The Scout Report -- Volume 26, Number 33

Explore the Studio Museum's 127 building on 127th St. in Harlem, New York from anywhere in the world with the Museum's online collections. Here, readers will find more than 2,500 works created by more than 600 artists spanning 200 years of history, "including paintings, drawings, sculptures, watercolors, photographs, videos and mixed-media installations." Digital versions of Studio Magazine, "a leading art publication with a focus on contemporary artists of African descent," are also available on the site. Plus, readers will find information about the Museum's longstanding Artist-in-Residence program. Since its inception in 1968, this year-long studio residency for emerging artists has served more than 100 artists of color. Under the Learn & Engage tab's Education sub-section instructors will find a series of downloadable lesson plans for art educators. These lesson plans are based on work by artists in the Museum's collection, such as "Light Brings Us Together" and "Black on Black," based on the work of Glenn Ligon; "Printmaking & Geometry," based on the work of Robert Blackburn; and "United Power," based on the work of Barbara Chase-Riboud. [DS]

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Binge listen to all things biotech with The Readout Loud, a podcast that promises listeners a weekly deep-dive on the latest biotechnology news and advances. The Readout Loud is produced by journalism outlet STAT, which covers "health, medicine, life sciences and the fast-moving business of making medicines." Biotech and life sciences reporters Rebecca Robins, Damian Garde, and Adam Feuerstein host the show, which keeps listeners updated in less than half an hour. Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 has taken center stage in recent episodes. For example, Episode 120 provides updates on a coronavirus vaccine, and Episode 119 addresses the question, "how can hospitals protect workers from Covid-19?" In addition to listening to these episodes, readers can explore STAT's dedicated coronavirus page for continued COVID-19 coverage. The Readout Loud team discusses other important topics, too, including dismantling structural racism in the medical field and running a successful virtual conference. Readers can listen and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher. [EMB]

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A project of PBS, UNLADYLIKE 2020 "profil[es] diverse and little-known American women from the turn of the 20th century, and contemporary women who follow in their footsteps." The collection features the stories of more than 20 women, including Gertrude Ederle (the first woman who swam across the English Channel) and Bessie Coleman (the first African American woman to earn a pilot license). On the Explore page readers can filter stories by the subjects' profession, identity, geography, and historical events (for example, "Civil Rights Movement" or "Industrialization"). Stories are presented as short films (usually around 10 minutes long) and are accompanied by a brief written narrative. Additionally, the stories come with extension activities, such as classroom discussion questions and lesson plans (check out the Learn page for more). Educators may want to introduce these videos into curriculums to "engage and educate [students] ... in an underrepresented narrative: how women, and in particular women of color, changed America 100+ years ago." The project was funded by several foundations and donors, including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [EMB]

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Calling all data designers: Join more than 1,600 fellow data visualization enthusiasts in honing skills and sharing ideas with Makeover Monday. The project offers a free "learning and development appointment with yourself." The site provides prompts and data sets to challenge users' data visualization mastery. Before diving in, it may be helpful to explore the "6 steps to your first #MakeoverMonday viz" graphic, found on the home page. As these steps explain, Makeover Monday releases a new data challenge each week. Visitors can view these weekly challenges (as well as archived challenges from 2016-present) under the Data Sets page (found in the Participate menu). Provided with a topic and a data source, users are encouraged to create a project and share it with the rest of the community. Designers can share their work via the Submit page (also under Participate) and on social media channels using #MakeoverMonday. To view other community members' submissions, check out the Makeover Monday website's Blog (found in the Learn menu) or Gallery (found in the Participate menu). For additional learning opportunities, readers should consider joining a weekly webinar. Check out the Webinars tab (under Learn) to view past and upcoming topics and create a free account for registration purposes. Makeover Monday is made possible by partnerships with The Information Lab, Exasol, I for Ideas, BrightTALK, and data.world. [EMB]

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Many readers may have fond memories and photos of family or solo road trips over the years. The Road Trips Project preserves many of these travel pictures and perspectives from members of the South Asian American community. As contributor Neel Agrawal reflects, "traveling has a way of helping us navigate the many worlds that exist both inside and outside of ourselves." However, immigrants have often been excluded from these travel narratives about "the open road." This project reclaims space for their stories. On the Browse page readers can explore stories by individual (via the thumbnail and label) or location (via the pinpoints on the map). Each submission includes the name, starting point, destination, and date, as well as a picture, short story, and map displaying the road trip's path. The project also welcomes reader contributions on the Submit page. Road Trips is a project of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), a nonprofit striving toward "a more inclusive society by giving voice to South Asian Americans through documenting, preserving, and sharing stories that represent their unique and diverse experiences." [EMB]

