Author: Jody R. Rosen

In the Spotlight: OpenLab is Here for You!

As the semester winds down, the OpenLab is here for you! This spotlight shines some light on some upcoming OpenLab events, support, and tools.

OpenLab Open House

pink balloons fill a storefront
“Balloon” by oliver gartmann CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed.

Come to the OpenLab Open House to share your successes from this semester, ask questions, and learn from each other about the OpenLab.

The OpenLab Open House will be this Friday, 5/10/24, from 2:00-3:00pm via Zoom. All are welcome.

OpenLab Co-working Session

two green frogs on a green leaf
“frog” by Daz Smith CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed.

On Thursday, May 16th from 12:00 P.M. to 1:00 PM, join the OpenLab team for the final co-working session of the Spring. You bring the work, we’ll bring the friendly presence in the Zoom session (plus we’ll bring work, too).

OpenLab Open Hours

“Open up” by Patrik Theander CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed.

OpenLab Open Hours are virtual 30-minute individual appointments with a member of the OpenLab Community Team.

The final two Open Hour sessions will be held on May 14th and May 21st, each featuring appointments at 9:30am and 10:00am.

All are held via Zoom and are open to faculty, staff, and students. Reserve your spot now!

OpenLab Email Support

“Connections” by Whatknot CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed.

Have questions you can’t find the answer to in OpenLab Help?

Reach out for email support by sending a message to us at OpenLab@CityTech.cuny.edu or via our contact form.

What’s Happening at City Tech

“Bubbles @ Party in the Garden” by Karsten Wentink CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed

Want to keep up with what’s happening at City Tech while browsing through the OpenLab?

Now you can find a list of City Tech events and updates right on the OpenLab home page and click through for more information.

We look forward to seeing you at these events and supporting you through the end of the semester!

Co-working session 5/16

One more co-working session to help everyone finish this semester!

On Thursday, May 16th from 12:00 P.M. to 1:00 PM, join the OpenLab team for the final co-working session of the Spring. You bring the work, we’ll bring the friendly presence in the Zoom session (plus we’ll bring work, too).

As with the previous co-working hours, this space can help support you focus on the work you need to finish–in this case, your goal is finishing everything for the end of the semester. If you’re teaching, bring your grading! Or invite a student to join so you can co-work as they finish their project or study for that last exam. Or bring a friend and race to finish your to-do list!

You can work silently in the main Zoom room or move into a breakout room to talk with a collaborator or with one of our team members if you have specific questions we can help you with. 

We hope this co-working session is useful for you–and let us know how else we can help!

Photo credit: “frog” by Daz Smith via Flickr under the license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed.

OpenLab Open House

With the semester winding down, the OpenLab Team invites you to join the OpenLab Open House! Come share your successes from this semester, ask questions, and learn from each other about the OpenLab.

The OpenLab Open House will be on Friday, 5/10/24, from 2:00-3:00pm via Zoom. All are welcome.

Photo credit: “Balloon” by oliver gartmann via Flickr under the license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Deed.

In the Spotlight: City Tech Writer

April is National Poetry Month, so in its honor, we shine the spotlight on City Tech Writer (CTW), City Tech’s interdisciplinary journal of student writing.

You might enjoy reading some CTW Collage poetry, or find inspiration on the City Tech Writer OpenLab site to write your own poems. In fact, this year CTW is running a creative writing contest (new deadline: April 15th, 2024) for students to respond to any entry from last year’s edition of City Tech Writer in the following categories:

  • Poetry
  • Fiction
  • Visual Arts (short films and/or comics)
  • Writing About Anti-AAPI Discrimination (700-800 words max)
  • Flash fiction (100 words max)
  • Drama
  • Personal Essay

You can view CTW‘s slideshow to learn more about the writing contest as well. To get into the mood, check out this video of a round table discussion featuring several of the writers from the 2023 issue, discussing the process of revising and reworking their pieces:

Also notice the Writing About Anti-AAPI Discriminiation category. This category is directly tied to May’s AAPI Heritage month–that’s when this category’s winners and all other winning pieces will be published in CTW. The contest is part of an anti-hate initiative. For the category Writing About AAPI Discrimination, contest judges are looking for short reflections from AAPI students responding to the essay and accompanying documentary “Many Years After,” found in the 2022 volume of City Tech writer.

Happy writing–and reading, viewing, and thinking–and good luck!

In the Spotlight: Plan Week Spring 2024

Plan week is here! That means that from March 19 through March 26th, you can take part in Plan Week activities to prepare for advisement and registration for next semester, to ensure you are taking the right courses and asking the right questions to stay on the path to graduation and achieving your future goals.

The Plan Week website has all the information you need to take part and take advantage of all that the week has to offer. There’s also information about how students can enter to win prizes!

On the Plan Week website, you’ll find information about each day in the week, its events, and what to focus on information to help students plan for their next steps at City Tech. Here is the abbreviated list of day-by-day goals–be sure to check out the website for more details:

As you develop your PLAN, remember that you can use the OpenLab to get a preview of the courses you’re interested in registering for, and to develop a better sense of what students are doing as they progress in your major and move toward graduation and their careers. You can use the filters to find courses in particular departments, look at portfolios made by students in your major, see projects related to your studies, and join a club connected to your interests.

