The Office of Academic Technology will be offering the following workshops to jumpstart your spring 2024 semester. Email actech@hartford.edu to register and receive a calender invite.

Blackboard Q&A Drop-in Session (Virtual)

Wednesday, Jan. 17, noon – 1 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 19, noon – 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 23, noon – 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 25, noon – 1 p.m.

This is an orientation and drop-in clinic for Blackboard, the application used to put courses online. If you’re new to Blackboard, you’ll learn strategies for organizing your Blackboard course, review the many tools and features available in Blackboard, and start adding course content items like your syllabus and web links to your course. Be sure to bring a digital version of your syllabus and/or other course materials; this is designed as a hands-on seminar. If you’re using Blackboard already, feel free to drop by with a question or for troubleshooting.

Faculty interested in attending should register by emailing actech@hartford.edu or calling 860.768.4661.

Getting Started with Kaltura

Monday, Jan. 8, 11 a.m. – noon (Virtual)
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (Virtual)
Friday, Jan. 12, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. (Virtual)
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. (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.

Microsoft Teams for Remote Instruction, Office Hours, and Collaboration

Monday, Jan. 8, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. (Virtual)
Thursday, Jan. 11, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (Virtual)
Friday, Jan. 12, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. (Virtual)
Thursday, Jan. 18, 11 a.m. – noon (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.