Summer Series 2023-Part 1

A 5-Part Self-Guided Series To Get Everyone Started on the OpenLab

Part 1 of 5: Get to Know the OpenLab

Every summer, the OpenLab Community Team publishes a 5-part series that provides short tasks to help everyone in the City Tech community get to know the OpenLab. That means the semester is 5 weeks away! Every year, City Tech welcomes new students, staff, and faculty members–we’re hoping that if you’re new, or were new not so long ago, you’re finding your way here to learn more! The OpenLab community continues to impress with creativity, adaptability, and compassion that members use to create and collaborate on the OpenLab. We hope that as this series introduces everyone to the OpenLab, it also highlights strategies for cultivating and growing this online community. 

Each week, we will guide everyone through different tasks to start or reinvigorate their work on the OpenLab.  For this first installment, the tasks below will help you create an account and set up your OpenLab profile. 

• Task 1: Before joining the OpenLab, learn more about the platform. Read the OpenLab’s brief About page to learn more about the ethos and values driving the OpenLab. Take some time to browse through the courses, clubs, projects and portfolios on the OpenLab.

• Task 2: Sign up for an OpenLab Account. To sign up, you’ll also need access to your City Tech email account. See the OpenLab’s help documentation on Accessing your City Tech email if you need help. If you’re eager to get started but know your email account is still not available, reach out to us to see if we can help you get started sooner!

• Task 3:  Set up your OpenLab profile. You’ll notice as you do this that only some fields are required. You can always come back and complete missing information later when you have time to learn how to manage your account and profile. Your OpenLab profile communicates who you are to the OpenLab community; it can also be indexed in internet search engines, so think carefully about what information you share in your profile. Remember that your user name and your display name do not need to be your real name. Some members use first initial last name, or first name last initial, but others go with something altogether different–it’s up to you to choose a pseudonym that you feel will represent you while also is appropriate to the community you’re joining. Keep in mind that your user name can’t change, but you can change your display name and anything else in your profile.
  • If you are a student, you may want to specify your major/minor, contact information (remember, this is publicly available, so consider what you include carefully!), pronouns, extracurricular interests, any awards or honors you have received, and even a brief overview of your projects and goals. 
  • If you are faculty or staff, in addition to including your pronouns and contact information (remember, this is publicly available!), you may also choose to detail some of your academic interests, as well as your experiences and roles within the college. 
  • Finally, profiles provide the opportunity for OpenLab members to include a photo associated with their OpenLab display name: please note that your photo can be of anything that you feel represents you adequately, and does not have to be an actual photo of yourself. This avatar may appear wherever you contribute on the OpenLab.

• Task 4: Practice logging in to your account. Sign out of your account and close your browser. Then open a new browser window, navigate back to the OpenLab, and log in to your account.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of 5, when we look at how others use the OpenLab!