Our new pandemic-driven lives revolve around technology.

I am so grateful for my education in this time. I am lucky to have amazing professors, and access to the technology and supports that allow me to be in school. But oh boy – it is difficult to maintain a semblance of normal. As students we get up every day and spend hours in front of a computer listening to lectures, answering questions, and sharing our thoughts with a lifeless screen – just like I’m doing now.

Today felt different. Today we got to break out into groups to talk about the things we wanted to talk about. Subjects that we’re passionate about. Today we did EdCamps in my class. Although they were virtual and held over Zoom it was still a great experience.

I was in a group who discussed outdoor education. It was nice to have an unscripted conversation that we were all unprepared for. I learnt a lot about how to get certified, where people had guided groups. One member of our EdCamp used to be an EA, and ran an outdoor club – they had a lot of interesting ideas to share with us and ample advice for our furture outdoor efforts.

This experience showed me how EdCamps can facilitate the creation of personal learning networks. In addition, I realized the ability EdCamps can have to further professional development.