Star Wars Event and Letter Writing

Star Wars Event

On Wednesday, the LRC hosted a Star Wars themed event in the Enterprise lounge involving activities facilitated by different departments in the College. Inclusive learning students performed the Imperial March on boomwhackers and created Star Wars figures out of saltdough. Make-up students offered hand tattoos of Star Wars characters and other artists displayed their Star Wars-inspired artwork as well as creating Star Wars Christmas tree baubles (which will be displayed on the LRC Christmas tree). The LRC tombola together with sales from cookies made by hospitality students raised over £119 for the Book Trust so thank you to everyone who contributed.

See below for some photos from the event.

Yoda maze activity
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Science department's Chemist Tree!
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Animal care guinea pigs dressed up as Porgs for the event.
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Darth Vader mannequin (for selfies).
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Christmas is coming and Letter Writing (to Santa or otherwise)

It's nearly Christmas and traditionally it's a time for writing letters although most of our customers probably consider themselves far too old/ mature to write to Santa. However, you may need to write a "thank you" letter for a gift you've received (always a good idea and will mean a lot to the person who receives it - especially as letters are so rare nowadays).

Letter writing, even in this age of emailing, texting and direct messaging, is a skill you are likely to need in the workplace. You may need to write a formal letter arranging a meeting with a member of your staff or to thank a visiting speaker. When sending a CV to a company, it can make all the difference if you write a covering letter. See below for links to resources which help you learn to write a good letter. 

For covering letters see https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters  or the National Careers Service website. The ARU website has an example in their CV guidance pack.

To learn how to write different sorts of letters, take a look at the SkillsYouNeed website - a great site for help with all sorts of life skills such as interpersonal skills, writing skills, learning skills.

Why not give it a go this Christmas and make someone's day by sending them a "thank you" letter if you receive a gift. If you are applying for work, remember to write a covering letter with your CV making sure it is tailored to the job. 

Learning activities for the lead up to our Star Wars event

Star Wars - The Last Jedi

The new Star Wars film is out next week and the Learning Resource Centre is putting on a Star Wars themed event in the Enterprise Lounge between 1.30 and 3pm. Different curriculum areas will be providing activities including a Yoda maze, a make up stall, quizzes, crafts and the Imperial March on Boomwhackers! We hope you can be there.

Darth Chester
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Online Star Wars-themed learning activities

In the run up to the event or even afterwards, we thought you might enjoy some of these activities which help with English and other skills or are just a bit of fun to do.

• Download a Star Wars Apostrophes worksheet on the TES website here. There are also other Star Wars themed activities here which may be useful where they aren't aimed at too young an audience. 
• Learn how to draw R2D2 on the Andertoons website (beginner). Tescos also have a link to the official Lucas drawing instructions which look a bit more complicated.
• The English Caddy website has a whole lot of ideas for Star Wars English language activities (they seem to be aimed at learners of English as a second language but could still help anyone brushing up on their English). However, I am unsure of the authority of this site. The Correct Yoda activity could be useful as a grammar exercise and there are other ideas including a critical thinking activity mainly around a scenario from the Force Awakens film.
• The BBC have created a What Star Wars character are you? quiz - aimed at children, but when it comes to Star Wars, age doesn't seem to matter!
• For those of you more musically minded, try watching this parody by the Piano Guys called Cello Wars: the Phantom Cellist

Hopefully we can report back in next week's blog on how the event went.

Live streaming and Fake News 

Meanwhile in the news this week, attention has been drawn to the risks of streaming apps. Go the thinkuknow website for more information. This website also has videos to help explain online safety to young people with learning difficulties.
The BBC have also announced that they are so concerned about fake news that they are launching a service to help children understand what is true and what is fake. IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) have a poster available for download on their website in different languages and we have some of these displayed in the LRC.

Evaluating information - celebrity endorsements and advertising

Evaluating information

In the LRC we are always keen to encourage students (and staff) to be careful when using the internet for finding information. We want everyone to look critically at the information they find before deciding whether it can be used as a source for an assignment.

Advertising and celebrity endorsements

Be aware of websites - especially company websites - which are selling something. If hairdressing and beauty students are looking for information on the human skin, for example, they may find plenty of websites from companies selling skin products which also have pages explaining how the skin works. Much of this information may be correct and they may have consulted with dermatologists but they will probably have paid them to give information that helps sell their product (and perhaps leave out other information), for example. We would recommend using our Primal anatomy online resource, for example, as an alternative.

With the royal engagement this week, some magazines are talking about Meghan Markle the brand and what products she uses. Companies search for high profile people to say they use their products as this can make a lot of difference. Do you look at a celebrity social media account, for example, and decide a product must be good if favourite celebrity uses it?This is called influencer marketing and can be very subtle. Companies can even dress adverts up as news stories. See the South Park video below for a humorous take on this.

