For the foreseeable future, many of us will be working from home (wfh). Resources can help those unsure of what may await us as remote workers, including books. NOVA librarians have searched the library catalog for titles that might ease the path. All are available as eBooks, so while our physical libraries are closed, check out these titles:

• Chen, John. 50 Digital Team-Building Games: Fast, Fun Meeting Openers, Group Activities and Adventures Using Social Media, Smart Phones, GPS, Tablets, and More. Wiley. 2012. ISBN 9781118180938.
• Eikenberry, Kevin & Wayne Turmel. The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership. Berrett-Koehler. 2018. ISBN 9781523094615.
• Harvard Business Review Press. Virtual Collaboration : Work from Anywhere, Overcommunicate, Avoid Isolation. Harvard Business Review Press, 2016. ISBN: 9781633691476

In 2011, Knowledge@Wharton created a podcast, From Freelancers to Telecommuters: Succeeding in the New World of Solitary Work. For advice as you make the transition from working in an office along with colleagues, listen to the podcast or read the transcript.

Assisting Faculty

NOVA has done an admirable job in supporting faculty as we transition to online instruction. Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education have been providing practical guidance applicable to the novice online instructor as well as those who’ve been teaching online for a while. Our top choices for reading this month include Going Online in a Hurry: What to Do and Where to Start by Michelle D. Miller, and So You Want to Temporarily Teach Online by Stephanie Moore and Charles B. Hodges.

For Students

NOVA’s Bookstores have joined with VitalSource, an online digital textbook vendor. This means that NOVA students will have free access to textbooks available through VitalSource through the Spring 2020 term. Students can register here using their NOVA email address (there is a link at the bottom to create a VitalSource account). Once you gain access, explore VitalSource’s Bookshelf to check if your assigned textbook is available, and voila!

As learning shifts online, even the best of students, accustomed to learning in a physical classroom with an instructor present, can feel unsure how to proceed. Coursera has been offering courses to students online since 2011. In response to Covid-19, their learning community has compiled a list of tips for first-time online learners, beginning with setting daily study goals and creating a dedicated study space. For elaboration on these and other tips, click here.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a great resource for learning as well as entertainment. As we cope with tech resets in our wfh environment, take a listen to PwC-UK’s s A-Z of Tech podcast series. The latest episode (12), K is for kids, covers how to “teach children about their digital rights and protect them from online harms.” Subscribe to the series in iTunes, SoundCloud, Acast, or Spotify.

Speaking of Children

Time and Newsweek were once the go-to weeklies for news coverage. TIME for Kids is now available in four grade-specific digital editions (K-1, G2, G3-4, and G5-6). There is even a website for teachers and parents with teaching materials for the lessons. Also, on the site is an archive of their financial literacy monthly magazine designed to help children learn about managing money on an age-appropriate level.

There have been many technology resource lists compiled in recent days. TechforLearners.org offers free grade-specific tech lessons curated from a wide range of education tech organizations. Users can specify the grade level in which they are interested (PK-5, 6-8, 9-12, higher ed, workforce) and content (e.g., math, science, reading, writing, social studies).

Return to this blog soon for additional resources to make you a successful educator, student, and worker-from-home.

Now that many of us have spent at least a week at home getting acclimated to remote learning, it’s time to breathe again. Why not look at the coming weeks as an opportunity to read that book you’ve always wanted to tackle? Although you can’t come to the library on campus to roam the stacks seeking a physical book to borrow, you can visit our library virtually. Search in “Books & eBooks” and look for ways to limit to “full text online,” or see How to Find and Download eBooks for a comprehensive list of all the databases offering eBooks to the NOVA community. For those who want to listen to a book rather than read it, explore the audio books available online in Overdrive Audio.

If you’ve been spending too much time binging on Netflix, how about trying a documentary for a change? You can access thousands of movies through the college’s access to Kanopy. Explore Kanopy and other free online video collections linked in the library’s Guide to Streaming Video.

Finally, think of these weeks as a concentrated time period to learn a new language. There are over 70 languages to choose from in Mango. You can start learning a language as a novice; for most languages, that would mean Chapter 1, Small talk. If what you need is a language “refresher,” just jump right in and explore the listening and reading activities available for the language(s) you already speak. Your myNOVA login (email address/password) will get you remote access to these databases.

In the coming weeks, we’ll keep this blog active with additional learning opportunities that support your formal coursework. If you’ve been curious about how to do something in the library, learning the ins-and-outs of a particular database, or identifying tools for safe exploration of the web, send a request to LO-library@nvcc.edu and we’ll try to cover the topic in upcoming blog posts. In the meantime, stay healthy!