c.o.d. library esl/abe/ged faculty newsletter april 2013
resource of the month
HippoCampus http://www.hippocampus.org
Quality, free online learning resources are not as scarce as they once were. In earlier newsletters, I’ve reviewed content from Khan Academy, Gooru and Open Culture as well as sites such as PBS, History Channel and others. The challenge now, isn’t finding the great educational content, but selecting and curating it. HippoCampus is just one tool that makes this job of using digital media easier for instructors. Like Gooru (review: Feb. 2013), HippoCampus specializes in helping you create collections of material to share with your students. Currently, HippoCampus offers content in four subject areas: Math, Natural Science, Social Science and Humanities.
library renovation The upper level renovation of the Library is nearing completion! In fact, movers will be bringing books and furniture into the new spaces starting later this month. We’re all very excited about the new General Collection stacks, offices, study rooms and classrooms which will be open to the public this summer. I am especially looking forward to meeting ESL, ABE and GED students in spaces where they can explore our print resources and get their hands on materials right away. While this past year of limited classroom space and restricted access to materials wasn’t as onerous as it could have been, there is no substitute for the library tours, orientations and activities we’ve been able to offer in the past. Although I do not normally send newsletters between the end of spring and start of fall semesters, you can look for an email update from me about classroom availability during the summer.
webinars for faculty You may be familiar with the Library’s SOS Workshop and Webinar series. These sessions, available on campus and online, have provided students, faculty, staff and community members with introductions to research strategies, orientations to new technology and explorations of important resources for years. As the series has expanded from face-to-face workshops to include synchronous online learning opportunities, we have also considered the possibility of offering sessions designed specifically for our teaching faculty. We hope to
The materials in these areas come from four primary resources: Khan Academy, the National Repository of Online Courses
roll out a variety of workshops and webinars on topics such as Creating Research Assignments and Preventing
(NROC), Physics Education Technology (PhET) and the NOAA Ocean Explorer collection. HippoCampus states their goal “is to provide high-quality, multimedia content on general education subjects to high school and college students free of charge.” Many Khan Academy tutorials (especially arithmetic) would be at an appropriate level for GED students, though some of the NROC and PhET may be too advanced for beginning English learners.
Plagiarism as well as providing attendees with resources and ideas to teach students the skills they need to complete research assignments. Are there any information literacy, research or library assignment topics you’d like to learn more about? Let me know! I would love to develop workshops and webinars that meet the needs of the ABE/GED and ESL faculty.
Visit HippoCampus and explore the options-- accounts are free and allow you to create shareable playlists of content from both HippoCampus and the web.
Found a resource you’d love to have in the Library? Request it for the collection!
Schedule a Library tour, orientation, activity or librarian visit for your class-- just contact Jenn
Visit the ESL and ABE/GED Research Guides for student and faculty resources
Jennifer Kelley, ESL/ABE/GED Librarian * kelleyj@cod.edu * BIC 2814E * 630.942.2383