 However, Celebrity endorsements do not mean that the products are necessarily the best and the Advertising Standards Authority have ruled that it is now illegal for a celebrity to endorse a product without indicating this in any posts they make on social media.

Listen to a BBC podcast here about why you cannot always trust adverts online.

How do I know if what I read online is an advert?

All celebrity social media accounts (twitter, vlogs, blogs etc) must now by law indicate whether any content is a result of a commercial relationship - i.e. the celebrity is being paid to endorse a product by the company which makes it (i.e. there is a commercial relationship). You will also notice that Google indicates where it's results (usually first in the list) are adverts - so you know they have been paid to put these results first rather than that they are necessarily most relevant to your search. So, think twice where there is #ad  or #adfeature in an online post or website and avoid using the content in an assignment. Smilarly you might also notice the phrases "sponsored content" or "ad or promotion". Avoid this content and instead look for information from recognised organisations (charities, government departments, authorities, associations) or academic institutions. Look for the About link to find out about the organisation/ person behind the website.

The Advertising Standards Authority have more information on this on their website.
Have a look at their advice on identifying when something is an advert.
If you are a marketing student, you may like to read about the Oreo lick race case which led to this standard being introduced or even better read the article through our Infotrac resource.

Info Trac - online newspaper articles and journals

Online newspaper and journal database

This week, we've been going in to some Journalism groups down at MJC to explain Harvard referencing but also to show them how to access the electronic resources which are made available to PRC students by the Learning Resource Centre. When you use these, you know you are using quality resources which when used in your assignments can get you extra marks.

Newspaper articles are great for finding examples to illustrate points in your assignments (or crimes, accidents, new buildings, events etc.). Journals articles are generally short informative pieces often about a more detailed aspect of a topic.

One particular resource which is useful for all students is InfoTrac - a database of newspaper and journals database.
Have you noticed that a lot of newspaper websites are now restricting the number of articles you can view or they cut off the article half way through with an advert encouraging you to subscribe? Have you looked for journal articles and found that the site wants payment?

If you use InfoTrac, you will not have to pay for access, you just need to follow the link from the electronic resources page on Moodle (under the Learning Resource Centre tab) and if asked (outside PRC), choose Shibboleth access, then Peterborough Regional College and input your network login and password.

There are a range of video tutorials to help you. See the video tutorial below for a basic guide to searching for journal articles (our database includes newspaper articles and these can be searched with the journals or separately in the same way).

More tutorials are found here.

If you are a student at UCP, you have access to a number of journal databases similar to this. The ARU digital library gives you access to Academic OneFile which you use in much the same way as the PRC database (and you have access to both).

Keywords and Topic Finder

Searching for information digitally or in books relies on you first thinking of different keywords which the authors may have used related to your topic. InfoTrac has a really useful feature to help you with this called Topic Finder. It  finds other topics related to your search and displays them in tile or wheel format. You can then click on any tile or segment to see results from the database. When we've shown this to students in sessions, they have been impressed. See the video below and then have a go.

If you want any more information or help in using newspapers and journals in your work or searching for information, please do ask in the Learning Resource Centre. We can also do demonstrations or sessions in classes or with groups if requested.

Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green event

Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Be Green

Yesterday was the College's annual Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Be Green event and the LRC had a stall at this. We enjoyed talking to students who came to our table and asked them what their prescription for a healthier life would be. Here are some of the suggestions:

Stay healthy

Love yourself

Love life

Be positive

Enthusiasm

Physical exercise (football)

Eat healthy food

Drink water

Stop smoking

Eat less fast food!!!

Smile and have fun

Always make the most of everything

Friendship

Read more

Less stress, less worry!

Eating better!

No drugs

Work hard, relax, exercise

Eat fruit and vegetables - 5 a day.

Student prescriptions for a healthier life
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

National Wellbeing Statistics

Statistics are useful sources of information and the Office of National Statistics website is a good place to start for all sorts of UK statistics (crime, population, employment etc.). Each year they report on the nation's wellbeing. Follow the link to read the latest report which covers happiness, life satisfaction and anxiety levels.

If you want to take your own Happiness Survey the Oxford happiness survey is available to print here  or you can take it online.

At the Be Healthy Stay Safe event, LRC staff enjoyed meeting Wendy, the College's new Counsellor. If you need someone to talk to, you can contact her and she will help you. In the LRC we have a collection of Reading Well Books on Prescription which GPs have recommended (set up by the Reading Agency) including some especially for young people. Books cover topics such as overcoming anxiety, overcoming depression, self esteem, stress and OCD. We also have a number of the mood-boosting books which are feel-good, uplifting fiction reads.

Anti-bullying Week

Finally, this week has also been Anti-bullying week and we had our own display with socks coloured in by students (as recommended by the national campaign).

Anti-bullying Week display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Box of Broadcasts - trial

Box of Broadcasts - trial

During November (until 6th December 2017) the College (through the LRC) is trialing a subscription to Box of Broadcasts (in College only). Those of you who are students or staff at ARU will possibly already be aware of this resource as they provide access to this.

