Eli bulletin board fall 13

News from ELI to you!

ELI Bulletin Board EXTENDED LEARNING V O L U M E

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www.nvcc.edu/ELI

Welcome

703.323.3347 1.888.4DL.NVCC

Hello ELI Students,

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

ELI Smarthinking 1 ELI Spotlight: Back In Time

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Transferring 101

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Fall Into ELIfe

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Library Resources To Help You 3 Succeed ELI Fall Common 4 Reader Program Are Your Career

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Plans In FOCUS ELI Student Life

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WRITERS WANTED The ELI Bulletin Board is published by the Extended Learning Institute of Northern Virginia Community College to keep the ELI community informed and connected.

We welcome comments and contributions from students, faculty, and staff.

Contact elistulife@nvcc.edu for details.

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We hope everyone is having a wonderful Fall Semester! We encourage you to take a look through this issue of our newsletter to learn more information about what is happening with ELI. Spring Semester is around the corner

so we encourage you check out the 2014 registration dates and to contact your advisor as soon as possible for advising assistance. Please visit our website at http://eli.nvcc.edu/ for more information regarding our resources and services.

Our dedicated staff is here to assist you with any needs you

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may have. Best wishes for the rest of your semester and we hope to see you in the spring!

–ELI Staff

ELI Smarthinking Smarthinking has a new look! If you are not familiar, Smarthinking is the online tutoring service that Northern Virginia Community College has made available for FREE to its students enrolled in courses offered through the Extended Learning Institute (ELI).

Smarthinking provides tutoring in a variety of subjects, some available 24/7.

(Smarthinking’s hours of service) The current Smarthinking Student Handbook is available under

Academic Resources in your account.

Math: Basic Math, Algebra, Geometry & Trigonometry, Single Variable Calculus, Statistics Accessing Smarthinking: You Advanced Statistics, Math beyond Calc II

may access Smarthinking directly from your online course site in Blackboard. No additional username or password is needed. Simply log into Blackboard, select “Tools” and click on the NOVA ELI Smarthinking link.

Reading & Writing: Reading Comprehension, Pronunciation, Vocabulary Building, Essay Critique, Grammar & Mechanics, Pre-Writing, Research Strategies, Proper Documentation Science: General Chemistry, Organic, Chemistry, Biology, Intro to Anatomy & Physiology, Physics

With Smarthinking you can find Business: Accounting, Macro & help with the following Microeconomics, Intro to Finance disciplines: ESL: ESL Writing Center, Math in English/Spanish

Spanish: Spanish Essay Center, Grammar, Questions Computers and Technology: IT Support Word, IT Support Excel, IT Support Access, IT Support Power Point, IT Support Windows7

Click here or additional information and sample sessions.

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ELI Spotlight: Back In Time

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FOLLOW US! Read the Student Blog, ELIFE Like NOVA ELIfe on Facebook Follow us on twitter! @NOVAELIfe

PLAN HEAD!

Did you know that ELI began offering courses in January of 1975? Dr. Betsy Tebow, Art History Professor at the Annandale Campus and former ELI Professor, shares her experiences teaching at ELI before ipads, email, and even computers were around!

“I have fond memories of the

"pioneer days" of ELI. I'd barely started teaching on the Annandale campus when I found myself assigned to writing and producing a TV series on American Art. I was fortunate to work with a brilliant co-author who had moved from teaching at NOVA to a position at the Hirshhorn and with a talented director. We were three 25 year olds, still wet behind the ears, but daring enough to

Spring 2014 Semester Jan 13 - (1st 16, 12, 8, 4-week ) Class start date Jan 21 - (1st 8-week session) Refund date Jan 25 - (1st 12-week session) Refund date

Your time at NOVA will go by fast. So, it’s never too early to begin transfer planning. The more research you do now, the smoother the transfer process will be later. Start by considering the following: Do you know where you want to go yet?

Feb 3 - (2nd 8-week session) Class start date

Do you know what major you will pursue when you transfer?

Feb 9 - (1st 4-week session) End Date Feb 11 - (2nd 8-week session) Refund date/ First assignment due

Do you intend to obtain a degree at NOVA? Do you know if you are in a college-transfer track program?

Feb 15 - (1st 8-week session) Last withdrawal date

How will you pay for your education?

