This past Saturday I attended my first unconference, TeachMeet NJ, An unconference is free, run by educators for educators and is more of a sharing and conversation than lecture sessions. Participants are even told to leave or enter sessions in the middle if they don't meet their needs.
It was a fun event, with a lot of learning and sharing going on. It was held at Rutgers University and all the sessions were right in the same hallway, so it was easy to move around and meet up with people in between sessions. I finally got to meet some of the members of my PLN in person, like Jason Bedell, Mary Beth Hertz, and Tom Whitby, and made some new connections.
The sessions I was involved with (and links to the Google Doc with resources) included Science Education (Differentiation, co-presenter), a Web 2.0 Smackdown (participant), Top 10 Free Resources for Students and Teachers (presenter), and Literacy in the Classroom (participant). Click on the links to see the resources.
What I liked was that the person running the session would share some ideas, information, or resources and then all the participants would also share resources. In some cases, the participant would just go up to the presenter's computer and go to the resource and describe it and how they use it. It was great because it is interactive and no one is an "expert" - everyone contributes.
If you have the chance to go to an unconference like a TeachMeet or EdCamp or Educon, I highly recommend it. They are great places to learn and share and are free. The links above will take you to the main sites where they list some of the conferences and even give resources and tips for starting your own unconference.
Some other great conferences for educators are:
Day of Discovery, sponsored by Discovery Education, held around the US (free, and not just about DE Resources) Next one is March 26th in Brockton, MA. http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/category/den-events/
Discovery Education Network Virtual Conference - free, online.
Discovery SciCon - sponsored by Discovery Education, free online science conference.
TechForum, sponsored by Tech&Learning Magazine, held around the US (not free, but really great conference) Next one is Boston on April 8th. http://www.techlearning.com/events/techforum/index
Virtual TechForum (Tech&Learning Magazine) - free online conference
Virtual FETC (free and online) Florida Educational Technology Conference
Next one is April 28th - http://fetc.org/Events/Virtual-Conference/Home.aspx