New Blogging Tutorial Now Available

eLIS is very excited to announce the launch of a new self-paced, online tutorial about blogging. Exploring Blogs as an Instructional & Scholarly Tool is available in the eLearning Faculty Resources Center, within in myLesley.

The tutorial was designed so that you can navigate through the content on your own - but we have also set up a Discussion Forum with multiple threads to start a conversation around using blogs in and out of the classroom. Feel free to start your own threads too as you think of them! The tutorial is brand new and we look forward to hearing what you think of it! Please email us if you have any questions or suggestions, or if you want to sit down with someone and set up a blog of your own!!!

If you are Lesley faculty, and have not joined our eLearning Resource Center, please send us an email today to sign up!

Elisabeth Gabriel, Rebecca Petersen & Kristen Bourgault

Resource of the Week - Lit2Go

Lit2Go is a free online collection of audiobooks by the University of South Florida. The audiobooks are designed for grades K-12 and are searchable by author, title, keyword, or reading level. Lit2Go features a variety of works from traditional folk tales to works by Beatrix Potter, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allen Poe, Jane Austen, and more.

The files are in Mp3 format and may be downloaded to play directly from the computer, burned to CD or loaded onto any Mp3 player or iPod. Each audiobook also features a printable version as well as reading activities.

Want to find more tools like this? Check out the eLIS Digital Resource Collection.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog to ensure that you get your Resource of the Week updates!

Resource of the Week - Aviary

Welcome to the first installment of Resource of the Week. Each week we will feature a different online software program, tool or resource geared towards K-12 or higher education.

This week, we would like to highlight Aviary.

Aviary is a suite of design tools including an image editor, effects editor, vector editor, image markup tool, and swatch editor. Each tool is cross-platform and works directly within a web browser. Comprehensive documentation and tutorials are available for each tool.

Users must register with the site in order to save their work. A basic subscription is free, allowing users to access all of the programs and many of the tutorials. A paid subscription is also available, allowing access to additional features. Both the free and paid subscription allows users to create, share, and collaborate with other users in the Aviary community of artists.

Want to find more tools like this? Check out the eLIS Digital Collection.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog (found to the right) to ensure you get your Resource of the Week updates!

eLIS Digital Resource Collection Is Now Available

We are excited to announce the launch of our new online Digital Resources Collection! This collection consists of 400+ online software, tools, and resources for both higher education and k-12 classrooms. You can search by subject matter, by tool types (Web 2.0, drawing, animation, etc.) as well as audience. The majority of the tools are free and immediately available for you to download to your computer or use through your web browser.

Every week we add more tools and resources to the collection. Beginning next week, this blog will feature a Resource of the Week posting on Wednesdays. Be sure to subscribe to our blog (found to the right) to ensure you get your Resource of the Week updates!

Who Can Use the Collection?
One of the great things is that the Digital Resources Collection (DRC) is available to anyone affiliated with Lesley and is open to the public too! Simply click on the link provided below to arrive at the site. We invite you to share the link to the collection with friends and colleagues.

Why Create a Digital Collection?
The DRC evolved from the previous Educational Software Preview Collection that was housed on the Cambridge, MA campus. Over the past couple of years the availability of quality online products and tools has grown dramatically, allowing us to share resources to our faculty and students who teach and learn in our off-campus and online programs. Additionally, many on-campus courses are becoming more reliant on online tools and resources making the creation of the DRC a natural step in the services eLIS provides. We are pleased to be able to share with Lesley students and faculty immediate access to a range of resources.

DRC Link:
At this point you might be saying: "Enough already. I get. Just give me that cool link!" Here it is:
http://www.lesley.edu/elis/elisdigitalcollection.html

Questions?
If you have any questions about content or resources you find in the DRC, or have a resource you would like to share with us, please email elisresources@lesley.edu.

Over the next couple of months we will continue to refine the DRC search terms, as well as add a submission form for individuals to share links for inclusion in the collection.

Happy browsing! Let us know what you think!

-Rebecca