Feb 22- (3rd 12-week session)

The Virginia Education Wizard offers a number of resources to assist you in obtaining your education goals. The Transfer Planner provides you a step-bystep guide, from assessing your preferred career through attending orientation at your new

Refund date/ First assignment due

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I taught a course using 2-1/2 hour video lessons that resulted for over a decade and their institutions around the country also purchased them and used the textbook I co-authored under my maiden name, Lang, with Mary Ann Tighe, published by McGraw-Hill. (I was even sent to San Francisco to meet with some of the teachers who would be using it). Videos were the cutting edge technology for ELI at the time and, ELI produced several video courses in NVCC's studio in the CT building at the Annandale Campus.

Students sent in their assignments via United States Postal Service. We communi-

cated on telephones! ELI moved a few times to various buildings at the Ravensworth area of Fairfax County, but retained a friendly, welcoming environment and the opportunity to interact with colleagues from other disciplines and campuses.

Looking back, as I prepare to hang up my remote control and retire, ELI was a highlight of my NOVA experience.”

ELI Staff would like to thank Dr. Tebow for being one of the innovative faculty involved with ELI’s beginnings, and helped evolve classes to what they are today!

Transfer Planning 101

Jan 30 - (1st 16-week session) Refund date

Feb 8 - (2nd 12-week session) Refund date

take on the challenge.

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college or university.

NOVA has agreements with most of the 4-year institutions in Virginia, as well as several outside of Virginia. Some agreements are called Guaranteed Admissions Agreements; which means as a NOVA student, you are offered guaranteed admissions to a variety of four-year colleges and universities when you meet the requirements of the written agreement between NOVA and that college. There are also general Articulation Agreements that define the way courses, programs, or entire categories of programs transfer to another institution; and may include admission guarantees. You can view the list of GAAs and AAs via NOVA’s transfer webpage.

It is important to read the agreements carefully, so you know what specific requirements you will need to meet. NOVA also has a great webpage that is all about Guaranteed Admission Agreements!

Check out the four-minute video: NOVA Guaranteed Admission Agreements.

Once you have identified potential transfer institutions, make time to visit them and speak with an admission representative, take a campus tour, attend an information session, etc. This will help you get a feel for the environment to see if it would be a good fit for you. If you are planning to transfer to an online program, attend an information webinar and test-drive a course, if available.

If you want to learn more, NOVA also hosts a variety of transfer events; such as college visits, transfer fairs, and webinars. The events calendar provides a list of upcoming events.

By Kim Burkle, ELI Counselor/ Instructor kburkle@nvcc.edu

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Fall Into ELIfe At The Woodbridge Campus ELI’s annual Fall Into ELIfe event was held on Wednesday, October 9th from 11-2pm at NOVA’s Woodbridge campus with a great turnout!

Over 150 students, faculty, and staff came out to visit our ELI staff, learn more about online learning at NOVA, and participate in our food, fun and activities!

Several members of our ELI student services staff were present to engage with participants and share resources provided to students taking online courses. Staff represented ELI counselors, student success coaches, financial aid, orientation, and student life.

ELI provided fun and engaging activities including

airbrush tattoos and a caramel apple dipping. The event also sponsored a service project along with the Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA) shelter. FOHA is a non-profit, no-kill shelter that focuses on the rescue and placement of homeless dogs and cats in the Northern Virginia and Washington DC area. FOHA relies on the support of volunteers and donations from the public to continue our rescue efforts.

With this in mind, students had the opportunity to take make pet beds and toys from scrap fabric provided. These items will be given to the local FOHA shelter location in the Northern Virginia area.

Students enjoyed expressing their creativity for a great cause!

This event also served as a great opportunity for our current ELI students to meet face-to-face with ELI staff.

ELI staff enjoyed interacting with our Loudoun Campus students and thank everyone who stopped by the event.

A special thank you to the Woodbridge Student Life Office for providing us the opportunity to host this event on their campus!

Library Tips To Help You Succeed Attention ELI students!

Do you know about all of the NOVA Library resources that are available to you? Check out the NOVA Libraries website to access the following resources from home:

Interested in learning more about the FOHA organization and how you can help the movement?

Click

HERE

Learn more about ELI events HERE!

NEW!

e-Books: Search for e-books right from the library catalog, or see all of our e-book collections.

Databases: Find full-text newspaper, magazine, and journal articles using library databases. Click

here to see available databases by subject.

Websites: Of course, the internet is available almost everywhere. But how do you know if a website has reliable information? Use the 5 W’s to Determine Good Information.

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ELI Fall Common Reader Program This fall, ELI held the 3rd annual Common Reader Program. The goal of the ELI Common Reader Program is to engage first-time online students through the shared experience of reading a “common reader” book throughout the fall term.

