Community&Collaboration – Page 9

In the Spotlight: The Buzz

Welcome back to all all who are returning to City Tech and the OpenLab! With the restart of the semester comes the restart of The Buzz, our student blogging site dedicated to all things City Tech. Our student bloggers write about everything from National Cookie Day to the magic of the universe. They give advice and take magnificent photographs. Get to know our team of top-rate writers and photographers, and stay tuned for posts from our newest members to the team — Samantha, who will blog about her full-time life pursuing her degree while parenting full-time; and Pamela, who will post tips and stories about professional development for her fellow students. Check back in throughout the semester for these posts and more from our amazing team of students on The Buzz!

In the Spotlight: L4 – Living Lab Learning Library

Faculty members — Will you be planning spring courses over the winter break? Do you intend to use the OpenLab next semester? Would you like fresh ideas for your pedagogy? If so, check out L4: Living Lab Learning Library! L4 is a resource exchange for innovative teaching practices, where City Tech faculty can interact with each other and a community of educators at large. As the site says, the grant-funded project was designed to re-envision General Education as a “living laboratory” using City Tech’s signature strengths — hands-on experiential models of learning and our vibrant Brooklyn Waterfront location. Brought to you by the Gen Ed Seminar, the OpenLab, a Culture of Assessment, and the Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center, the site offers a one-stop shop for teaching and education resources — including tools for research and assessment. Want to learn more? Check out the site or contact L4 Coordinators Profs. Anna Matthews and Laura Westengard.

In The Spotlight: #The Guide

#TheGuide, a project from Professors Karen Goodlad and Laura Westengard, is a one-stop shop for tips, tricks, and advice about our CityTech campus and surrounding neighborhood. With posts from students about local wine, local businesses, and local attractions, it has everything a newcomer – or a CityTech veteran – would want to get oriented to the community. Check out their extensive list of dining options, their profile of CityTech amenities, and their advice for college survival, including time management and intellectual openness. And stay tuned for updates! Students will be adding even more to #TheGuide in coming weeks.

In the Spotlight: Biology Open Educational Resources

(Image credit)

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

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!

Category: Community&Collaboration