(image by lloydsscreenies via creative commons license)

Hope your term going swimmingly!  We upgraded our WordPress system not too long ago and want to highlight the features of the new update for our users.  There are plenty more features than this, particularly on the back end, and if you’re interested you can have a look here.  What’s highlighted below are those features that will be most frequently encountered by our users.

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WORDPRESS 4.0 “Benny”

Last week we highlighted OpenLab courses from this term. This week we thought we’d highlight a few project that are particularly interesting for the term.  Enjoy!

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OFFICE OF VETERANS SUPPORT SERVICES

Created last year, the Office of Veterans Support Services’ goal is to assess, plan, and expedite the required resources for our community of veterans at City Tech.  If you’re a veteran, you can find contact information, a list of events, and more!  Visit and support this growing, important project!

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WORDS HAVE LIVES: RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS IN DEVELOPMENTAL WRITING

This site is a composition and grammar resource for students who want to write stronger papers. While topics here are produced in direct response to class discussions and interactions with students regarding specific writing concerns, they also are relevant to all students wishing to understand how to fix their own writing and gain a sense of how their writing questions are shared with others going through the same learning process.

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OUR PLACES: HOW WE COMMEMORATE

This project features the photographs and writing of students in LAW 2301 Estates, Trusts and Wills, showing the varied ways that the inhabitants of New York City commemorate decedents. What’s particularly amazing about this site is the range–from large monuments we’ve all seen to tributes to Jam Master Jay to spontaneous street corner memorials, from all over the city.  Lovely lovely site.

That’s all for this week.  As always, contact us with any questions!

(image by Olve Utne via Creative Commons License)

Happy Holidays for some of you, happy short weeks for the rest. With the term well under way, we thought we’d highlight some courses! Enjoy!

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LIB 1201 – Research and Documentation for the Information Age – Section D952 – Fall 2014

This course, taught by Ian Beilin, explores research and documentation for all media formats including text, images, sound, and multimedia. Students will explore information issues, especially in terms of their relevance today: how information is produced and organized in both traditional and emerging media, how information access is affected by political, economic and cultural factors, and the ethics of information use. Students will also acquire the practical skills of locating information sources in a variety of media and formats, critical evaluation of sources, and documentation and citation of traditional and emerging media and technologies. Students will apply what they learn to create and present research and documentation projects.

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Ways of Seeing: Adventures with Image & Text

This Learning Community for ADGA students taking ADV1100 & ENG1101 and taught by our own Jenna Spevak and Jody Rosen includes field trips, hands-on projects, and cross-sensory experiences to help students’ discover and express their creative vision.  Great field trips, a nice blend of writing and art, and a great first visual assignment with written student reflection!

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MEDU1010 Foundations of Math Ed, FA2014: Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers.

This course, taught by Andrew Parker, examines the historical, philosophical, and sociological foundations underlying the development of American educational institutions. The role of the schools, the aims of education, diverse learners, the mathematics curriculum in New York State, legal principles that affect education, and the role of state, local, and federal agencies will be emphasized.

We particularly love the”Why I Want to Be A Teacher” blog posts. Check them out here!

That’s all for this week!  Remember to contact us with any questions!

(image by IvanWalsh.com via Creative Commons License)

10,000!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week the OpenLab passed a huge milestone:  10,000 members!  We’re extremely proud to have fostered this community, and thank each and every one of you for participating, teaching, learning, and sharing.

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Last week we mentioned that there were a number of updates, new features, and new bits of help on the OpenLab added or installed over the summer.  We’d like to spend the rest of this post (and probably the next–there are quite a few), pointing out a few of these.  Enjoy!

Theme Tutorials

While most of the themes on the OpenLab have the same (or very similar) functionality, we have a few themes that work quite a bit differently.  This means, in these cases, you might not be sure how they work or you might find them too complex for your use.  Fear not!  Our own Andy Mckinney has done us (and really, WordPress users everywhere) a great service by providing the clearest tutorials anywhere (we’re not kidding about that).  You can find tutorials here on the following themes:

Sliding Door

Hero and Filter

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(image by the Work Projects Administration Poster Collection via Creative Commons License)

WELCOME BACK!

On behalf of the OpenLab, City Tech’s open-source digital platform where students, faculty, and staff can meet to learn, work, and share their ideas, we’d like to welcome you back (or welcome you) to the school year.  And welcome to The Open Road, our resource for all things OpenLab.  If you haven’t been here since the beginning of summer, you’ll find that we’ve started an overhaul of this site, simplifying our menu and the things you can find here and, we hope, creating an even more useful resource.

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WORKSHOPS!

The OpenRoad is the place to sign up for workshops!  We have workshops throughout the fall for students, faculty and staff, on a variety of subjects.  You can sign up here, and be sure to check back here in January and in the Spring term for more updates.

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HELP!

(image by Johnathan Nightingale via Creative Commons License)

Another change to the Open Road is actually not an addition:  We’ve moved our overview of plug-ins and widgets to the help section of the OpenLab, and you can find that here:  https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/blog/help/help-category/plugins-and-widgets/.  While you’re there, have a look around the revised, expanded help section, which now includes troublesooting, FAQs, and Best Practices entries.

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MORE TO COME!

The summer has been a busy one here at the OpenLab, with a host of new features and resources.  We’ll be highlighting them all in the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned and, as always, contact us with any questions!