We followed an eight-week curriculum on the Common Reader blog, where students could participate in at home challenges and comment on ideas they have about living a sustainable life.

We visited the This year, the ELI Washington Common Reader team Nationals selected the book, No ballpark for a guided tour Impact Man, by Colin Beavan. and learned more about the The book follows author LEED certification standards Colin Beavan as he swore off and process that went into plastic and toxins, turned off building the park. his electricity, went organic, Nationals Park was became a cyclist and the nation’s first ultimately tried to save the major professional planet with his wife and young stadium to become an daughter in tow. As a family, energy-saving green they tried to make no impact building and receive on the environment for the LEED certification by year. They documented the the U.S. Green project through a blog, Building Council. book and We were excited to partner movie. with Annandale Student Life Five hundred first-time students enrolled in ELI courses at NOVA were invited to participate in the 2013 Common Reader program.

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Club was a big supporter in the event and helped market the program to students and the community.

ELI students who are interested in being part of the planning committee for the 2014 ELI Common Reader can email us at elistulife@nvcc.edu.

Stay tuned through the spring semester for more information on next falls and the NOVA Sustainability program!

Office to invite Colin Beavan to speak with students and community members. Colin spoke at the Annandale Campus on Thursday, October 17, 2013 as a culminating event for the Program. The NOVA Green

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Are Your Career Plans In Focus?

As fall comes to an end and spring quickly approaches, now is a good time to think about where you are on your career path.

Are you attending NOVA to pursue a certificate or degree, but unsure about what career options might be available to you? Have you decided on a major, but have difficulty answering the question – “What can I do with a major in _____? Do you need to fine tune your skills or add to your skill set in preparation for a career change? Learn more about career options by utilizing FOCUS 2, an online interactive self-guided career and education planning system that can help you:

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Select a major based on your interests and aspirations

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Discover occupations matching your personal preferences and attributes

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Map out your career plans, present and future

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Make informed career decisions

FOCUS 2 is free for NOVA students. Access the system at NOVA’s Career Services website.

Simply click on the “FOCUS 2” button, create your free account, and begin your exploration.

webinar. This 45 minute webinar will focus on using various online resources to research career options. The relationship between programs of study at NOVA, college majors, and career options will be discussed. Resources presented will provide information on nature of work, educational requirements, job outlook, and wages.

Did you know that ELI is on LinkedIn? Click the below icon to visit our page and find great articles and resources on career planning.

Also check ELI’s webinar schedule for offerings of the Exploring Career Options

Library Tips To Help You Succeed (

cont.)

Tutorials: Access short videos on many topics including how to search the library catalog, searching library databases, and more.

We’re adding new videos all the time, so we’d love suggestions! Go to our NOVA Libraries YouTube channel.

Social Media: Stay connected to NOVA Libraries through Facebook and Twitter ELI Library Staff: As an ELI student, you have your own dedicated library staff to help you navigate library resources remotely.

For some library resources, you will be prompted to login before accessing them. Login with your MyNOVA username and password. This is the same username and password you use sign into your classes.

Contact us at ELI-Library@nvcc.edu with any questions!

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ELI Student Life

It’s been exciting fall semester for ELI student life or ELIfe! ELI has hosted student activities and events for students both virtually and in-person to help online students develop stronger connections to ELI, to NOVA, and to each other. Some of these student life events included Our first annual ELI Open House, ELI fantasy football tournament, health and wellness pedometer challenge, ELI’s Common Reader Program, Leadership Mason Conference and the annual Fall Into ELIfe event.

Don’t miss our events coming up:

Native American Heritage Month- Follow us through social our social media sites and our Virtual Student Union as we celebrate the histories, cultures and contributions of American Indians.

Social Media Headshots— November 19th & 20th: In conjunction with National Career Development Month, stop by our office and get a free headshot taken to use for your social and professional media sites.

Preparing for Finals Webinars– Are you ready for Finals Week? ELI can help you prepare! This session will focus on topics and strategies to help ease anxiety and help you study smart such as: Early preparation, planning your approach and taking the exam.

Spring 2014 Calendar of events coming soon!

For more information on these and other activities and events through ELI, Visit our events page on our Virtual Student Union.

We hope to connect with you at future events!

Want to be notified by email about our upcoming events? Email elistulife@nvcc.edu for more information!

Are you interested in learning more about Student Life events happening with ELI? Click on the image (to the right) to visit our Virtual Student Union.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE ELI BULLETIN BOARD!

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