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Recognizing "the lack of representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in school curricula," as well as the "disproportionate incidents of bullying and violence against LGBT youth," Unheard Voices: Stories of LGBT History offers educators many inclusive instructional activities. At the link, educators can download individual lesson plans or the entire (nearly) 50-page curriculum. Five lessons are provided and each lesson plan meets several Common Core State Standards. Designed for middle and high school students, lesson topics include "The Invisibility of LGBT People in History" and "Understanding Gender Identity." Educators will also find a series of biographies, interviews, and transcripts from "individuals who bore witness to or helped shape LGBT history in some way." While these interviews are included in the various lesson plans, they also make for great stand-alone reading. Unheard Voices is a collaboration between the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), GLSEN, and StoryCorps. Readers who are fans of this curriculum, will find many more resources on the ADL's Education page. [EMB]

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Legal scholars and students can happily avoid expensive textbook costs with H20 Open Casebooks. Designed by Harvard Law School's Library Innovation Lab, H20 Open Casebooks enables law professors to create and share textbooks via a Creative Commons license. Professors have access to all of the case law cataloged by Harvard's CaseLaw Access Project (readers may remember this project from the 04-19-2019 Scout Report). This provides plenty of content to create casebooks on standard and niche areas of the law, without burdensome costs. Instructors new to the site may want to explore the Help Guide (linked on the home page), which offers written and video instructions. While a free account (and an academic institution email address) are required to create a textbook, anyone can access the existing casebooks. The "Search" button at the top of the home page invites users to browse the more than 250 casebooks available as of this write-up, which cover everything from "Advanced Intellectual Property/Cyberlaw" to "Animals and the Law in Canada." [EMB]

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Accessibility is a core tenant of equitable classrooms. DeafTEC, an organization dedicated to "successfully integrat[ing] more deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals into the workplace in highly-skilled technician jobs," created this Teaching & Learning hub to ensure that classrooms are accessible for all students. The site provides information on many topics and projects, including resources for employers, information on STEM careers, and sections dedicated to writing and math. The left-hand panel organizes resources by sub-topics for easy browsing. For example, the Online Teaching and Learning section links to accessibility guides that may help instructors prepare for virtual learning environments. Similarly, the Captioning Media section contains some basic information on captioning materials to ensure accessibility. Educators will also want to check out the Best Practices for Teaching section, which provides tips on topics ranging from creating a welcoming environment on the first day of school to making appropriate testing accommodations. DeafTEC is supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. [EMB]

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History teachers may enjoy this short classroom activity, "The Suffrage and the Civil Rights Reform Movements," which invites students to "compare and contrast" two pictures from civil rights movements that were created nearly five decades apart. The first picture is from "a [1917] Bastille Day march for women's suffrage," while the second image encapsulates "the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." The plan includes instructions and guiding questions (along with possible answers). The activity is designed to last about 20 minutes. Both pictures are also linked electronically on the site, making it an easy lesson to convert to a virtual classroom setting. The curriculum was created by DocsTeach, a branch of the National Archives with the mission "to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives." To view other lesson plans from DocsTeach, explore the Activities and Activity Tools pages under the Menu bar. [EMB]

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Many educators are preparing for continued curriculum delivery changes, often with online components. This teaching support guide, created by State University of New York at Albany's Institute for Teaching, Learning, and Academic Leadership (ITLAL), provides a variety of tips for a smooth transition. The guide organizes resources by class structure. For example, fully remote classrooms, hybrid models, and alternating-attendance courses each have their own section. Plus, it covers all of the bases, from effective lecture styles to maintaining academic integrity in remote environments. Each sub-topic has suggestions and examples. For instance, the "Developing a structured online activity" section provides "examples of effective online activity and discussion prompts." Readers who enjoy this resource will want to explore the rest of the ITLAL site, which contains many similar resources such as the Teaching A to Z portal, where readers will find suggestions to better understand and relate to students, as well as tips on designing curriculum. These resources collectively contribute to ITLAL's mission of "support[ing] evidence-based teaching and professional practice to improve faculty careers and increase student learning." [EMB]

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Words Without Borders Campus, last featured in the 08-09-2019 Scout Report, assists educators in creating a cross-cultural classroom.

Language and literature educators interested in incorporating contemporary international writing into their curriculum may want to check out Words Without Borders Campus. This resource "connects students and educators to eye-opening contemporary literature from across the globe," and aims to "create a virtual learning space without borders, fostering meaningful cross-cultural understandings and inspiring a lifelong interest in international literature." Here, visitors will find stories, essays, and poems translated into English, originating from countries like Mexico, China, and Egypt. Most of the literature is drawn from the digital magazine Words Without Borders (last featured in the 7-12-2019 Scout Report). Under Find Literature, this project's resources are organized by country, genre, and theme, with Jump To buttons leading to an essay introducing and contextualizing each country's contemporary literature. In addition to an English translation, each piece of literature includes vocabulary definitions, an author's bio, contextual information such as recordings of pronunciations in its original language, and a list of related readings. Visitors who are logged in (after registering for a free account) can also access Teaching Ideas for each piece, which include suggestions for ways to foster students' engagement with the reading, potential assignments, and relevant educational standards.

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