Take full advantage of in these events and resources, and happy Planning!

Photo credit: “Lunar Eclipse” by David Yu via Flickr under the license CC BY-NC 2.0 Deed.

Co-working today, F 3/15

The weather is getting better, but there’s always more work to do! Let’s get together TODAY to work and check things off the to-do lists we all have–or take some time to make to-do lists!

The OpenLab Team is hosting a co-working session today, Friday, March 15th, 10:00-11:00AM. Join us to cowork in what we hope is a welcoming space that helps as you focus on accomplishing what you need to finish. Bring whatever you want to work on, OpenLab related or not. We’ll bring bring work, too, plus some good energy for checking things off to-do lists.

You can work silently in the main Zoom room or move into a breakout room to talk with a collaborator or with an OpenLab team member if you have specific questions we can help you with. 

Please share this opportunity with colleagues and students–all are welcome. We hope this co-working session is useful for you–and let us know how else we can help!

Photo credit: “Three is a charm (26/365)” by Chung Ho Leung via Flickr is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 Deed

March Support

Stay up-to-date on OpenLab news and make use of our many opportunities for support right here on The Open Road!

As always, reach out to the OpenLab team with questions or ideas: OpenLab@citytech.cuny.edu!

Photo credit: “Coming Soon!” by tdlucas5000 via Flickr using the license CC BY 2.0 Deed.

In the Spotlight: Themes

Themes are what determine your site’s appearance and presentation and what tools and features it has.

Changing your site’s theme is a great way to give your site a new look and feel. If you’ve created a new site recently, it uses a newer theme that will allow your site to have a contemporary style, layout, and range of tools. Once you’ve created your site, you can choose a new theme if you want a different set of customizations or different appearance for your work.

If you’ve been cloning a course for a long time, or if you’ve been adding content to a site you created a log time ago, it might be time for a new theme!

Choosing a new theme can be as simple as previewing and clicking a button to make the change. From your site’s Dashboard, choose Appearance and then Themes to see what’s available, preview your site with the new theme, and activate that new theme. You can follow along with OpenLab Help on changing your site’s appearance with themes.

Screenshot of some thumbnails of WordPress themes available on City Tech's OpenLab.
A sample of theme options on the OpenLab

As new themes are available for WordPress (that’s the software that OpenLab uses), the OpenLab team researches which to add based on whether they are accessible and what they offer in terms of design and functionality.

One new theme we’ve just added is Typology.  This text-based theme looks great with or without images and allows for a lot of customization. Learn more in February’s This Month in the OpenLab.  Help documentation for the theme is coming soon, but there’s also good documentation from the theme authors. Let us know if you’re using it and we may feature your site in the future!

Featured image credit:”Inside the balloon” By Alan E via Flickr under the license CC BY 2.0 Deed

In the Spotlight: BIPOC IN DESIGN

Black background with yellow design and BIPOC in grey stylized type
Black background with yellow designs and BIPOC in grey stylized type

In celebration of Black History Month, we’ve been shining the spotlight on Prof. George Larkins’s BIPOC IN DESIGN site honoring BIPOC creators in the fields of art and design.

In addition to the artists and designers highlighted on BIPOC IN DESIGN’s home page, there are additional resources featuring artists and designers from different backgrounds in the BIPOC Designers section of the site.

Visitors can also learn more by browsing through Events and Stories to find links to websites listing recent and upcoming events, useful resources, and more. The sites linked to for their events are themselves useful resources worth browsing.

How has your department or program celebrated Black History Month this year?

Image credit: Avatar from the OpenLab profile of BIPOC IN DESIGN, called BIPOC Resource Site.

In the Spotlight: Spring 2024 Welcome!

Welcome to a new year and the Spring 2024 semester! City Tech is welcoming even more new students and faculty members–so welcome to everyone new, and welcome back to everyone returning!

The OpenLab team is excited to work with you this semester as you do great things on the OpenLab–and to help you learn more about using the OpenLab and working in an open community.

This Winter Break, there were some exciting new features added to the OpenLab, and some updates in response to members’ needs. You can read about them in the January 2024 edition of This Month on the OpenLab. We’re especially excited about this new option to change the visibility of posts made on open sites–now in addition to posts being as open as the course is or private between author and site admin, authors have the option to share their work with only members of the group or only members of the OpenLab.

As the Spring 2024 semester begins, check out the OpenLab’s synchronous support:

  • Open Hours: students, faculty, and staff can sign up for open hours, one-on-one appointments to ask specific questions or ask to learn more about topics ranging from getting started to using a tool to implementing pedagogical approach. 
  • Workshops: All are welcome for our calendar of workshops, plus any group can request a workshop on a topic or technique! The next workshops are on Thursday, 2/1:
  • Co-working sessions: for quiet working time with others, with the option to move to a breakout room for conversation or questions. The next co-working session is on 2/16:

There are also great asynchronous options for support:

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy, and inspiring new year and Spring 2024 semester. See you on the OpenLab!

Photo Credit: “Frozen Peanuts are Slippery!” by DaPuglet via Flickr under the license CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed.

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