BOB allows you to search for broadcast television programmes dating back to the 1990s and then view them (legally). This includes some foreign language channels.

• You can request future programmes (up to 10 a day) and watch currently available broadcasts.
• You can create your own playlists.
• You can create your own clips (see our Dave Gorman clip about the pitfalls of using Wikipedia as a resource on our Moodle 24/7 page.)
• You can view programme transcripts and subtitles
• You can embed programmes and clips in to a PowerPoint presentation or website (for as long as the College subscribes to this resource).

BOB also includes the BBC Shakespeare Archive content dating back to the 1950s.

To use the trial, please go to the link on the LRC 24/7 page on Moodle. Please follow the instructions there for logging in and setting up an account.

Search for a programme and filter by whether it is available now or TV only, for example.

At the bottom of the screen, you will find a link to Help which takes you to short videos to help you learn how to use BOB.

We will be checking usage at the end of the trial to see if it is worth us paying the money to subscribe to this. Please let us know how you find it and any comments - either as a student or lecturer.

Photo https://pixabay.com/en/video-camera-video-shooting-video-1197571/
CÇO

TV Programmes as academic resources

They are great primary source material for media and journalism students - for techniques and examples of how different issues are shown in the media at different times or how society views them. These can be analysed and evaluated.

If you are interested in scripts and language (as part of performing arts, perhaps), you can study the language used in soaps, dramas, news bulletins etc. by reading the transcripts and seeing how they are delivered.

TV documentaries often give a good short introduction to a subject especially where the subject is too new to be in a book or journal article  (e.g. Panorama did a one hour programme on the Paradise Papers).

If you are a visual learner, TV programmes may help you learn alongside books and other print resources - but check currency as facts may have changed since the programme was broadcast.

These programmes may show fashion and hairstyles at a particular time and can be used for inspiration for hair and beauty students. (Strictly It Takes Two currently broadcast slots each week from the make up and hair teams who work on the show).

TV programmes can be used as inspiration for media students to create something similar themselves as part of their course.

Cookery programmes may be a source useful to trainee chefs for recipes and presentation ideas.

And the list goes on......

Finally...

Remember - if you use a television programme as a source for your assignment, you should reference it - just as you would any other resource.

Book Boxes

Book Boxes

Did you know that the LRC can put together a book box for tutors/lecturers to use in their lessons?

Ideally we like a week's notice of the topic (but we can do this quicker) and we do need to be sure that we have stock on the particular subject.

Please contact the LRC in person, by phone or email and let us know the topic, when you need it and how many students there are in the group. We will have the box ready for you to collect before your lesson and then you can return it at the end. We can also suggest other resources such as e-books. If you would like a librarian to come to your class and do an activity with your group using the box, then we can help with this also.

Pile of 5 books
https://www.pexels.com/photo/pile-of-five-books-51342/

5 things to do with a book box

1) Introduce books as a way to research

    a) Give each student a book and ask them to find a topic

    b) After 5 minutes ask students to then say how they found the information.

    c) Talk about the index and the contents pages. (Tip: go to the sections where there are the most 

        pages first before the individual pages e.g. 33-37).

    d) Discuss other ways students can know whether a book is useful for their research

        i.e. blurb on the back, author, how old it is, which country it's published in

2) Use a box of books to practice Harvard Referencing

    a) Ask students to use the plagiarism and referencing blended learning activity on the LRC 24/7             page to learn about how to reference.

    b) Then give out books and ask students to reference them either in teams or individually.

3) Use the box of books to help introduce a topic by asking the students to research it themselves

     a) Set some questions

     b) Ask students to research the answers using the books from the box (with or instead of   

         websites) either individually or as teams.

4) Use the books to inspire students when they are choosing what to do for an assignment. e.g. an art  

     assignment/ project or make up/ hair activity.

    (One of our most challenging book boxes was for an art assignment on "Containment". We had to

      find images which portrayed the idea of being contained, imprisoned, caged etc.).   

5) Use a box of fiction to encourage students to look at books to read for pleasure or to introduce 

     them to poetry. One lecturer who worked at the college in the past read with/to his students in
     their tutorials!

    

LRC Halloween book display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Dissertation Research

Dissertations

FE students are on catch up week (half term) this week but UCP students still have lectures and the LRC stays open for all students and staff who want to use us.

Over the past few weeks, LRC librarians have been in to a number of tutorials at UCP to talk to students about finding information for their dissertations. Here are a few tips from the LRC team for getting started:

Getting started on your literature review/ dissertation research

Choose a topic that you are interested in - you will be living with it for a long time.

If you know a broad area you are interested in, you might find it useful to look in a journal dedicated to the subject (if there is one) and have a look through recent contents lists for issues that are currently topical.

You need to find a subject with enough literature, but not so much that you get too many results and your research becomes unmanageable. Even if you are doing primary research, you will need to find enough literature to show the context in which your research fits.

