Edcamp Tokyo

Beginning with an errant tweet and concluding with an impressive Demo Slam, helping to organize and then participating in Japan’s first Edcamp, Edcamp Tokyo, was a truly remarkable experience.

Incredible Team

Special appreciation belongs to Kim Cofino, Clint Hamada, and Yokohama International School for hosting us so well. Their attention to detail and world class facilities left nothing to be desired. The fluency of collaboration demonstrated by the entire organization team including Greg Feezell, Glenda Baker, Sarah Sutter, and Rab Paterson was simply astounding.

The result was an organization and planning process that was as enjoyable as it was effective.

Making Connections

The strongest connection I made at Edcamp was in the sharing of ideas between diverse learning communities. It was the first time I gained a sense for the approaches to learning and teaching being practiced at other schools and in a variety age ranges and developmental stages.

Discussing the Maker Movement with secondary educators was a revelation for me, as I gained insight into how my efforts at the elementary level can build the fundamental scientific, mathematical, collaborative, and innovative thinking skills that learners will expand and develop in the future.

Making Thinking Visible, a relatively new line of inquiry for me, turned out to be an in-depth discussion of the conceptual connections between learning in various disciplines and how explicitly taught and practiced ‘thinking routines’ can provide continuity between skills, topics, and ideas.

I was happy to share my experiences developing the Independent Inquiry project with a group of educators in the 20% Time in Education session. I hope that they will find the resources shared to be useful as they cultivate self-directed, interest-driven learning.

In the Creativity, Design, and Innovation session, there was a palpable desire for change. We all shared a passion for learning and hope for the future that was an inspirational way to end the day.The notes from the sessions are all linked to the Collaborative Organization Document (aka the schedule), a resource which I hope can help to maintain the connections we have made.

Building Community

How Edcamp Tokyo helped to build a community of learners in Tokyo and across Japan remains to be seen. There haven’t been any tweets using the #EdcampTokyo or #Edcamp東京 hashtags on Twitter for awhile, nor is there much activity on the Edcamp Tokyo Google+ Community.

In all likelihood, participants returned to their busy lives and classrooms with new perspectives and tools, but not necessarily time to reflect and share publicly. Given the intensity of engagement throughout the day, I’m confident that we are all applying our new understandings in creative and meaningful ways.

Personally, I feel that what we did was ultimately in the service of learning. Every idea shared was a generous gift and I’m happy to express sincere gratitude to all of the participants in Japan’s first Edcamp.

from Symphony of Ideas

Are you ready?

Here are five things you can do to get ready for Edcamp Tokyo:

1. Register now.

This is the most important. More than 40 enthusiastic educators have already registered. Register today!

Click Here To Register (it’s free, of course)

2. Take a survey.

The Edcamp Tokyo pre-survey is tool for sharing information and finding out about other participants. Responses are posted here.

3. Stop and think.

What do you plan to discuss at Edcamp? What are your hopes for the day? What interests and experiences do you have that you might want to share?

A few moments of introspection might be a great way to prepare for Edcamp.

4. Be social.

Tweet using the hashtag #edcamp東京

Join us at the Edcamp Tokyo Google+ Community!

5. Share an idea.

The Edcamp Tokyo Idea Wall is a place to leave messages, questions, and suggestions for sessions.

What’s in a Name?

You might be wondering why an event hosted by Yokohama International School is called Edcamp Tokyo. It’s fair question. We do realize Yokohama isn’t actually in Tokyo.

This sort of geographically ambitious self-identification isn’t unprecedented. After all, if you want to go to Tokyo Disneyland, you’ll need to catch the train to Chiba. Sports fans are familiar with this phenomenon. Want to watch the New York Giants play American football? Head to the East Rutherford, New Jersey.  The Angels baseball franchise once tried to split the difference by calling themselves the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim”.

“Edcamp Tokyo of Yokohama?” It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue…

There are two explanations for the seeming incongruity between name and place. The first explanation is straightforward; the second is more aspirational.

