The Open Road

This Month on the OpenLab: 1.7.6

winter in the woods — Image Source: Ingvild Hunsrød

We released version 1.7.6 of the OpenLab on December 14, which included a few behind-the-scenes updates, a few bug fixes, and some web accessibility improvements.

There were a few plugin issues, including one with Gravity Forms causing it to prompt users for a license key when activated for the first time. We also fixed a bug in the plugin WP Post to PDF, which displayed an error when uploading images to posts, and put in another fix for Screencast video embedding.

We also addressed a bug causing a blank screen to display at the end of group creation, and a very obscure issue causing an error when a project profile used a file uploaded to the Files section of the project as an external site.

We made a subtle change to the teal color on the site in a few places, to a teal with a contrast ratio that is accessible. For more information about color contrast, see our help post on accessibility.

As always, please contact us with any questions!

In the Spotlight: Science Fiction at City Tech

This week we’re spotlighting the faculty-run site, “Science Fiction at City Tech”. This site strives to “connect individual and collective efforts that study Science Fiction directly or leverage it to enrich City Tech’s students’ experiences, deepen classroom learning with archival research, and connect City Tech to the networks of science fiction research around the world”. In this way, the site operates as a hub connecting interested parties at City Tech with each other, with other resources at the college, and beyond. This ambition is embedded in the infrastructure of site, which includes information on City Tech courses and faculty members, a growing list of resources, and an active blog that shares updates about science-fiction-related events at City Tech such as the recently held Symposium on Amazing Stories: Inspiration, Learning and Adventure in Science Fiction.

An important service of the site is to provide a digital presence for The City Tech Science Fiction Collection, which is held in the Archives and Special Collections of the Ursula C. Schwerin Library at City Tech. Gifted to the college by an anonymous science fiction scholar, this collection spans approximately 600 linear feet and contains monographs, anthologies, over 4000 magazines (including nearly full runs of every professional science fiction magazine from 1950 to 2010), scholarly journals and novels. Though the collection is still being processed, the site provides two way for students to see just what the collection contains: a searchable PDF that catalogs the magazine portion of the collection and a shelf-by-shelf photographic inventory. In addition, updates about the progress of the collection – such as a visit from CUNY Graduate Center Digital Initiatives – can be found on the blog. Learn more about the collection from the video below!

In the Spotlight: Energy and Environmental Simulation Laboratory

logo for Energy and Environmental Simulation Laboratory

This week we’re spotlighting City Tech’s Energy and Environmental Simulation Laboratory (EESL). EESL is a research group organized by Professor Masato R. Nakamura in the Mechanical Engineering Department at City Tech. Though a research group, this group is open to anyone interested in conducting research on energy, environmental engineering and computing for sustainability. We’re spotlighting EESL’s site this week because of their clear presentation of content. EESL’s site is very easy to follow. Their site cleanly houses information on the group’s goals, work, activities and membership. Each page is organized around images, information, and links that can connect readers to more information. In addition to being easy to follow on its own, the consistency in style across pages helps the reader navigate the site more efficiently, feeling familiar on each page before taking in the content. The significance of this style of site presentation is that it is easily translatable in professional environments. In this way it offers Professor Nakamura and his colleagues a place to send other scholars and researchers if they are interested in learning more about their work. Additionally, it provides students with documentation archived chronologically overtime that speaks to – and shows – the work they’ve completed for the group. In sum, EESL is an example of site that has a strong public, professional face that can be interfaced with by an array of others – who might find the work interesting, might consider joining the group, might be assessing one of the member’s skills in relation to another position. In this way, it is an example that speaks to the reach of what OpenLab can offer its users, beyond their experiences here at City Tech.

the team at the energy and environmental simulation laboratory

In the Spotlight: RoboQuín

This week we’re spotlighting CityTech’s own “Roboquín”. In addition to being a seemingly futuristic mannequin robot fashion model that can interact with people via Bluetooth and Wifi connectivity, Roboquín is also a larger multidisciplinary project composed around the construction and showcasing of the mannequin robot (hereafter the robot will be referred to as RoboQueen and the project will be referred to as Roboquín). Though supervised by Professor Farrukh Zia of the Computer Engineering Technology department, this project is comprised of professors and students from a range of departments including Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science Technology. In this way, Roboquín is an excellent example of how OpenLab can facilitate cross-disciplinary communication and workflow.

In addition to a description of the project and its members, the group uses their site for two purposes. First, they use the site to showcase ‘the travels’ of RoboQueen – from the 2016 World Marker Faire in Queens to CityTech’s own Annual Open House – and the visitors it has dazzled.

Second, Roboquín’s project site hosts images and information detailing the construction of RoboQueen, and includes links to resources that could be used by another team in the construction of their own ‘RoboQueen’. Beyond the potential for visitors of Roboquín’s site to replicate the designs, this information is emblematic of the kind of transparency OpenLab affords its users.