You can refine your subject by focusing on a particular age range (e.g. teenagers, the elderly), country or area (e.g UK) or a particular time period (since 2000), for example.

Before you start searching

Plan your search terms - list synonyms (words that mean the same), acronyms (and what they stand for), wider concepts (things that affect/ are affected by your topic), narrower subjects (specifics), different forms of a word (woman, women).

Set up a system to record everything you find which is useful -why not decide to write a Harvard reference for each source you find as you go along so that it isn't a massive task at the end. Note key page numbers too so you can find sources again.

Laptop image from www.pixabay.com (Stocksnap) CC0

Searching for information

Combine the different terms you listed in your planning in different combinations and search the ARU Digital library and the PRC LRC catalogue on Moodle.  (You can also use Google Scholar if you prefer but you won't find links to the PRC catalogue on there and you need to log in to the ARU Digital Library first to view anything, anyway. Note down other keywords and phrases that you find authors have used as you discover them and integrate them in to your searches. There is always likely to be some trial and error involved and different search terms will yield different results.

Books are a good starting point to familiarise yourself with a topic. Use the bibliographies in these to find other authors and sources which might be useful (note them down as you find them).

For success in your dissertation, you want to be using a range of different, yet appropriate, resources. Have you tried searching for theses or conference proceedings, for example? How about open access databases or  websites of accredited organisations?

Get a quick idea of whether a resource is relevant by reading the abstract.

Be disciplined - it is easy to go off on a tangent - keep to your topic. Only reassess what you are searching for if you are getting too few or too many results.

Asking for help

Remember that the librarians in the LRC at PRC are here to help you if you are having problems finding what you need or indeed if you are justlooking for some other places to explore. We can also suggest ways to put searches together to retrieve the most relevant results. We can help you quickly there and then or set up a 1:1 appointment for a more in depth session.

National Map Reading Week and Digimap

National Map Reading Week

This week is National Map Reading Week and organisations like the Ordnance Survey are using this to publicise and highlight the importance of having skills like being able to use a compass, plotting a map reference and using the right type of map for different activities.

• The latest research suggests the average British person ends up going the wrong way, or getting lost, 24 times a year.
• Mountain Rescue England and Wales call outs were up 170 in 2016 on the previous year and of the 1812 call outs, 360 were serious or fatal.

Given that we live in the age of the Sat Nav and smartphone, is it still necessary to know how to use a map? The statistics above suggest it is.

Being able to read a map and plan a route is still an invaluable life skill and maps can give us a lot of information. For example, a map will help you visually plan your route and see where you are in relation to other places. It can give you an idea of distance or how a hill is as well as what features are found in different areas.You do not need a battery, a mobile/ satellite signal or the ability to hear.

Sometimes a map or diagram is the best way to present information so directions can be understood easily.

Imagine explaining to someone new how to get from the Learning Resource Centre to Parcs Restaurant. Perhaps the best solution would be to take them there yourself. 

However, the alternative would be to explain to them that they need to turn left out of the LRC, past the Apprenticeship Centre, then turn left, follow the corridor round past the Enterprise lounge until they get to Alexandra Foyer when they need to go past the entrance gate and take the corridor to the left of the Pantry and follow this down to Parcs!

Or… you could draw a map!

Resources for learning map reading skills

For the beginner, Ordnance Survey provides a range of guides and videos to show you how to read maps. For example, understanding contours so you know whether you will be walking up a steep hill or not.

See below for Steve Backshall's short video guide to taking a 4 digit map reference.

Ordnance Survey have also devised a short quiz for you to test your map reading skills. Have a go!

Digimap

The Learning Resource Centre subscribes to Digimap which is an online service giving access to Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain. Students and staff can access it from the Electronic Resources Page under the Learning Resource Centre tab on Moodle. It is only accessible in College. Students and staff can save and/or print out their A4 maps.

The great thing about it is that you can search by postcode or place and then once you have centred your map, you can annotate it with shapes, labels, photos as well as measure distances. You might want to add starting points, places to camp, places to stop for lunch based on how long a walk is. Will you have to cross a river? Will you walk through woodland? Will there be steep hills? Will you pass through any villages? 

Public Services students have used this when planning for their week away walking the Pennine Way in the past.

Libraries Week

Libraries Week

PRC Learning Resource Centre Facts

This is week is the first ever Libraries Week and so this We hope you will forgive us this slightly self-indulgent blog post. We are using it to promote what we do for students at PRC and UCP and the difference we can make (not that we can be complacent - we always aim to improve!).  During the week we have been tweeting (@lrc_prc) a number of facts about the LRC throughout the week. Here are some statistics for you.

• At PRC we had 14,000 visits to the Learning Resource Centre in September this year.

