In the Spotlight: PSY3405 – Health Psychology

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The course site for Prof. Amanda Almond’s interdisciplinary PSY3405 – Health Psychology offers students both course documents and extensive multimedia resources to think about race and health. In addition to the course syllabus, requirements, and grading procedures, Prof. Almond provides her students with a course outline detailing weekly lectures, assignments, readings, film viewings, quizzes, and deadlines. On the home page, she rightly tells students that this course outline will be their best friend. Assignments for the course are also nicely organized under one easy-to-find drop-down menu. For added benefit, Prof. Almond has linked to further resources for the students’ reference. These include the New York Times’ Patient Voices feature and particularly important case studies of psychology experiments, which students can comment on for extra credit. If you’re wondering how to use an OpenLab site to equip students with tools for success in your course, Prof. Almond’s site offers a great example to guide you.

In the Spotlight: HMGT1102 – Intro to Hospitality Management

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In Prof. Michael Krondl’s section of HMGT 1102 – Introduction to Hospitality Management, students can easily find the course syllabus, assignments, and readings. But most exciting about the site is the space it offers for students to blog about their visits to Smorgasburg and the Chelsea Market, complete with descriptions of the venues and mouth-watering photographs of the food. As a final project, teams of students will further use the OpenLab site to complete a concept of a New York City food truck, including a menu, standardized recipes, and spec sheets for the central ingredient of each menu item. Check out this site for a great example of student reflection, photography, and teamwork on the OpenLab — but not if you’re already hungry.

In the Spotlight: MAT2540 – Discrete Structures and Algorithms II

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STEM faculty, have you ever felt unsure about how to use the OpenLab for your coursework? If so, check out Prof. Kate Poirier’s course site for MAT2540 – Discrete Structures and Algorithms II. With a highly functional site design, Prof. Poirier’s course information is arranged by Course Policies (including grading guidelines), Calendar, Homework, Quizzes, Discussion, and Links offering further resources. All information is clear and accessible. An especially exciting innovation is the test review that Prof. Poirier has students do. Here each student explains how they solved one particular problem on a recent test, thereby exposing their peers to their thought-processes and creating room for suggestions and discussion. Be sure to check out the site if you would like to see a useful example of Math coursework happening on the OpenLab!

In the Spotlight: Rogue Bayron’s ePortfolio

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City Tech students, have you wondered what to do with your ePortfolio? If so, head over to Rogue Bayron’s site for an excellent example of an ePortfolio that showcases talent. The site includes all the essential elements of a portfolio that positions Rogue for the job market: a bio, cover letter and resume, and examples of classwork. Rogue takes their portfolio a step further by also including a weekly blog about an internship experience and posts from a student club where they serve as vice president. Any prospective employer needs only visit Rogue’s ePortfolio to capture an immediate snapshot of who they are and what they are capable of. We encourage students of all industries — from graphic design to hospitality management — to take advantage of your free ePortfolio in order to showcase your best work!

 

In the Spotlight: New Features on The Open Road

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The Open Road has been updated, with new easy-to-use features! Check out our OpenLab Calendar where you can see the month’s upcoming workshops, events, and office hours. See OpenLab News for weekly announcements and updates. And stay tuned for This Month in the OpenLab, a monthly post that will announce new developments on the site, including the plugins that you’ve requested. As always, we will continue to highlight noteworthy courses, projects, clubs, and ePortfolios in the Spotlight, and you will always be able to RSVP to workshops from the Workshops and Events menu item.

In the Spotlight: City Tech Printmaking Club

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City Tech’s Printmaking Club is a one-stop shop for students learning to make prints. The club, advised by Profs. Libby Clarke and David Barthold and staffed by a top-notch team of student officers, is dedicated to “keeping traditional printmaking alive at City Tech.” On the club’s OpenLab site, students can find posts on the history of printmaking through the development of ink, on printmaking techniques like linocut, and on events like their recent Valentine’s Day Card sale. All around, this site is a great example for any club trying to boost their online presence.

P.S. Want to learn more about the Printmaking Club? Check out their current exhibition of prints in the City Tech library!

In the Spotlight: ARCH 1130 – Building Technology I

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In ARCH 1130 – Building Technology I, Prof. Jason Montgomery teaches a wide breadth of design topics: from building assemblage to documentation. To do so, his students move from architectural theory to drawing practice to case studies, all in one semester. Prof. Montgomery manages to cover this much ground with the help of his OpenLab site. Students can find all the materials they need for each section of the course: from text books to drafting triangles, lecture notes to sketchbook images. Prof. Montgomery also uses his site to make sure that students have all the resources that they need for success in his course. He includes instructions for creating an ePortfolio, as well as reading strategies and learning rubrics. Check out the site to see all this, plus beautiful samples of his students’ work.

In the Spotlight: ENG1710 – Introduction to Language and Technology

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In Prof. LestĂłn’s English class, Introduction to Language and Technology, students not only write responses to course reading, but also develop revision plans and second drafts of their writing on the course site. All this work — including Prof. LestĂłn’s feedback to each student — is available for the class to see, so that students benefit from observing their peers’ drafting process as well as their own. What’s more, Prof. LestĂłn has included the project that students in his Fall 2015 course undertook, thereby drawing a link from one semester to the next. And as an added perk, the “Culture Jams” section of the site keeps a “storehouse of viral images” related to the themes of the course, which both he and his students can populate as they come across them throughout the semester. Check out the site to see for yourself!

In the Spotlight: Literary Arts Festival

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Planning for the 2016 City Tech Literary Arts Festival is underway, and the organizing committee is making full use of their site to get out the word. Check it out to see a great example of a Project on the OpenLab. You can find information about previous festivals, this year’s featured writer Mary Gaitskill, and the 2016 Writing Competition. And don’t forget to submit your writing to the competition; the deadline is February 25th! Have questions? Contact Festival Directors Professor Robert Ostrom and Professor Jennifer Sears.

In the Spotlight: ARTH1108 – Art of Asia

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Curious to see how other faculty are organizing their course sites? Check out Prof. Ikuyo Nakagawa’s ARTH 1108 – Art of Asia. The course site is cleanly laid out, with menus that make it especially easy for students to find the syllabus, schedule of classes, assignments, and quizzes & exams. Prof. Nakagawa will be adding information about museum visits and extra credit throughout the semester. The site structure is functional, intuitive, and clear. Check it out to see a great example!