TeachMeet Updates

It is exciting times for edtech professional development as the TeachMeet concept goes from strength to strength. This is a post to update you about the range of TeachMeets that have taken place recently and are currently being planned for the near future.

The popular unconference has shown it’s flexibility over the last year as a whole variety of events have been successfully run. My first TeachMeet was at the Scottish Learning Festival in 2008 and I have been privileged enough to be have organised one in the Midlands as well as attend many more. The ethos and atmosphere remains the single most important constant – open, friendly, innovative.

Last Tuesday I headed down to Channel 4 HQ for their Summer Education Conference. It carried the question of “What Comes Next?”, exploring the future of schooling in the UK. As a closing act they invited Ian Usher and I to host a TeachMeet. It was small in scale but not in terms of the ideas and innovation that was shared – as usual this was varied and hugely interesting. Take a look at the Connect recording for a flavour of the event.

TeachMeet North East took place in Tyneside Cinema a couple of weeks ago with about 50 people attending. From all accounts it was a very successful event with a high percentage of people who were attending TeachMeet for the first time. You can catch up with the presentations and the links to the FlashMeeting recordings either on the wiki page or in the Ning for TeachMeetNE.

TeachMeet Student Edition was the first variation of the original concept specifically designed for student teachers and teachers in their probationary year. Run by David Muir from Strathclyde University in early June it attracted around 60 people according to those signed up on the wiki. Once again you can get a full replay of the presentations and the event from the FlashMeeting.

TeachMeet the Islay Variation – education 2020 Conference – In June lots of people packed their bags and headed to the Isle of Islay off the West coast of Scotland to take part in the education 2020 unconference. It explored the theme of what education will look like in 2020 and what challenges might we face. Take a look at the wiki for the way they organised the event and here is a stack of pics and videos from the event in a Flickr group. Here is the Flashmeeting too to catch up.

I really appreciate the archiving of these events through the web conference recording and Leon Cych has also done some great work recording those events he can attend and publishing the presentations on the TeachMeet Blip TV channel. This is sponsored by Futurelab and offers those unable to attend a way to learn from the event.

There is a range of TeachMeets on offer in the remainder of this year, here is the full range that I am aware of. Plenty of choice both in terms of location and the style of the events – I would urge you to attend if you can make it and have never been before.

>TeachMeet SuKe – Sussex and Kent. Tonbridge, Friday 18th September, 7-9pm. Sign up or contact Stephen Lockyer(@mrlockyer)

>TeachMeet SLF09 – 23rd September BBC Scotland, Pacific Quay. Returning to the Scottish Learning Festival for the 4th year I am sure it will be another successful night. Get your name down!

>TeachMeet Skolforum – if you happen to be in Stockholm on the 27th October between 4.30pm and 8pm why not join our Swedish colleagues.

>LeadMeet – Scottish leadership edition. LeadMeet is a variation on the now tried and trusted TeachMeet format. This time we are concentrating on educational leadership. Wednesday 29th July 2009, Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh.

>TeachMeet North West – 22nd October 5-10pm at the BBC 21st Century Classroom, Salford, Manchester. Join the folks who have already signed up.

It is great to see a range of national and regional events springing up and I wish all the organisers all the success for their respective meets.

If you are in a position to support these events through sponsorship I am certain that it will be gratefully received. Small contributions are all that is needed and every event relies upon kind sponsors to help cover the minimal costs involved. Please get in touch with the organisers through their wiki pages or leave a note for me and I can let them know you are interested.

The BETT Show organisers have picked up on the vibrancy of the TeachMeet community and Merlin John recently spoke to Martin Jack of Thinkdifferentevents (who runs the seminars for BETT organisers EMAP) about a generous offer of the Apex room at Olympia for three separate evenings, three separate TeachMeets, during the BETT Show 2010. I hope to find out more about the details of what this offer entails. It will be very interesting to see how the TeachMeet community responds to it and perhaps how over the course of the year 3 separate events unfold.