The simple explanation is that the name preceded the location. We, the organizers, a group of educators based in Tokyo and Yokohama, wanted to have an Edcamp.  We called the event we were envisioning Edcamp Tokyo. When YIS offered to host, we were elated. The combination of facilities and food that YIS has to offer is perfect for this event.

Edcamp and Tokyo belong together. After all, Edcamps are a rapidly growing movement in education, a movement that is changing the way teachers become better teachers. Edcamps combine old and new by using social networks and digital media to bring teachers together in real world, face-to-face conversation. Edcamps represent a shift towards teacher to teacher learning, a shift that runs parallel to changes that are happening both in classrooms, where students are assuming greater responsibility for their learning, and in society, where self-directed learning across a lifetime is becoming the norm.

Tokyo is, of course, one of the world’s great metropolises, a city greater than the its boundaries, as well as a pulsing hub of education. Every day, millions of people in and around Tokyo are learning and teaching in public and private schools, preschools, international schools, universities, trade schools, tutoring centers, language schools, conservatories. Tokyo is place of constant, insatiable learning.

Edcamp. Tokyo. A perfect combination. Are you in?

good teaching

“I imagine good teaching as a circle of earnest people sitting down to ask each other meaningful questions. I don’t see it as a handing down of answers…”

Alice Walker

How about a Connected Edcamp?

I have been pondering the possibility of an Edcamp in Tokyo for about a year now, and am extremely excited to see some interest beginning to simmer around town. Not only would it be a fantastic opportunity for much needed teacher-driven collaboration, it would be a lot of fun and a great chance to make new connections and friends.

Personally, I have one issue with the Edcamp model. I think that showing up and filling out cards is an ineffective use of technology. Being known for our technological prowess, I believe that Tokyo should host a ‘Connected Edcamp’:

– utilize technology to maximize relevance and connectivity

– collaborate via social media and shared documents before and after the actual event

Collaborative Chaos

In my imagination, engaged collaborators would be able to begin to group themselves and build their sessions during the weeks before the unconference. The event itself would be a chance to further share and reflect, perhaps even to participate in activities or exercises created during preparation. All agendas for sessions would be developed by the participants, both before and during the event. There should be no rules, only tools.

One tool I have developed is this survey to begin gathering and publishing information from interested educators. I think it will help us to gain an understanding of the possible scale of the event as well as provide information all participants can use to help to organize the event itself. The public responses are published on the Connectivity Page and as a webpage to facilitate self-organization and collaboration.

Also please feel free to use the Edcamp Tokyo Public Google Drive Folder to share documents, resources, and whatever inspires you these days.

What’s an edcamp? (and why should Tokyo have one?)

An edcamp is an “unconference” for educators.

According to Kristen Swanson:

Edcamps are:

free: Edcamps should be free to all attendees. This helps ensure that all different types of teachers and educational stakeholders can attend.

non-commercial and with a vendor free presence: Edcamps should be about learning, not selling. Educators should feel free to express their ideas without being swayed or influenced by sales pitches for educational books or technology.

hosted by any organization or anyone: Anyone can host an Edcamp. School districts, educational stakeholders, and teams of teachers have hosted Edcamps. YOU could be the next Edcamp organizer!

made up of sessions that are determined on the day of the event: Edcamps do not have scheduled presentations. During the morning of the event, the schedule is created in conjunction with everyone there. I know it sounds crazy, but it works! Sessions end up being spontaneous, interactive, and responsive to participants’ needs.

events where anyone who attends can be a presenter: Anyone who attends an Edcamp is able to be a presenter. All teachers and educational stakeholders are viewed as professionals worthy of sharing their expertise in a collaborative setting.

reliant on the law of two feet that encourages participants to find a session that meets their needs: As anyone can host a session, it is critical that participants can actively self-select the best content and sessions. Edcampers are encouraged to leave sessions that do not meet their needs. This provides a uniquely effective way of “weeding out” sessions that are not based on appropriate research or not delivered in an engaging format.

Here’s a video explaining edcamps:

Given all that, how can Tokyo not have one?