A TeachMeet is an organised but informal meeting (in the style of an
unconference) for teachers to share good practice, practical innovations and personal insights in teaching. These events are often organised to coincide with other educational events like the
Scottish Learning Festival
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
and the British Educational Technology and Training Show
BETT
Bett or The Bett Show (formerly known as the British Educational Training and Technology Show) is a global series of education shows organised by Hyve Group marketing information technology in education. The flagship show is located in the UK, w ...
.
Participants volunteer (via each TeachMeet's event website) to demonstrate good practice they've delivered over the past year, or discuss a product that enhances classroom practice.
TeachMeet events are open to all, do not charge an entry fee, and take place in a social setting.
History
Originally conceived in the summer of 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland, under the name "ScotEduBlogs Meetup". The new name, TeachMeet, was created by Ewan McIntosh and agreed upon by the attendees of the first event. The 2nd Edition was held in Glasgow on 20 September 2006.
The 5th TeachMeet was the first to be held at the
BETT
Bett or The Bett Show (formerly known as the British Educational Training and Technology Show) is a global series of education shows organised by Hyve Group marketing information technology in education. The flagship show is located in the UK, w ...
Show in London.
In 2010 TeachMeet 'Takeover' was introduced at BETT, where teachers took over vendors stands in the main conference to bring the TeachMeet discussion out of the Apex Room and onto the exhibition floor.
In 2017 the Malaysian TeachMeets decided to make all presentations 2 minutes to make it a quicker format.
TeachMeets are now regular occurrences in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Malaysia, Sweden, the USA, New Zealand.
In New Zealand the TeachMeet is virtual and is run totally via Google+ Hangout.
Since global travel restrictions were put in place in March 2020, many TeachMeets have been convened using online platforms.
Common features
The following features are often part of a Teachmeet, but the format changes according to the size of the meeting and the preferences of the organisers:
* Micro-presentations - lasting 7 minutes
* Nano-presentations - lasting 2 minutes nano presentation (3-5 one after the other)
* Round-table break-outs - lasting 15 minutes or so, allowing focussed discussion around a theme, with a volunteer facilitator
* Random selection of speakers - from a pool of willing participants
*
Backchannel
Backchannel is the use of networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside the primary group activity or live spoken remarks. The term was coined from the linguistics term to describe listeners' behaviours during verbal c ...
- to let non-attendees participate or follow proceedings that are broadcast on social media timelines
Reference list
External links
TeachMeet in IrelandTeachmeet at Wikispaces.com (USA)* http://www.teachmeetnz.wikispaces.com/ (NZ)
TeachMeet in Scotland - new siteThe Evolution of TeachMeet - a simple timelineOngoing research into TeachMeetTeachMeet Kuala Lumpur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teachmeet
Educational technology academic and professional associations
Education in the United Kingdom
Unconferences