What is HigherEdCamp?

HigherEdCamp Philly

Friday, July 23, 2010 9am-5pm
Huntsman Hall 3730 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA
University of Pennsylvania campus

Registration is not yet open
Email us for more info: info@higheredphilly.com
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HigherEdCamp is a one day un-conference connecting communities involved in higher education technology. It will take place on Friday, July 23rd at the University of Pennsylvania. Attendance is completely free.

HigherEdCamp is about innovating education through an understanding of emerging technologies, adoption of open standards, and participation in evolving communication channels.

Colleges and universities face a challenging economic environment. The pace of technological development is not slowing down. We’ll be gathering together technologists, administrators, faculty, students, and researchers from all over the Philadelphia area and beyond for a day of open discussion on how we can innovate higher education and the technology that powers it.

Read Technically Philly’s Friday Q&A feature
on HigherEdCamp Philly

What is an “un-conference”?

HigherEdCamp is participant driven. That means there are no scheduled speakers, no sales pitches, and no pre-determined agenda.

We’ll be using the BarCamp open-grid as a starting point. The morning of the event participants will offer up session topics on an empty dry erase board lined off with rooms and session times. You pick which session topics interest you. If you find yourself in a session that isn’t what you expected for any reason, you’re free to move to another.

Session topics

All this sounds great, but it’s a bit esoteric. Check out the HigherEdCamp Session Tracker for a list of proposed sessions. Sessions are scheduled the day of the event. The session tracker just gives an idea of the types of sessions you will see.

I don’t work for a university…

Odds are high that you went to college. If you didn’t there’s probably an interesting reason why. Everyone has a stake in our higher education system. HigherEdCamp is an open discussion. All you need to attend is a willingness to participate.

But I’m not an expert…

Camp sessions range from hands-on laptop demonstrations to larger group discussion facilitated by a panel. Anyone can lead a session. You can certainly present a topic as an expert. But we’ll let you in on a BarCamp secret – some of the best sessions are lead by people who are interested in learning more about a topic. Come and suggest a session on a topic that you’re interested in and learn from other knowledgeable people.

Is BarCamp held at a bar?

No, it’s not held at a bar. We saved the disappointing answer for last! The first BarCamp was held in response an O’Reilly organized invite only event called FooCamp. But we are organizing an after-event at a local restaurant/bar though. Stay tuned for details. If you would like to sponsor a before or after party, contact us at info@higheredphilly.com.