Waffle Bytes

From the MeL Team: By now many have heard the good news that MeL carries   Consumer Reports (part of MasterFILE complete) . This well-loved resource is available on the eResources page under Popular eResources as well as in the alphabetical listing. You can also reach it by going into MasterFILE. Our subscription is the complete version of the magazine, includes the annual buying guide, and is not embargoed. The experience available via MeL.org is NOT the subscription interface known as ConsumerReports.org that many Michigan libraries pay for, and are accustomed to. Our interface offers a basic, browse-only environment with a link to a searchable version of the complete magazine.  We do have plans to develop a more visual interface, with a built-in search feature, to improve the delivery of the Consumer Reports magazine content. Look for it in upcoming months. For those who may not be familiar, the ConsumerReports.org subscription provides richer information, and ...

   From REMC & Discovery Education -  REMC 12E Educators - check out that 2 of the sessions are right next door, Jan 31 in Kalamazoo, and Feb 20 in Jackson!! Learn what’s new with Discovery Education, including reading passages, lesson plans, digital interactives, virtual field trips, instructional strategies, VR, and more to share the world with your students and teachers.   Rediscover the resources, strategies, and tools that help take your students anywhere – from the cities of China to the pen of a playwright. Whatever the topic, Discovery Education Streaming is the central hub for student engagement and achievement. The Discovery Education Experience (DEXP) is a one-day no-cost experience for educators to immerse themselves in all things DE. The target audience is inclusive of ALL educators (teachers, principals, curriculum, instructional technologists, and many more). Together, all will explore and learn about the resources Discovery Education ha...

Nudges are a feature that utilize the AI to tag messages that may need action - either by you or by the person you sent it to.  Some people find it a bit creepy; others see it as an invasion of privacy (it's reading your email to know if it needs to nudge you).  It is an easy feature to turn on and/or off. If you are a person that keeps a lot of email in your Inbox, however, it may be worth trying it out to not miss some that need a reply... To turn nudges on or off, go to the email settings: There are 2 options for nudges - reminders if you may have missed something, or reminders if someone hasn't replied: If you have it turned on, emails the AI has tagged as needing a reply will be appended with a message that tells you when it was received, and asking if you want to Reply.  It will also be moved up into the Unread section if you have your inbox divided: If you have it turned on, emails the AI has tagged as sent by you and requesting a response will ...

You can now "snooze" your email out of your inbox.  This is convenient for when you want to "assign" a date or time to deal with the email other than the current moment, and do not want it cluttering up your inbox. Using the snooze features is pretty easy to do  - The clock icon is where you go to snooze an email.  It is found several places: at the top when reading an email  at the top of the list when one or more email are selected (checked on the left side) in the hover menu (if you have that turned on) by using the keystroke shortcut When you click the clock icon (or use the shortcut), you get the following options to pop-up in choosing when the email should return to your inbox: If you choose "Pick date & time" a calendar will appear so you can pick a different day and/or time: When a snoozed email hits that date/time, it will reappear in your inbox, along with a message on the right side of it indicating how long ago...

From MACUL - this opportunity is open to MACUL members: According to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics, in 2018 the U.S. is expected to produce only 29% of the required number of graduates to fill the 1.4 million U.S. computer specialty job openings that are forecast. Future jobs outside of computer science are also going to require computational and problem-solving skills that are developed when kids learn to code. That’s why we’re excited to partner with  Wonder Workshop  to bring their  Teach Wonder Professional Learning Program  to MACUL members at a deep discount. (SCECHs are pending.) To take advantage of our program pricing you must first: Fill out the redemption code form, Choose which course, Then register with the code you received. Request your Redemption Code Now    Teach Wonder now offers two 12-hour online courses to support teachers as they integrate coding and robotics skills into everyday teaching and lear...

The seventh  Google Science Fair  challenges students ages 13 to 18 to submit science projects that explore unanswered questions or tackle scientific hurdles that have yet to be overcome by December 12, 2018. Check out the website for lots of ideas, how to get involved, and to learn about cool prizes!

From the MeL Team: Britannica School has been available in MeL for several years and now additional access is available with  Britannica School Insights , a free Chrome browser extension. Support information literacy skill development and ensure your students can bring a trusted research companion along with them on their Web searches. Best suited for middle and high school students, Britannica School Insights brings fact-checked Britannica School content to the top of search engine results. When Britannica School has highly relevant results, the results will populate in the top right corner of your search page. Additional benefits include: Supporting digital literacy skills development by surfacing trusted resources in parallel with regular Web search results. Maximizing Britannica School usage with a free extension that supports student research. Surfacing unique relationships – like related events and people – and uncommon insights – like related topics and unknown...