Waffle Bytes

From the Michigan eLibrary: MeL’s EBSCO host e-books are downloadable in ePub or PDF format. The PDF version is a fixed layout of the print version of the book, and ePub allows the text to be adjusted easily for any device or screen size. With Adobe Digital Editions (freely downloadable from Adobe.com), e-books are mobile friendly. The ePub format also makes e-books compatible with adaptive technologies, including screen reading software. The table of contents in the e-books links directly to a specific chapter.  You can also read the e-book right in your web browser. The e-books can be organized and downloaded to Google Drive – or any other file storage. Passages can be highlighted, shared, notes added, emailed, and printed. For researchers and students, there is an automatic citation generator that can be used in conjunction with popular products like RefWorks, EndNote, or Zotero. For librarians and teachers, integrating these e-book features should be an essentia...

Michigan Electronic Library has a plethora of resources available to Michigan teachers to support your teaching and student learning.  I would suggest exploring the following: the variety of curriculum resources , categorized by subject area and other topics such as career & college ready skills, Makerspace,  and technology.   flyers to help you educate students on evaluating electronic resources professional development eResources

The Michigan Community Service Commission is providing volunteer project support to Michigan organizations as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service 2020. Note that projects engaging youth volunteers & financial literacy will be given preference.  All proposed events or activities must occur on or around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day beginning Friday January 17, 2020 through Friday January 24, 2020. Preference will be given to events that occur sometime during Friday, January 17th through Monday, January 20th. Awards valued at up to $1,000 are available from partners Michigan Nonprofit Association and Youth Service America and will be distributed based on the following scale: $1,000- Engage 300 or more youth volunteers $750- Engage 100 or more youth volunteers $500- Engage 50 or more volunteers $250- Engage at least 25 volunteers $100- Engage at least 10 volunteers All partners must provide $1 for $1 cash or in-kind match suppor...

Wanted : Michigan K-12 educators working in a classroom setting to participate in the #GoOpen Michigan/Collabrify opportunity. Learn about #GoOpen Michigan and Collabrify, then create instructional resources. Title : #GoOpen with OER Roadmaps Audience : K-12 Teachers and Staff that work in the classroom setting Content Areas : ALL When: October 19, 9am-2pm Where:  Ingham ISD - 2630 W Howell Rd, Mason, MI 48854 This training will be conducted by Elliot Soloway of the University of Michigan, and Gina Loveless of the Michigan Department of Education (and former REMC Director!).  There is a $200 stipend available for completion of the training, plus completion of two prerequisite EduPaths courses, Copyright in the Classroom and Introduction to Open Educational Resources (OER) .  Please read through  the flyer  for complete details and  share with all of your educational staff and colleagues . This is a time sensitive oppor...

A new school year brings new opportunities to dig into the content and tools in MeL's eResources. We know it can be a lot of work to roll out a new library resource to students, parents, teachers and school administrators. To help, a range of support resources are available from each of MeL's eResource providers. This month, we're reviewing EBSCO’s knowledge base, EBSCO Connect. With a collection of lesson plans, tutorials, student guides and more, you are sure to find what you need. The best part? They’re free! Here are the Top 5 student and teacher support resources available in EBSCO Connect:   Lesson Plans Are you supporting teachers in your community with library material connections to curriculum? Look for dozens of lesson plans for a variety of subjects. To support students and teachers in high school check out the information literacy lesson plan  Spotting Fake News and Images on the Web . Scavenger Hunts Explore features, discover research top...

The Michigan Department of Education has partnered with EduPaths, Michigan’s free online professional development portal for educators, and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe) to bring four online courses centered around student data privacy to Michigan Educators. The courses cover the necessary information all educators must know in order to keep student data safe in an increasingly digital learning environment, including educators’ legal requirements related to student data privacy. The iKeepSafe courses are 30 minutes each and self-paced, allowing educators to enroll and complete the courses at a convenient time and place. SCECHs are available for the courses at no cost through EduPaths. All Michigan educators can  create a free account on EduPaths  and access the courses at the links below: iKeepSafe Data Privacy in Education Course #1: Introduction to Data Privacy in Education iKeepSafe Data Privacy in Education Course #2: Reviewing EdTech Products f...

From the Michigan History Center -  Award-winning documentary film, The Sentence, returns to Lansing on Sunday, Mar. 3 Free screening and discussion at the Michigan History Center at 1 p.m. The Sentence  explores the devastating consequences of mass incarceration and mandatory minimum drug sentencing through the story of Cindy Shank, a mother of three young children serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for her tangential involvement in a Michigan drug ring years before. A lyrical, intimate story documented over 10 years by Cindy's younger brother, filmmaker Rudy Valdez,  The Sentence  follows Cindy’s struggles to be present in her children's lives from behind bars and her daughters' experiences growing up without their mother at home, while her husband, parents and siblings fight for her release before the last months of the Obama administration's Clemency Project. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Docume...

Check out these upcoming community science opportunities hosted by MI Birds partners across the state: From the Michigan Department of Natural Resources -  Another round of winter bird counts is on the horizon The Great Backyard Bird Count  (Feb. 15-18):  This four-day event, coordinated by Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, invites people all over the world to record their bird observations in their own backyards for at least 15 minutes. All ages and birding levels are welcome, and you can participate in any or all of the four days. Last year, over 190,000 people participated in this global bird count, and Michigan was among the top 10 participating states, with a total of 3,890 checklists submitted. Project FeederWatch  (various dates, November through April):  This winterlong community science project, organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, is much like the Christmas Bird Count. Here’s what you need to know if...

What: Map Michigan Contest! 2019 Who:  High School (grades 9-12) and Middle School (grades 4-8) students When:   Entry form due by March 22; submission deadline is May 15 Prizes:  10 - $100 prizes for each level Learn more at  https://bit.ly/2zsTv16ArcGIS  Synopsis From MDE Memo #172-18 : Details for the ArcGIS Online United States Competition 2019 in which students create and share maps about their home states are now available. "The competition is open to students in both middle and high school who can analyze, interpret, and present data via an ArcGIS online presentation, web application, or story map.  To participate, a school must complete an entry form by March 22, 2019. A school may submit up to five projects to the competition website.  Submissions must be received no later than May 15, 2019." Software is freely available for K-12 instructional use from Esri.  To learn more about how to access this free software go to http...

Supporting Michigan Libraries - November 15, 2018 From Liz Breed of MeL -  We're excited to offer AtoZdatabases, a new eResource in MeL. This powerful tool offers content useful for demographic profiles, business site location studies, traffic studies, proposal/grant writing, mapping a geographic area, conducting city or regional comparisons, research and development, and studying industry segments. Whether you currently offer support to your local business community or you're considering doing so in the future, AtoZdatabases can help enhance and build your efforts. Some of the most common questions small business owners ask can be fielded using AtoZdatabases. How do I find new customers to grow my business? Should I expand my business in this new geographic area? Where can I get a mailing list to promote my new service or products? How can I learn more about my community? I need to secure additional funding. Where can I find information abou...