Last academic year

• we had 118,342 visits between September 2016 and April 2017. March 2017 was the busiest month with 21,966 visits.  
• we had over 8000 visits to our Moodle pages.
• there were over 10,000 search sessions on our electronic databases. (Apart from e-books, Childlink is our most-used database).
• of these, over 3600 were for access to e-books.
• we loaned out laptops over 6500 times 

So what does the Learning Resource Centre at PRC do? (This is not an exhaustive list)

We help students (and staff) learn by

• providing an environment and equipment for independent learning
• help students find resources for their assignments/ courses.
• purchasing print resources to help students research and learn including books and a number of magazine subscriptions.
• delivering training sessions and activities to give students the skills to research and find information
• providing blended learning activities or training on Harvard Referencing
• helping students navigate the internet and promote e-safety.
• purchasing and set up access to quality electronic resources (including authentification in and outside college)
• providing and administering a computer system which manages the loan of books, fines, overdue letters and notifications  and includes providing a catalogue of everything available so it is searchable.
• promoting literacy and reading to help improve language and vocabulary as well as for pleasure/ wellbeing and as a way to relax and unwind (e.g. our Loyalty scheme)
• helping with queries around using the PCs.

Library quotes

The author Neil Gaiman has said "Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one". See the video below.

Stephen Fry has said "Libraries are where minds flourish and grow. They are like a kind of water supply".

See  #librariesweek on Twitter for more quotes, events and a general celebration of libraries. You may be surprised what goes on in a library and what librarians do! See the video below to see what one group of American librarians did to promote their library catalogue (and no we won't be doing anything similar!)

LRC Grand Opening and Student Feedback on new LRC

LRC Grand Opening and Student Feedback

On Monday we hosted the official opening of the newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre. We were privileged to be joined by Fiona Onasanya, MP for Peterborough, who cut the ribbon for us and local author, Eva Jordan.

Eva Jordan, Terry Jones (PRC Principal) Louise Auckland (LRC Manager) and Fiona Onasanya
at the official opening of the newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre.
Photograph used with permission of Peterborough Telegraph

Fiona Onasanya was given a tour of the centre and Eva Jordan signed copies of 183 Times a Year, a teenage novel about relationships between mothers and daughters.

Eva Jordan signing copies of her book
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Thank you to PRC hospitality students who provided a super buffet for everyone who attended. You did a splendid job!

Student feedback on the new LRC (and other issues!)

We used Thinglink to create this image from our comments board to put on our Moodle pages. Roll your mouse over the information hotspots to see our responses.

Poetry and Puffins - LRC celebrates National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day

The Learning Resource Centre is celebrating National Poetry Day by holding a poetry competition. We have been encouraging students and staff to try writing Twitter poems – i.e. a poem that is no longer than the length of a text or tweet. Ironically, Twitter announced this week that they are piloting increasing their character limit to 280. A poem which is exactly 140 characters is known as a “twoosh”.

You can search for these mini poems by using a range of different keywords such as Twihaiku or micropoetry or the phrase "twitter poe*". (Putting "" marks round the two words keeps the words together as a phrase and the * allows for poet, poetry, poem and poems in your search).

 You can also search for these mini poems on Twitter using the keywords above as a hashtag (i.e. #micropoetry).

Poems

It has been said that Brian Bilston is the Banksy of the poetry world. Have a look here at some of his Twittle poems (as he calls them).

https://brianbilston.com/category/twittle-poems/

A couple of other short poems of his you may want to read in an odd spare moment are

You took the last bus home
No you cannot borrow my mobile phone charger 

Chester exploring the National Poetry Day display in the LRC
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

Puffin news 

Finally, for those of you wondering what name has been given to the LRC mascot – it is Chester. There was a lot of discussion about whether the name should begin with P but in the end Chester had the most votes.

As it is National Poetry Day we close with an attempt at our own Twitter poem as we felt we shouldn't expect of others what we wouldn't try ourselves. We are sure your poems will be much better.

 There’s a puffin

Doing nothing

In the LRC

At PRC

There is nothing

Like that puffin

In the LRC

At PRC

Ok……..we won’t give up the day job!

Learning Resource Centre welcomes students at Freshers' Fair

LRC stand at Freshers' Fair

This week the Learning Resource Centre staff were at the College Freshers Fair with their stand welcoming new students with information, quizzes and freebies. It was great to meet everyone and to welcome them to the College.

Student at LRC stand at Freshers' Fair
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

2 students at LRC stand at Freshers' Fair
Photograph: Peterborough Regional College

Thanks to the generosity of some of our electronic resources suppliers, we were able to give out some headphones, notebooks, pencils and some students were also able to choose their own Quick Read book. (These are also available to loan from the LRC).

We produced a Fictional World Quiz matching fictional worlds with book covers and particularly popular was our Name the Puffin competition. The puffin is our new LRC mascot (as chosen by an Inclusive Learning student last year) and below we've managed to photograph him/her taking a book out at the counter (usually puffins are very shy birds!). We'll let everyone know the chosen name on Twitter as soon as we've checked the entries.

