Faculty Workshops - Spring 2023
Workshops from Spring 2023
A series of one-hour “how-to” workshops to get you started with some basic online activities. This series covers everything from giving live or recorded lectures, using various discussion board tools, giving an online test, and providing a platform for asynchronous student presentations.
The following workshops were held in Spring 2023
Blackboard Basics
This workshop is for Blackboard beginners. Learn the basics of setting up a course in Blackboard. This session will cover how to add and move content, how to use Announcements and Email for communication, how to manage the left-hand menu, and how to add basic tools to your course and review the grade center. It will not cover settings and options for any of the various tools or options within the grade center.
January 3, 2023 11am - 12noon
Learn how to Copy Materials from a Previous Course into your Upcoming Course
Learn how to make the best use of your time in copying materials from a previous course into the new template. We will cover how to copy individual items, individual tests, and full course materials.
Note: This workshop will cover how to copy from an existing course into the template used by Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, Warner School of Education, School of Medicine and Dentistry Graduate programs, Eastman School of Music, and Eastman Institute of Oral Health. The process will work for other school templates but will be demonstrated with this template.
January 10, 2023 11am - 12noon
How-to Pre-Record and Deliver Video Content to your Students
Learn how to use Zoom to record a video lecture that includes PowerPoint slides, desktop software, or just video input. Best practices for creating recording lectures will be examined. Tips for creating effective lectures, including tips for fixing mistakes. Provide streaming access for that video to the students in your course via Blackboard and Panopto access controls. Panopto edit features, captioning options, viewing statistics, and adding quiz questions to videos will also be reviewed. Using the Lightboard, instead of Zoom, as an option for creating videos will also be discussed.
January 12, 2023 12noon - 1pm
Planning to use the Blackboard Grade Center
Learn how to use the Blackboard Grade Center to grade submitted work. Learn how to set up new columns, categories, and smart views in order to make your grade book work for you.
January 13, 2023 11am - 12noon
Learn more about Perusall
Perusall is a social annotation tool. Learn different use cases for Perusall in your course. See examples of ways Perusall can be used to engage students around your content. Learn more about how connect Perusall to Blackboard.
January 17, 2023 12noon - 1pm
Learn more about Padlet
Padlet is an electronic bulletin board. Learn about different use cases for Padlet in your course. See examples of different ways Padlet can be used to engage students and support collaboration. Learn how to get a UR Account and connect Padlet to Blackboard so that students have accounts associated with their contributions.
January 19, 2023 12noon - 1pm
How to Facilitate Discussion, Sharing of Student Work, and Peer Review Activities Using Blackboard Tools
This session starts with an overview and comparison of discussion board options (Blackboard, Yellowdig, VoiceThread and Piazza). Learn how to set up a discussion board within Blackboard. See how different settings can be used to facilitate different kinds of activities. The use of the Blackboard Blog tool will also be shared in this session.
January 24, 2023 12noon - 1pm
Qwickly Tools for Attendance and Course Management
Would you like to keep track of student attendance and have attendance auto-graded for you? Qwickly attendance can help you, regardless of the size of your class or the class modality. Attendance can be taken manually (for small classes) as well as with a swipe card (for medium classes) or through an online check in (for large courses). Also, learn how to use Qwickly Course tools to check web links in your course, as well as how Course Tools can be used to communicate with students across multiple courses at the same time
January 26, 2023 12noon - 1pm
How to Collect Online Assessments, including Projects, Presentations, and Performances
Learn how to set up the Blackboard assignment tool to collect individual student submissions and group submissions. Learn about different options for collecting various kinds of student assessments, including video and online presentations.
January 31, 2023 12noon - 1pm
How to use Yellowdig for discussions
Looking for a different kind of discussion board? Yellowdig is similar to Facebook in that it provides a conversation that is more like social media. Additionally, students earn points for their contributions to the conversation on Yellowdig, whether it be through original posts or comments on posts from classmates. Learn more about how Yellowdig works, and how to set up Yellowdig for you in your course.
February 2, 2023 12noon - 1pm
How to Facilitate an Online Exam
Learn how to create and set up a Blackboard Test. The various options available for testing will be discussed including when and how to use each option. Additional testing software will be mentioned.
February 3, 2023 9:30am - 10:30am
Poll Everywhere
The University has an Enterprise license for PollEverywhere. Come learn how to get your own account and use the interactive polling features.
February 7, 2023 12noon - 1pm
How to use VoiceThread for Discussions
VoiceThread is a tool that can add life to your discussions by allowing audio and video, as well as text-based comments. Learn how to build a VoiceThread, add comments, and share it with your class for discussion.
February 8, 11am - 12noon
How to Facilitate a Live, Interactive Zoom Session
Learn how to use Zoom to facilitate a live session. Learn some tips for maintaining your Zoom space securely, as well as how to share your screen, annotate on your screen, use the whiteboard, create breakout rooms, and use the polling feature to create an engaging and interactive session. Learn how to use different tools to add interactivity into your Zoom sessions. We will cover breakout rooms, polling, and use of Padlet in this session.
February 9, 2023 12noon - 1pm
Gradescope
Gain knowledge about Gradescope to reduce your grading time by more than 50% while increasing consistency, accuracy, and flexibility at the same time. Understand how to apply the power of Gradescope for quizzes, homework assignments, and exams. Evaluate your assessments to see if they are a good fit for the Gradescope platform.
February 16, 12noon - 1pm
Information Guides
- Planning and Preparing for Disruption
- How do I Communicate with my Students?
- How do I Share Content with my Students?
- How do I Offer Live Lectures and Class Meetings via Zoom?
- How do I Pre-Record Lectures for my Students using Zoom and Panopto?
- How do I Facilitate Discussions with my Students?
- How do I Collect Assignments?
- How do I Facilitate Exams or Tests?
- How do I Share Student Grades Confidentially?
- What Options do my Students have for Software Access?
- University Guidance on Privacy in Zoom
Video Tutorials
- Using Voicethread for Assessment