Last Thursday I flew to Graz (Austria) to participate at the eduCamp, a barcamp focussed on education. During the flight I asked myself the following question:

Is it worth to spend the time and money?

I booked a cheap flight and checked in a hostal like all the other guys from Germany (Bremen, Aachen, Augsburg, Ilmenau). At least I could save some money by doing so.

So what has happened on the eduCamp?

The first eduCamp in Illmenau had a revolutionary character, cause it was the first time we met. Since then all the topics are more or less repeated. I have found out that not the tools will improve education but the way education goes itself. Good education uses supporting tools to make education better. Bad education cannot be improved by good supporting tools. First there must be a change of thinking. You usually meet people who started to change the way of thinking on an eduCamp.

I was amused about:
– All the new people I met. They want to change things in education and are willing to use tools for that
– It was very nice that the mayor of Graz gave us a short welcome
– Graz itself is a very beautiful city with its castle and the art house and definitely worth a visit.

What I didn’t like:
– I didn’t get new ideas. Everything is repeated more or less.
– We (CoboCards) wanted to be a sponsor of the eduCamp but the prices were not start-up friendly at all.
– Such an event should gather at least 100 people. Unfortunately this was far not the case.
– We have not discussed about „hot topics” going on at the moment. I just found out while travelling back to Germany.

Conclusion:
If there should be a eduCamp in Graz again, I don’t believe that we will participate again. The costs are not equal to the benefits.