Learning Journey

Last weekend I traveled all the way to Ilmenau, Germany. I must say that it was not the easiest city to get to (physically – I think the virtual participants have no complaints here ) , BUT it hosted the best learning event I have recently been to.
It was not just the fact that it was well organized, and that the commitment of the people organizing it did show all the way through. It was also because it was not organized enough and people could do their thing their own way. The Saturday started with the negotiation of sessions suggested and available time slots. Now, that is probably the first time you hear about a conference in which speakers are not selected or recommended, but rather self- nominated. Impressed? I was. Not so much for the idea, but more for the daring of putting it into practice in such an extraordinary, yet natural way. You simply have to grab a mic and announce your session, I was told! And that was part of the magic of the educamp. The other aspect that got my attention from the beginning was the fact that it brought together researchers and practitioners with students in an open forum. And I mean quite a few students. From future Realschule teachers, to computer sciences students.  I loved the mixture of experiences and views. I was impressed with the engagement of all and the support this ‘do it yourself’ event has received from internal as well as external sponsors. [just wish I had had more time to talk to more people ]
I am sorry to say that I won’t classify  it as a conference. I wouldn’t call it an unconference either. It’s much more meaningful than that. It was more of a casual gathering – a party where people came to to congregate and talk to each other. It was the rather casual, easy-going atmosphere participants jointly created that made this an incredible event. Space for individual voice as well as collective thinking was created.
This is the living proof that things are changing. We can also argue that things are permanently changing and that this debate has been on for ages, as it was stated during educamp. That’s true too, but somehow we need to keep making sense of that change and meaningfully link it to education. It is high time we did what we have been preaching for years…
I think I can say that slowly we are getting there. Gradually we are involving the institutions in supporting the shift through events and initiatives like these. Such happenings might seem small, but their impact is huge at different levels. Changing the way things ‘are done around here’ takes time, requires effort and persistence. Transforming minds and procedures as well as defying academic tradition are challenges contemporaneous theories envisage, but that practice is still trying to catch up with.

But isn’t that the main mission of education: to engage in a process of change and redefinition of ideas and knowledge while trying to develop a deeper understanding of the world we interact with? Isn’t that knowing – the never-ending path into knowledge?

Things are changing because some people [are these the enthusiasts, the pioneers, the innovators, the rebels...?! I don't know...] are making an extra effort for them to change. These people are not particularly seen as heroes, nor do they want to (although they might be seen as trouble!!!), but they do attempt to challenge the norm, push boundaries and experiment learning, teaching and research (the world contained in it too) through different perspectives. They are willing to try. And they have the confidence to do so. Some categorize them as edupunks, others have stated it’s more about hacking into the educational system. As much as I like these phrases – they convey a certain sense of rebellion against an established, impersonal system, I still prefer no labels attached. These are just educators – Just?! – committed to give their very best to make the difference while trying to catch up with a world in rapid digital motion.
The urge of using technology is not to automate content or replace the individual. It is rather to extend their reach to a wider community and thus create many more real learning opportunities even if through virtual environments. It’s the human factor that matters the most: how we connect to people and allow them to connect back to us. It just broadens our world, extends our possibilities to learning, teaching, researching… being…  with different people who otherwise we would probably not have access to!

Educamp made justice to this. By the same token we instinctively provided glimpses of our activity in Ilmenau, through video, microblogging and web-radio, people  also had the chance to be ‘brought in’ through the same channels, if they chose to. [ choice is important, but often misinterpreted as dangerous!]

Communication is indeed a two-way road, and learning and teaching is based on a reciprocal activity of expressing and listening to one another’s ideas. One doesn’t happen without the other.

As a final thought, I just would like to emphasize we need to keep working on this and push the change at all levels: and this include transformation of learning spaces, balance between presentations and conversations/discussions [one thing is to develop a voice, another thing is to listen to your own voice all the time...!]…

And in the end what we need is confidence to instigate change (learning itself is an ongoing process of changing) and passion to inspire and motivate that change. People will follow and co-lead if they feel they belong and have something to contribute to such environment. Educamp proved to have that charisma!

If you miss this one, watch out for the next Educamp in Graz (Nov 2009)

I have a feeling it will be as exciting and relevant!