In the Spotlight: Biology Open Educational Resources

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This site, developed as a collaboration between the Library and the Biological Sciences Department and maintained by Prof. Jeremy Seto, contains many wonderfully rich Open Educational Resources (OERs) for students of biology at City Tech (and beyond!).  OERs are materials for teaching and learning that are not licensed under copyright and thus able to be freely accessed and shared.  (For more information, see the library’s great guide to OERs).  The Biology OER contains textual and multimedia resources organized by topic, including descriptions, images, and videos of different biological processes, research tools, and class activities.  Take a look and enjoy this excellent resource!

 

In the Spotlight: Pre-Dental Society NYCCT

This club site is clean and well-structured, and members have been actively writing, with regular posts that include helpful information about dentistry and dental school.  It’s also easy to find out more about what the club does and how to contact them.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Thomas Ahrens International Work/Study Programs – Paris

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A group of Hospitality Management students is participating in an exchange program with students from Universite d’Evry in Paris for the month of June.  They’re taking turns writing “Paris Correspondent” blog posts reflecting on their activities each day, including plenty of photographs!  It looks like a great experience, and we’re happy they’re sharing it with the OpenLab community and beyond!

In the Spotlight: CUE Conference with “The Buzz”

Brianna Vasquez, a student blogger for The Buzz, has written a wonderful post about her experience writing for The Buzz and presenting on it at the CUNY CUE Conference.  As Scott Henkle writes about the conference, “Brianna remained her charming self, speaking knowledgeably and well about her role on the team, and our presentation wouldn’t have been the same without her.”  She also baked an incredible cake (pictured above) for the occasion, which we all got to sample!

Brianna’s thoughts about community on the OpenLab touch on one of the central purposes of the platform, the creation of a virtual space where all members of the City Tech community can come together in a way that doesn’t always get to happen as much as we’d like on City Tech’s physical campus.

In the Spotlight: Exploring Quantitative Reasoning

Created by Quantitative Reasoning Fellow, Yoonhee Kang, as a part of the Math Department’s Quantitative Reasoning (QR) program, this site features many great resources on QR and offers a space where those interested in QR can share and discuss ideas.  The site is well-designed, and contains information on QR, workshops for students, posts on QR in everyday life and various professions, and videos about QR.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Words Have Lives

Words Have Lives is a companion to the course Developmental Writing.  While it focuses on material being discussed in class, it can nonetheless be helpful to any students who may have questions about the writing process.  The site offers many resources, from help with essay grammar, structure, and strategy, to specific resources offered at City Tech, such as the Learning Center where students can go for help with their writing.  It is also well-structured and designed, and makes great use of image and video!

In the Spotlight: Computer Systems Technology Colloquium

The CST Colloquium site is well-organized and has many great features.  Their events calendar page and events widget in the site footer make it easy to find out about upcoming colloquium talks.  They link to the slides for past talks so visitors can catch up on anything they missed.  There’s also an easy way to subscribe to the group’s email list, and a submissions page for talk proposals.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Biological Sciences Department

The Biological Sciences Department has created an excellent site on the OpenLab, which is full of resources, news, and helpful information.  It’s well-structured so that everything is easy to find, both on the home page, and in the top menu.  They also have a helpful feed of upcoming departmental events and deadlines in the sidebar.  Take a look!

In the Spotlight: Bridges to the Baccalaureate

We’re excited to see both Bridges to the Baccalaureate, and the program it’s part of, Strengthening Research Interactions through Digital Expressions (STRIDE), on the OpenLab!  STRIDE provides a digital space for student and faculty research resources, and the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program provides academic support and research mentoring to associates degree students in Biology, Chemistry, or Psychology, who will transfer to Brooklyn College to finish their degrees.  Their well-designed site includes plenty of information on the program, and visitors can download the Bridges brochure and application forms.  Students who are interested in applying should do so by their February 28 deadline!

In the Spotlight: The Buzz

The Buzz is the blog for our excellent group of student bloggers, who are writing on a wide variety of topics, from fashion to food, and more.  This semester the group also includes a few photobloggers who will be posting and writing about their photographs.  There are already three new posts this week, as well as an active comments section.  Check it out, and leave a comment!