Together, these two qualities allude to another important affordance embedded in OpenLab’s infrastructure – the ability to archive information in a centralized, organized and chronological way. Beyond sharing information, archiving is a critical process in project development as it allows one to see where a project has been and envision where it might go in the future.

In the Spotlight: COMD 2313 — Illustration 1

This week we’re highlighting Professor Sara Woolley Gómez’s course, COMD 2313: Illustration 1. Similar to other course sites, Professor Woolley Gómez has basic course information on it (syllabus and course policies). However, based on the other features on her course site, Woolley Gómez seems more inclined to use the site as a place for introducing additional features of the course and sharing student work. “Sketchbook” is such a feature that falls at the intersection of these two ambitions. Sketchbook is a place where students can upload photo essays documenting their process of creation with a particular assignment, activity or concept. In some cases these are supplemented with text-based descriptions that provide further insight into the process. In this way, Sketchbook is a good example of a digital assignment that structures space for meta-cognitive learning practices and growth. Moreover, these are shared publicly with the class and beyond, creating a space for students to think critically about public presentation and audience, and to engage peers in a discussion about learning practices and process. In addition, Woolley Gómez populates student assignment submissions under corresponding labels, creating an opportunity for students to review or engage with other student’s assignments. Lastly, there is a more general discussion page for sharing articles, illustrations and other art that may be of interest to peers. Visit Professor Sara Woolley Gómez’s course page for more!

This Month on the OpenLab: 1.7.5

a lake setting in the fall where leaves on trees are orange — Image Source: Michael Levine-Clark

We released version 1.7.5 of the OpenLab on November 15, which in addition to a few behind-the-scenes tweaks, included some noticeable additions and improvements.

We added two plugins — AN Gradebook and SyntaxHighlighter Evolved. AN Gradebook replaces KB Gradebook, which is no longer being updated. We think it is easier to use than KB Gradebook, and also doesn’t require an external spreadsheet. Syntax Highlighter allows users to easily post and highlight nicely-formatted code on an OpenLab site.

This release also included a number of bug fixes. One addressed a problem preventing screencast.com videos from embedding properly. We also fixed a bug in the WP Pro Quiz plugin that caused the results of quizzes to not appear properly. Finally, there was an issue with the WP Grade Comments plugin that did not allow users to enter a grade of “0”.

As always, contact us with any questions!

In the Spotlight: Student Kim Mohammed’s ePortfolio

Though many of us may more readily think ‘coursework’ or ‘group project coordination’ when we think of the OpenLab, the platform also offers an important opportunity for displaying individual work in a unique and professional way. City Tech student, Kim Mohammed offers an excellent example of how this can be accomplished. Kim’s site is clear on her professional ambitions – to be a graphic designer – and aims to highlight the various academic and professional stepping stones that are preparing her for and leading her in that direction. For example, Kim has posted a 5-part-series documenting her experience finding and securing an internship (Part 1 here), a link to well-designed resume, and an ‘About Me’ page with a brief overview of her ambitions and link to an external site displaying her design work. Kim has also shared and summarized webinars and interviews with role models in her field and reviewed apps in her blog. In addition to the functionality of the site, Kim’s site is clean and easy to navigate, as well as – with a selected quote, image, and brief professional biography framing each page – unique and personalized. All-in-all, Kim’s site is a great example of how the OpenLab can be used to store one’s work in an organized and presentable manner so that it may be used in the pursuit of larger ambitions beyond your time at City Tech.

In the Spotlight: SADHA

OpenLab affords many opportunities for student-faculty collaboration and professional development for students. For a great example of this, look no further than SADHA. SADHA, short for Student American Dental Hygiene Association, is a site that facilitates the membership of first and second year Dental Hygiene students in an important professional organization – the American Dental Hygiene Association. In addition to coordinating the submission of dues and alerting students to related events, the club cultivates a sense of community and shared identity among those in the Dental Hygiene (DH) field at City Tech. This is accomplished by posting information regarding social and professional-development events, money-making opportunities, articles and videos of interest to those in the DH field, and connecting students with important resources for success in the field. The coordination of these resources is the joint effort of Professor Ana Matthews, a graduate of City Tech’s DH program and now full-time faculty member, and yearly appointed student leaders. With 320 members to date, the usefulness of this site for the DH community at City Tech in undeniable.

OpenLab Statistics: To September 30, 2016

Pageviews (for past quarter):
837,089

Average session duration (for past quarter):
4:44

Number of users broken down by students, faculty, staff:
Students: 17,956
Faculty: 761
Staff: 154

Number of courses, projects, clubs, portfolios:
Courses: 1,468
Projects: 2,211
Clubs: 95
Portfolios: 4,75

OpenLab Statistics: To June 30, 2016

Pageviews (for past quarter):
644,132

Average session duration(for past quarter):
4:22

Number of users broken down by students, faculty, staff (as of July 13 2016):
Students: 16,088
Faculty: 716
Staff: 141
Other: 64

Number of courses, projects, clubs, portfolios (as of July 13 2016):
Courses: 1,301
Projects: 1,946
Clubs: 86
Portfolios: 4,400