LRC's puffin mascot taking a book out in the LRC!

We have UCP Freshers next week and again we look forward to meeting many of the new degree students then. We are already booked in for quite a lot of inductions over at UCP with LRC tours too so we will be kept busy over the next few weeks, but if you have any questions about how things work in the LRC, see our Moodle pages or come in and talk to us.

Welcome (back) to College and the newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre

New Learning Resource Centre

Welcome (back) to College and to the new Learning Resource Centre (LRC). We have a new name (Learning Resource Centre) and therefore we have changed the URL for this blog too so if anyone bookmarked this last year, you will need to change it.

Having spent the last 3 months operating from 2 classrooms, we have now moved back into the newly refurbished space and groups of students have been visiting us for tours and to carry out tasks set by their tutors. We have also created a Kahoot quiz activity for students to do in class (all details for tutors are on the tutorial pages) which will introduce the basics of using the LRC and the resources we offer. If you want details or have any problems accessing this, please ask someone in the LRC.

 Before /during the refurbishment
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

After the refurbishment
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Below is a walk-through video from the College's YouTube channel so you can get an idea of what the new LRC looks like.

The LRC team looks forward to welcoming students and staff to the new space. If you have any queries about using it, then please ask one of us for help.

Blended learning and the flipped classroom

Blended learning and the flipped classroom

Library information skills sessions

The library staff often go into different classes and lessons to help introduce different information and research skills to students. At the end we ask everyone to fill in a feedback questionnaire. Overall the responses are positive with a majority saying they feel more confident in researching after the session. When we ask them to say how the session might be improved we sometimes get a suggestion about making them “more interactive”.

Our sessions are very hands-on and involve various activities and discussions, but these comments have led us to start thinking about how we might develop more blended learning activities to improve how we introduce information literacy skills. 

So what is blended learning and what is meant by the flipped classroom?

Jisc defines blended learning as providing “a combination of face-to-face learning and dynamic digital content that facilitates anytime/anyplace learning”.

For more information see - https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/creating-blended-learning-content.

The flipped classroom or flipped learning is part of this approach. Jisc quotes Educause  - "The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements are reversed” 

The Higher Education Academy has a page about this at https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/starter-tools/flipped-learning-0 with the following 1 minute explanatory video:  Flipping your Class: What is a Flipped Class?  from Texas' Learning Sciences. 

Some of you may also find the Digital Technologies Network website  interesting  for some practical resources and ideas.

Library induction on Kahoot

So, next year we hope to offer a library induction on Kahoot for teachers to use in the classroom which will help free up library staff to deliver more in- depth sessions on our electronic resources, for example. Please contact library staff if you have queries about this and want to know how to use this with your groups. 

We have also already created a Harvard Referencing and Plagiarism  blended learning package with accompanying quizzes so tutors can check knowledge. Find it on our 24/7 page. This can be used instead of or in addition to a librarian-led session - lecturers have the choice and know what works best for their groups.

This is the last blog post of the academic year. When we publish our next post, we should be back in our newly refurbished space and we will be known as the  Learning Resource Centre (or LRC for short). For those of you here next year, do come in and use us and enjoy the new surroundings. 

Procrastination

Procrastination

It’s nearly the end of the academic year and we’ve noticed there are still lots of students finishing off their work – especially in the library.

Perhaps you are a student who always seems to leave their work to the last minute or are you a lecturer who puts off doing their marking? Perhaps you put off doing the cleaning or tidying at home. Most of us procrastinate.

This can be down to 2 things
1) Procrastination
2) Poor time management

Photo by Kalyan Kanuri. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalyan/3184149164

Even the best time management skills (such as planning) can fail to have the required results if we don’t actually get on with what is needed, so what is procrastination?

What is procrastination?

For those of you who don’t know this word, procrastination often involves

· Delaying what needs to be done

· Putting off something that you don’t like or find boring

· Being easily distracted by other things (e.g. Facebook!)

· Finding something easier to do instead

· Falling behind and not achieving what needs doing

You may identify with Tim Urban in his humorous TED talk below

Tips for avoiding procrastination

In Psychology Today, Elizabeth Lombardo Ph.D, gives 11 tips for avoiding procrastination

To summarise, paraphrase and apply this:

• Don’t make a huge deal out of having to do your work (manage those emotions)
• Think about the long term results (ie qualification, better job, better mark) rather than trying to feel better in the short-term
• Plan your work (but not to the extent you have no time to do it!)
• Give yourself plenty of time to achieve what you need to do –be realistic and don't leave it too late.
• Break the piece of work up into smaller chunks
• Stop making excuses
• Find someone who will check up on you and make you accountable
• Think about your environment. Turn off your phone, email, Facebook, internet and other distractions
• Reward yourself when you complete stages and/or the whole of your work
• If you get distracted, don't beat yourself up about it and just get on with your work again
• Avoid perfectionism. Aim for better and your best rather than perfect.

