Registration & Access
Faculty interested in attending any of these sessions do not need to pre-register unless otherwise indicated; however, we would appreciate it if you do. To join a virtual workshop, click on the link for the date/time of your session. If you do not have a headset, there is a call-in line for audio during the conference.Workshop Details
Faculty are invited to register for our comprehensive Online Teaching Preparation workshops for Summer 2025, sponsored by the Office of Academic Technology & Digital Innovation. These interactive workshops will equip you with essential skills and strategies for effective online instruction, including course design principles, student engagement techniques, assessment strategies, and hands-on practice with Blackboard Ultra. Participants will receive personalized feedback on their course materials and will collaborate with colleagues to develop innovative teaching approaches for the virtual classroom. Space is limited to ensure individualized attention, so early registration is encouraged. These sessions will be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams.
Available Sessions:
- Session 1: Wednesday, April 23 and April 30, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
- Session 2: Thursday, April 24 and May 1, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
To register for either session, please contact actech@hartford.edu with your preferred session dates and include a brief description of any specific online teaching challenges or goals you'd like to address during the workshop. Once registered, a Teams meeting link will be sent to you.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Virtual)
Video and audio files should never be added directly to Blackboard; instead, instructors should be using Kaltura (the new replacement for Ensemble). Kaltura works like an in-house YouTube, allowing faculty to upload videos to a media library quickly and easily, then link to them from Blackboard and other websites. Faculty who are flipping the classroom, teaching online, using video clips in instruction, or working with student video projects should plan to attend this special information session about Kaltura. Kaltura Capture is a simple, convenient tool that can capture your voice, the action on your computer screen, and webcam video to create lecturettes. You can use it to record audio podcasts, video lectures, or narrated presentations and demonstrations. This session will guide you through the process of recording a narrated screen capture, editing it, and publishing it to Blackboard. All of these sessions will be virtual and you can click the link to join the workshop at the time of the session. Please RSVP to actech@hartford.edu.
Monday, April 21, 2025 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (Virtual)
Microsoft Teams is a video-conferencing application that now integrates with Blackboard. It is a platform that can be employed for remote instruction, office hours, or collaborative group work in your courses. Microsoft Teams can be accessed via a desktop application or a browser and is available on mobile devices as well. In this session, we will show you how to set up a Teams Meeting in your Blackboard course, how to navigate the Teams interface, how to share files or documents with students, and how to share screens. We will also show you how to set up groups so your students can work on collaborative activities together. All of these sessions will be virtual and you can click the link to join the workshop at the time of the session. If you require a 1:1 assistance to set up Teams, email actech@hartford.edu, and we will be happy to arrange either a face-to-face or virtual appointment.