'The expert in anything was once a beginner.' Anonymous
I love self-organized learning formats like barcamps! Why? Because they blur the lines between the 'learners' and the 'teachers' as well as between the 'participants' and 'organizers'.
What is a barcamp? Here is a small recap: A barcamp is a self-organized conference in which the participants shape their own agenda. The organizers only take care of things like invitations, location and food. Each participant is asked to briefly pitch his/her suggestion for session topics in front of the full group. If there is enough interest for the topic, the session will be planned into the overall schedule of the day. After having filled all available slots (depending on the number of rooms available), the sessions can start, being moderated by the participants who pitched the topics. For every time slot, each participant can decide which session he/she wants to join.
The concept of the barcamp changes the role of participants from being a 'consumer' of learning content to being a 'prosumer' (combination of producer and consumer). This means producing learning content for the others through moderating own sessions while at the same time benefitting from inspirations by the others. The barcamp format is therefore a great way to activate the wisdom of the crowd, fostering an atmosphere of exchange, collaboration & co-creation. The one, shiny expert on the stage is gone. Finally!!! :-)
Have you ever attended a barcamp and if not, check out which one would be interesting to attend. If you don't find any, why don't you organize one by yourself? Don't forget that barcamps also work very well online!