As Martin Luther King Junior said " You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step"

How to keep up to date with new developments in your area of work

Impress at job interviews and keep up to date

Lots of students are now leaving college and applying for jobs. Many will be working in a particular sector such as hairdressing, construction, fire service, nursing or child care.

New developments are being made and affect the workplace all the time e.g.

• ·         new legislation or guidelines passed (e.g. health and safety)
• ·         new initiatives being piloted,
• ·         new problems being tackled
• ·         new people with new ideas.

 Hairstyles change, new research comes out in helping children’s development, new fashions in cooking and hospitality, and new materials and techniques in building homes and structures, for example.

Keeping up to date with professional Periodicals/ Journals

In the library (due to the refit they are currently in Room 121 and then sent out to departments) we have a range of professional periodicals which are one way of keeping up to date in your field. If you want to have the edge in a job interview, why not read up on what the latest issues are so you can mention these and show that you take an interest in the work you will be doing.

Some titles we currently hold are:

Building
Caterer
FE Week
Fire (I expect a lot will be written about the Grenfell Tower fire in forthcoming issues)
Hairdressers Journal
Highways (previously Surveyor)
Leisure Management & Health Club Management
Make Up Artist Magazine
Marketing Week
Navy News
Nursery World (with archive online)
Nursing Times
Professional Beauty
RAF News
TES
THE
Travel Weekly

Library Periodicals. Photograph by Peterborough Regional College

Some other ways to keep up to date and keep learning in your chosen profession/ job

Websites of professional bodies (organisations which represent a profession) – e.g Hair Council, ABTA, Institution of Civil Engineers. It is probably best to concentrate on those based in the UK as legislation and practice may be different in other countries such as the US.

Websites of professional journals (see above) – these will give a summary even if you don’t subscribe. Building magazine is already discussing the construction materials used in Grenfell Tower as is Fire magazine.

Social media accounts – e.g, the nursing and midwifery council has a twitter account@nmcnews, the Royal Navy has a Facebook account. You need to make sure you have the official accounts (look for the tick) and that new content is being regularly added. Well known professionals in your field may also write a blog eg Sarah Jagger (Make up artist).

Email lists and RSS feeds. You can subscribe to news feeds so new information about subjects in which you have an interest are sent to your email account. You can often choose to get a weekly digest so that you don't get too many emails.

Library Closure

Library Closure

Earlier this week, we moved out and all the books were packed up and put into storage because the library is having a refit! We have moved to a new temporary location and there will be limited space and computers for you to do your work.

Where will we be? 

Room 75 for book returns, 4 student PCs & study tables, library/book enquiries. Opening hours remain unchanged.

Room 121 - this will be the PC Centre from 8.45-4.30pm everyday until the end of term.

Both rooms will be manned by library staff and are for students to complete their work only as space is limited. 

What about the books?

These are in storage and are not readily available. However, if you need a book for your work, take a look on the library catalogue (via the library 24/7 page on Moodle) and if it says it is available, come and speak to us and we will let you know if we can get it for you. If we can we will need 48 hours. Remember you have access to e-books and other electronic information resources - also from our Moodle pages. If you need specific information, please come and speak to us as we may be able to find what you are looking for somewhere else.

Public domain photo by Hermann Traub
https://pixabay.com/en/books-education-school-literature-441866/

Can I use a computer?

There will be 4 PCs and some laptops available in Room 75. Room 121 has 20 computers. There may be some time slots when it will not be possible to open Room 121.

Can I still buy stationery?

 No, sorry. We will not be selling stationery during this time.

Can I ring the library and renew my books or speak to a member of staff?

Yes, we are still contactable using the same telephone number and email address.

When are you moving back in to the library?

Hopefully by the end of August, ready for the beginning of the academic year.

                             

Fake Social Media and How will you vote in the General Election?

Fake social media

In this blog, we have covered the topic of being aware of fake news and fake social media several times and this week this has never been more relevant. As the events of Monday night in Manchester unfolded, the internet was flooded with false reports of missing children and photos of the scene. This only added confusion to the whole situation and was not helpful to anyone.

This should prove a warning to us all not to trust everything we read and to think twice about sharing something we cannot be sure is true.

For more information read http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/05/23/manchester-attack-social-media-trolls-spread-fake-posts-missing/

General Election and how will you vote?

Polling Station at Glinton Village Hall by Paul Bryan reproduced under Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 2.0
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5377045

Whilst the political parties have taken a break over the last few days out of respect for the victims of the Manchester attack, canvassing is slowly starting again ready for the election on the 8th June 2017. If you are 18 you can vote - but only if you have registered to do so. The deadline for doing so is now past but for future reference you can register on the Peterborough City Council website.

So, how will you vote? The Times Educational Supplement (we subscribe to this in Library+) ran an article last week about how important it is for young people to vote. They write that at the Brexit decision, if 16 and 17 year olds had been able to vote, there would have been a different result. Many of those young people are now old enough to vote and can make a difference.

