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Since 1987, Ocotillo has been a part of the Maricopa instructional technology landscape, uniting technology and learning via faculty-led initiatives. Like the plant that provides the metaphor, and like the technology that changes rapidly, Ocotillo has re-invented itself several times to meet the challenges and needs of effective use of instructional technology.
The last evolution of Ocotillo in 1996 created an organization that convened faculty representatives from each college's group that addressed local instructional technology issues. Colleges were encouraged to create or identify committees with wide representation, following the Teaching, Learning, Technology Roundtable format. The faculty representatives to the District Ocotillo group provided a channel of communication to and from the colleges, and addressed key issues related to technology planning, visioning the future of technology, and common topics such as hybrid courses and learning objects.
In addition, Ocotillo created and supported the very active Online Learning Group (OLG) that meets monthly at different colleges for demonstrations and discussions of technology faculty are using in both online and in-person courses. The Ocotillo College Centers group also convenes once a semester to share issues and solutions among the various college-based faculty development/ teaching and learning centers.
Over the past few years, campus Ocotillo Chairs have attended monthly meetings at the District Office and carried the Ocotillo torch to and from their campus. This model was initiated to strengthen campus-wide involvement in the planning and implementation of educational technology and it has established central faculty leadership in this cause. This mission has now been accomplished- it's time for Ocotillo to sprout branches in new directions to provide concentrated effort in some key areas. A new Ocotillo is emerging next academic year, that will be a bit more dynamic and very open to different levels of participation.
For next year, Ocotillo will involve eight faculty, working in "Action Group" pairs, to research, develop, foster, and deliver one of four focus initiatives that have been identified by the current Ocotillo Chairs. Our aim is for Ocotillo to be much more open to all faculty who choose to participate in activities in any of the groups.
The following four initiatives will be co-chaired by these faculty members who responded to a call for leaders in February 2004:
- Hybrid Course Structures
Debby Kurtz-Weidinger (Phoenix College) and Rochelle Rodrigo (Mesa)
- Electronic Portfolios
David Weaver (Chandler-Gilbert) and Dale Doubleday (Phoenix College)
- Learning Objects/Pachyderm
Donna Rebadow (Paradise Valley) and Lisa C. Young (GateWay)
- Emerging Technologies
Roger Yohe (Estrella Mountain) and Jim Patterson (Paradise Valley)
Each of these groups will develop a series of activities and events that will be open to any Maricopa faculty or staff member who is interested in the topics. These groups may engage in Dialogue Days, demonstrations, site visits, research and development, pilot experimental software, etc. Like the Ocotillo plant metaphor, each is a branch that will go off in a unique direction.
Hopefully, at least one of the initiatives has piqued your interest. If so, keep a keen eye out for the Ocotillo Led Events throughout the 2004-05 school year:
- September 2004: Ocotillo Virtual Kickoff: Each Action group will share its ideas and goals via a streaming video welcome followed by a two week period of electronic exchange via a web discussion board. This will be your opportunity to discover in which of the groups you may be interested in participating.
- Ongoing: Each group will convene meetings and offer demos at different college locations, as well as use technology for group communication and resource sharing.
- January 2005: The groups will share updates at the Faculty Convocation.
- May 2005: Ocotillo Retreat: Like every year, we will convene following the end of the semester so the Action Groups can share their progress for the year, and participants can engage in activities that will help frame the direction of Ocotillo for next year. We will also bring back the Ocotillo Technology Showcase, an open event to see first-hand examples of instructional technology used across the District. In addition, there will be concurrent update sessions from each of the Action Groups.
To help frame the new Ocotillo, the May 2004 Retreat will include activities to provide the initial direction for each Action Group. This year, the retreat is taking place in the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, a tranquil setting full of desert plant metaphors! Our guest speaker is Dr. Diana Oblinger, who last visited Maricopa in February 2002 for a Technology Visioning Forum. This year, Dr. Oblinger will inspire our ideas with a presentation on the "The Paradox of Agility and Stability" focusing on trends in higher education and technology use, and the needs for colleges to be very agile in addressing these issues.
We are very excited about the new Ocotillo, and hope you are too. If you can dream it, we can make it happen.
 John Arle, Phoenix College and Alan Levine, mcli
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