Engaged Learning

Why #1 – Focusing on People: Barcamp (Part 2)

Oct 6, 2008 Social Learning SIG

Another great example of focusing on the people is Barcamp.

Barcamp focuses 100% on the learner – it is a participatory conference.  There might be a main theme, but when the attendees show up for the first day there isn’t an agenda for the most part.  No one knows what the sessions will look like. At the beginning of the conference thy all sit down and create an agenda based upon the needs of the participants.

The picture shown here shows how the BarCamp in Austin was organized.  As you can tell it is very off the cuff.  They came together and decided, right there, what they wanted to talk about.

And a beautiful part of this whole thing – a part that I just love – is that the participants become the presenters based upon needs and expertise. In fact they try to get EVERYONE to present something.  They don’t force them, but they highly encourage them.  This is totally focused on the people.  Again, it is not focused on the presenters, nor handouts or tests or even what an organization makes them learn.  It is all driven around the focus on the learner.

This is a great example.  We will keep coming back to Barcamps as we move through the ‘11 Whys’.

If conferences can do it, so can organizations.

Have you ever been to a Barcamp?  What was your experience like?

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Tags: Barcamp, why