notes from the wall
from the October 31, 1996 "Assembly of Thinkers"
the wall //

Present at this meeting was 112 collective years of Ocotillo experience

Alfredo gave an abbreviated version of the History of Ocotillo, of how it started from his "enigmatic" questions in 1987 about the impact of technology on teaching and learning, culminating in the first Mormon Lake Retreat in May 1988.

In 1996, another technology revolution is here with new desktop and systems technology- "is this deja vu all over again?"

What is Ocotillo?:

  • Ocotillo as "the first forum for broad based ideas about the use and transfer of technology... and it was fun, too"
  • Ocotillo as "seed of ideas", the "bubbly", a leadership and conduit for sharing and transfer of best practices and ideas.
  • What is the purpose of Ocotillo? Does it need to be clearly stated or is it evolutionary?
  • Recent years- "Nothing happens in Ocotillo, it is all talk and no action?", some committees met simply for the purpose of meeting.

Issues:

  • Still not enough collaboration between colleges. Still NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome.
  • We face not only competition from external but also from within.
  • Problems with technology resources (especially display systems).
  • Uneven support for technology.
  • Technology as a barrier,
  • FTSE drives us.
  • Time (lack of) critical issue for faculty.
  • Same barriers for technology issue exist for dealing with assessment
  • What is "Internet" literacy
  • "How do we know our students are learning?"- influence of TV & media requires a multimedia delivery (technology can range from flip-chart to computers).
Motivating Forces:
  • Internet is major, major driving force. The wealth of information on the Internet demands new skills of critical reading. One faculty can no longer know or teach all of the knowledge in an area- we need to teach "how to learn"
  • Learning must mostly influence technology, but the trends in society (student expectations coming in) also indicate to some degree that technology IS a driving force.
  • The rules and nature of what we do has changed. From the students viewpoint, there is unevenness between the resources available at different colleges. "We do not have enough of everything and every place that works!"
Summary:
(thanks to Toni R!) 
* usage    
* software  ----> TECHNOLOGY
* hardware        SUPPORTED
* development         |                      FACULTY
  & support           v                      DRIVEN
               -----------------------       STUDENT
               |      purpose:       |       CENTERED
               |                     | <-------|
               |   L E A R N I N G   | 
               -----------------------
                      |
                      |
                      v
              Structure:                       "3 layers"
              * firm yet flexible        |--- process-oriented
              * group focus -----------> |--- task-oriented
              * promotes crossover       |--- brainstorming
              * provides a forum
              * sporadic,  "right to die"
              * cross-functional
Ideas:
  • Broaden input to business and community
  • Should Ocotillo continue as a technology-only agenda? "Appropriate use" of technology for learning? Support systems for Instructional use? Infrastructure issues (the "unevenness?)
  • There might be three "layers" of activity under Ocotillo-
    1. "user group", process-oriented
    2. task-oriented
    3. brainstorming
  • Central issue/purpose- faculty-driven/student centered learning

Possible Projects:

  • Wide invitation to attend forums on the four action areas:
  • Technology, Campus Instructional Support, Assessment & Evaluation, Communication/Dialogue - from which interested groups would choose from the 3 "layers' of action?

  • The Desktop project was successful at encouraging colleges to develop and publish via the web an implementation plan- can Ocotillo develop a model and encourage the development of college Instructional technology plans? Commission a survey of needs? Formation of Roundtables? Campus CLIs?