So, how do you decide what to vote? The Complete University Guide has information aimed at students. 

Also you may like to try an online quiz which takes you through the main issues asking you to choose your viewpoint and then at the end it tells you which party you match with most. Take the quiz here.

Revision tips and memory techniques

Revision tips

Exams are fast approaching and lots of students are finishing off their coursework and starting to revise everything they’ve learned during their course.

We’ve been searching for some tips for you on the internet. Take a look at this short BBC Newsbeat video.

The BBC also have lots more resources at http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zw8qpbk with links to advice on the National Citizen Service website too.

If you are prone to worrying about your exams, the BBC published an article earlier this week : Exam Stress: a revision guide for the anxious which might be helpful.

Memory Techniques

More generally, a lot of us would like to know how to remember things better whether it's remembering someone's name, reminding ourselves to do something or memorising information for an exam. 

In 2105 The Daily Telegraph published an article Nine tips to improve your memory which also has a quiz to test how good your memory is. You may want to have a go.

BBC Radio 4 has an old archived page on improving your memory which includes tips such as 

• Break things down in to chunks
• Space out your learning (don't try to cram it all in at the last minute)
• Write it down
• Use imagery to associate something you are learning with a visual image
• Assign meaning to something (great for numbers eg remember the numbers 1945 by thinking about the last year of the 2nd World War).
• Learn it right the first time (so focus when you are learning).

For those of you interested in more information on how the memory works and further techniques to improve it, we have books in the library by Tony Buzan, for example, who is an expert in memory techniques. The books are found around 153.1.

You may also want to listen to this Tedtalk by Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do.

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week

According to a survey published this week by the Mental Health Foundation, 2 in 3 of us will face mental health problems in our lifetime. Mental Health Awareness week is a time to promote awareness about mental health and remove any stigma and stereotypes to encourage people to talk about it.

One thing this week highlights is that whether you have good or bad mental health, you need to look after yourself.

10 ways to look after your mental health

1. Talk about your feelings
2. Keep active
3. Eat well
4. Take a break
5. Drink sensibly
6. Keep in touch
7. Do something you’re good at
8. Accept who you are
9. Ask for help
10. Care for others

Mindfulness

What is mindfulness?

According to the Mental Health Foundation website Mindfulness is “a way of paying attention to the present moment, using techniques like meditation, breathing and yoga. It helps us become more aware of our thoughts and feelings so that, instead of being overwhelmed by them, we’re better able to manage them.”

Mindfulness can be a really helpful tool to make us sit back and realise what it is we are feeling, whether it is exam stress, worry, sadness etc  and when doing so not to judge what we are feeling but to just be aware.

Meditation can be a great way of doing this and there are apps that you can download to help-

•           Headspace- this is a subscription app but it offers a 10 day free trial called take 10
•           Smiling Mind- Smiling Mind is a free mindfulness meditation app for young people to help combat stress, improve focus and increase resilience.

You might also find this website useful : http://mindfulnessforstudents.co.uk/

     

                             

Image CC BY-SA 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/repairgenius/7258035052

Other helpful websites-

https://www.mind.org.uk/

http://www.cpslmind.org.uk/

https://www.rethink.org/

Information for this blog was taken from https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ For more information please visit this website.

                             

      

Be safe online! - the rise of fake celebrity social media accounts

Fake Social Media Accounts

Police are becoming increasingly concerned that people are setting up fake social media accounts and using them to talk to children and young people inappropriately (i.e. for grooming, extortion, etc). This is particularly happening through increasingly popular social media apps such as Musical.ly

For more information see this report from the BBC:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39670673

The following podcast (particularly the first section) also goes into more details and is useful for anyone studying or involved with safeguarding children or young people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04zvqsq

The companies which own these social media platforms are under increasing pressure to do more to stop this sort of activity (along with other content linked to criminal activity), but the best thing to do is to be on your guard and always do what you can to check who is contacting you.

Public domain image of social media apps from www.pixabay.com

How can I know whether a social media account is genuine?

Facebook and Twitter use a blue badge to verify accounts belonging to celebrities. Facebook also use a gray badge for organisations. However, these accounts are often targets for hacking too so be very suspicious if one of them messages you directly (most will not).

To find a genuine account, you could go to the official website for that artist, for example, and from there you should be able to see links to their twitter feed or Instagram account.

New guidelines by the Crown Prosecution Service. 

New guidelines (as reported in the Daily Telegraph) are being prepared which could make creating fake social media accounts a criminal offence where these are used for revenge or to cause harassment, for example. Therefore, everyone needs to be aware of their behaviour online.

Is what you are planning to publish online harmful to someone else (whether you think they deserve it or not)?

Would you like the same done to you? - and how would it make you feel?

The College does not tolerate  bullying of any kind and students experiencing anything like this can speak to a Safeguarding Officer, their tutor or indeed any member of staff about this if it is happening to them.