RecentChangesCamp2010 at the University of Canberra (UCRCC) was an unconference focused on wikis and online collaborative practices. UCRCC was organised by University of Canberra staff in the Faculty of Health, following Recent Changes Camps held in other parts of the world. The main characteristics of the event were that it was free to attend, open to anyone, with a program determined on the day by the participants. The aim of the event was to draw together people with interest in wikis and online collaborative practices, to discuss, question and share knowledge in a friendly face to face setting.
Dr Bob Jansen - Cancer Council of Australia I am a private consultant to the Cancer Council and am interested in using wiki technology to foster collaboration between people at a distance
The sessions below were determined on the morning by attendees at the 10 - 11:30 Welcome and agenda building.
Welcome
The human timeline activity worked quite well. Everyone coordinated with each other to arrange themselves in a standing order based on how long people had been editing wikis. Once that was done, each person talked briefly about their first wiki experience. From that we started to get a bit of an idea of what sessions whould be proposed...
Agenda building
After the human time line, we created a list of possible sessions to discuss. People who suggested a session were expected to lead the session. Then everyone placed their names next to the sessions they wanted to attend.
Yesterday was a great event - the dialogue was thought provoking, interesting and inspiring. I'm looking forward to sharing it with my colleagues and the documentation from everyone really helps with that. Kirsty Sharp. Resource Development Manager Tasmanian Polytechnic
It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. I'd like to see the VET, University, not-for-profit and other sectors do this sort of thing more often. There's so much to learn with and from each other. And of course, the unconference context means that we leave our occupational/professional hats at the door and collaborate, argue and opine freely and openly. A great learning environment and a worthwhile day. Thanks Leigh for organising it. Rose Grozdanic, Australian Flexible Learning Framework
A tremendously edifying experience. It's a pity it wasn't a two day event. I especially enjoyed the 'real world' tales of planning and integration that the unconference participants brought with them and shared with the rest of us. The event re-shaped my thinking about open content and its place in formal education Peter Shanks, Skills Tasmania
The day captured such wide-ranging discussion from so many viewpoints. Very refreshing! Great to see so many newcomers not only to the format but to the discussion of wikis. I'd love to see more events of this kind permeate the often 'dry' walls of our educational sites... Why not a student based forum of this kind too? Marg O'Connell, Canberra Institute of Technology
Having people from the community come to the University of Canberra is a very good thing. In many ways, here at this University, we're developing a key group of people who are very innovative in their approach to teaching and open education, and I think on a National scale we're really starting to lead the pack in regards to some of the approaches to teaching... a real kick start for UC becoming a leader in this area. Well done... Michael de Percy. Lecturer in Government-Business Relations, UC
As newcomers to the Wiki sphere, we found the unconference very helpful and informative - it was fantastic to talk with people using this platform in their work and opened our eyes to the current and future possibilities of Wiki. It's great to see Wikis being used as educational tools for social and collaborative learning in universities. We hope one day they will be as prolific in the health sector. Thank you very much for hosting such a valuable workshop. Christine Vuletich and Alice Winter-Irving, Cancer Council Australia
A great opportunity to meet all of those wiki people and to understand some of the challenges that they're facing. A lot of the people here are from the educational realm, and a lot of their challenges are the same challenges they we're facing at Wikimedia Projects... its been a really great experience. Andrew Garrett, Wikimedia Foundation
RCC events bring together people for a common purpose: discussing the past, present, and future of the technology and collaborative method that is wiki. RCC is a chance for everyone in the wiki community, to meet and have a fun, and have productive conversation about our passion for wikis of all stripes.
At RCC, everybody is welcomed. You don't need to be an expert on anything, and you certainly don't need to consider yourself a geek. Collaboration thrives on diversity! All you need to bring is an open mind, and a willingness to participate, whether by teaching or by taking an active role in discussions. And, don't forget, an unconference is what we make it, so let's make it enlightening and fun.
