Blowfish

Team Blowfish Web site

2005-07-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

Please visit the Team Blowfish Web site at: http://www.bk.psu.edu/blowfish

Paul's Notes on Case Project

2005-07-11T17:03:00.000-04:00

Making the Case Project Ideas:
Blowfish, an animal that changes its shape to survive.
Analogy: When at its normal size IT support folks are teaching the faculty to fish(to support themselves and learn to develop materials for use in their courses). When inflated , IT support folks change and adjust their processes, instead of teaching the faculty member to fish we fish for them.

Problem Statement:
There are various ways of supporting our faculty to infuse technology into the curriculum. Each Academic Computing support unit has few resources so the most efficient model for those units to adapt is to "teach the faculty to fish".

Goal: To Fish or Not to Fish: Create a faculty support model to increase faculty adoption of technology. We will provide a plan to create the right model of support for Biggole University, give the faculty Fish or teach them to fish. or to fish with them.

Give them a fish:

People starve in the long term….or does IT drown?

A lot of classes doing "some" stuff

Pros and Cons

Strategies to make this work

Teach them to fish:

Pros and Cons
People starve or struggle in the short term, collaborative, educational, can get more done overtime, empowering.

Talk about STA program and role reversal, the student becomes the teacher.

Strategies to make this work: FIG, CDI, Best Practices

Few classes doing "deep" stuff

Fishing Together:

A middle model where faculty and IT/ID work together, doing some of the fishing for them but not all.

Cook it wrong and it's deadly, cook it right and it's a delicacy.

Timeline

Develop Vision/Mission: What level does the institution want its faculty on?

First Phase of Assessment:

Current level of technology adoption by faculty, who what where why and when
Do the faculty want to Fish or Fished for?

Insert Project Plan based on above Assessment

Second Phase of Assessment:

Effectivness of strategies employeed
New level of technology adoption by faculty, who what where why and when

Possible Conclusion: Is there a "gap" between the faculty who are reluctant and the new faculty so that present day we MUST support both of these models? Teaching the faculty who want to be taught and fishing for those faculty who don't. Will the 2nd scenario diminish overtime? As the Net Generation becomes mature and begins to replace those reluctant faculty.

Flickr Logo

2005-07-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

Here is a logo for our Blowfish team created using the Spell with Flickr website. A good interface, but it does tax your bandwidth.

Blowfish Comic Strip

2005-07-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Baby Name History

2005-07-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

This site will give you information about the history of a name. How many boys and girls in a particular was given that name and the popularity of that name in a particular year. Below is an example:

maps.google.com

2005-07-11T11:19:00.000-04:00

Click the link above for the satellite image of Penn State University.

2005-07-11T09:44:00.000-04:00

Welcome!

2005-07-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Team Blowfish Blog!

Team Members: Ed Evans, Bo Zigner, Ruth Maschino, Drew Daniels, Paul Fisher

Problem Statement:
There are various ways of supporting our faculty to infuse technology into the curriculum. Each Academic Computing support unit has few resources and need to make the most of these to support the most faculty. The most efficient model for those units to adapt is to "teach the faculty to fish". While this is the most cost effective way of providing support to the faculty it poses probelms as well.