As you know, Edcamps have become an epic series of teacher learning events across the globe. We’ve seen amazing growth in the past two and a half years, and we want to do a collaborative project to celebrate Edcamp’s Third Birthday on May 22, 2013. The Edcamp Foundation wants to create an awesome birthday celebration that highlights Edcamp’s coolest feature: EDCAMPERS THEMSELVES!

So, basically, we’re inviting you to an EPIC EDCAMP BIRTHDAY PARTY in the digital space! As some of the Edcamp Foundation Members have been inspired by the recent #ETMOOC Lib Dub, we’ve decided to do a collaborative lib dub using the Edcamp Rap created by Flocabulary. Our goal will be to feature Edcampers from across the globe singing this awesome tune!

Get all of the details and sign up here!
We need YOU to make this birthday EPIC!

Philip Cummings
Richard Kiker
Stephanie Sandifer
Nicholas Provenzano
Gerald Aungst
Aaron Gumz
Matt Arguello
Jeremy Angoff, OunceIT, LLC
Andrew Foregrave
Julie Jee
Karl Lindgren-Streicher
Karen Blumberg
Ryan Wassink
Adam Bellow

“Edcamp changed my life. Happy to help. Rock on. “ ~Daniel Scibienski

As the president prepares to update our nation on critical issues with his State of the Union address, I wanted to provide the Edcamp community with a brief State of the Edcamp address. Thanks to YOUR hard work, Edcampers, the face of professional development for educators is changing. Be proud. (Have no idea what Edcamp is? Learn more here.)

Unbridled growth

If you follow the Edcamp hashtag on Twitter or regularly visit the Edcamp Wiki, then you know that Edcamps have been exploding across the globe. Consider these stats:

• 2010: 8 Edcamps
• 2011: 51 Edcamps
• 2012: 127 Edcamps

In short, Edcamps are growing, and they are growing fast! The Edcamp Wiki has more than 800 members, and hundreds of thousands of tweets have been posted with #edcamp appended to them. Even more Edcamps are projected for 2013!

Adapting to audience needs

Edcamps are adapting to teacher needs. Spinoffs such as Edcamp Social Studies, Edcamp Leadership, and Padcamp have popped up. These events are helping teachers build professional learning communities in a whole new way. Teachers are igniting their passions and sharing their expertise through targeted collaboration.

Talking about more than tech

In the past two years, conversations at Edcamps have grown in sophistication and content. Often, sessions include all kinds of topics in education. The learning that happens at an Edcamp is much broader than tech tools and educational technology. Consider these sessions from recent Edcamp events:

• Engagement, Respect, and Reciprocity in Public/Private School Partnerships by Chris Thinnes at Edcamp LA 2013 (@curtisCFEE)
• We Taught 6th Graders Quantum Physics with Dance by Miller Rothlein at Edcamp Philly 2012 (@MiroDance)
• How to Address Privacy and One’s Digital DNA by Nancy Sharoff and Beth Knittle at Edcamp Boston 2012 (@nsharoff and @bknittle)

Getting kids involved

Edcamp organizers see the value of having kids involved in the Edcamp experience. Not only are students presenting and learning alongside teachers at many Edcamps, but students also are actually running the events in some cases! Tim Bedley recently ran the first Edcamp for students. As part of a blog reflection after the experience, one of Tim’s fourth-grade students said, “If there was more time to Edcamp, then it would probably be the best time of my life.”

Supporting organizers and generous sponsors

Edcamps can’t happen without the amazing people who organize Edcamp events and support the Edcamp movement. Edcamp organizers across the globe have started to connect via social media to refine and expand events. For example, Iowa and Chile both have multisite events coming up this year! And since ANYONE (even you!) can be an Edcamp organizer, the group of organizers is incredibly diverse and brilliant!

Furthermore, generous donors such as Smartbrief and Evernote have helped fund theEdcamp Minigrant Program, which helps ensure that Edcamps remain free and open. Other sponsors, such as Flocabulary and Edutopia, have generously provided free goodies to many Edcamps as well. (Flocabulary even made us our very own rap theme song called “It’s the Edcamp.”)

Edcamp is a group effort and we ALL made it happen.

Moving forward

The Edcamp Foundation is in the process of gaining offical 501(c)3 status, and hopes to innovate lots of ways to help the Edcamp movement grow. But really, the future of Edcamp will be determined by the Edcampers. It’s up to you to determine how Edcamps will grow and flourish. Let’s reclaim PD together.

Inspired to attend an Edcamp? Check the full calendar of events.

Have an Edcamp story to share? Leave it in the comments!

Kristen Swanson (@kristenswanson) is a learner, leader and teacher. She is a consultant for Authentic Education and an Edcamp organizer. Swanson is also a Google Certified Teacher, a Twitter teacher and an Edublog Award nominee.

But wait, there’s more! This morning, Lorenzo’s former Commercial Graphics teacher pointed out a deeper, more subtle layer to the logo and explained how it actually came into being. Lorenzo started with the same premise that we all do – it’s about the students – and they are there in the logo. Once you see them, hands raised, you cannot miss them.

In order to get the effect, Lorenzo needed to turn the barcamp flame upside down and manipulate its shape ever so slightly. The apple was just obvious after that. From now on, whenever I look at our symbol, I will constantly be reminded that, as awesome as Edcamp is for me as an educator, the movement is ultimately about the kids.

Thank you, Lorenzo, for reminding us what it is all about.

By funding this campaign, the edcamp community has moved the foundation significantly closer to becoming a fully realized 501©3. This matters because it legitimizes the movement for funders. No longer will they need to rely on faith when handing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars over to a group of teachers. Once Non-profit status is achieved, it is the foundations hope to significantly increase funding, allowing us to expand both the range and value of the mini-grant program and also develop new innovations in professional learning for educators.

So what do we do for the 25 remaining days of our funding campaign? Set new goals, of course (and new perks!). From now until the end of the campaign, if we reach 150% of our original goal ($3000), we will send edcamp stickers to all individuals contributing $25 and greater. If we achieve 200% of our goal ($4000), then we will send Edcamp Foundation t-shirts to all supporters contributing $100 and greater.

All additional funds will be used to expand the mini-grant program in support of edcamps everywhere.

Thank you, everyone! Your passion and support is truly humbling. We are Edcamp!

Yeah. Thought so. Us too.

Now, we need your help.

We’ve kicked off an Indeigogo campaign to raise funds for the legal & professional fees needed to secure federal 501(c)(3) (a.k.a. non-profit) status:

http://www.indiegogo.com/edcamp/

Non-profit status is huge for us. HUGE. It will allow us to continue to grow, supporting the growth of participant-directed professional development for educators everywhere.

Any contribution is appreciated. Anything at all! The campaign runs from now until February 23rd. Our goal: $2,000.

When the eleven of us met at Barcamp Philly in 2009, we didn’t know we were about to change the lives of thousands of educators world-wide. We just knew we had to share the experience with everyone. So we did. The rest is history.

David Logan, in this TED Talk, talks about Tribal Leadership. He asks: “will your tribe change the world?”

Yes, we are.

Thank you for your support!

Thanks for your help!

Go, Edcamp, GO!

“Intellectual Curiosity in Our Schools” is FREE for those who sign up early (click HERE), but proceeds from sales of the Kindle and iBook versions will be donated to our organization.

For more information, please check out this blog post.

Thank you very much, EducatonIsMyLife! We sincerely appreciate the support!