Workshops

New to Blackboard or looking for a refresher? This workshop provides an introduction to Blackboard's core features and tools. Learn how to navigate your course, upload content, communicate with students, create assignments, and utilize the most commonly used course management features. This session is ideal for faculty who are new to Blackboard or who would like a review before the semester begins.

Sessions:

Wednesday, October 7 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Wednesday, December 9 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Blackboard's newly redesigned Gradebook offers a more streamlined and flexible grading experience. In this session, you'll learn how to navigate the new interface, manage and organize grades, create calculations, use grading workflows, and provide timely feedback to students. Whether you're new to Blackboard or transitioning from the previous Grade Center, this workshop will help you make the most of the updated tools. 

Sessions: 

Thursday, October 22 | 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Woods Classroom, Harrison Libraries

Monday, November 2 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Wednesday, November 18 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Woods Classroom, Harrison Libraries

A quick-hit checklist to ensure your course materials work beautifully for everyone. Now that your Blackboard course is built, let's make sure all your students can access it without a hitch. This low-stress session cuts through the compliance talk to give you a straightforward, high-impact checklist you can apply directly to your site. You will learn how to spot and fix the most common hidden formatting traps in your files, add quick descriptions to images, and ensure your links are clear, leaving you with a bulletproof, fully accessible Blackboard environment.

Sessions:

Monday, October 12 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Woods Classroom, Harrison Libraries

Friday, October 30 | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Woods Classroom, Harrison Libraries

Wednesday, November 11 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Whether you are starting from scratch or refreshing a copied course, learn how to organize your learning space to save time and keep students on track. A well-structured Blackboard site means fewer panicked emails from confused students and a much smoother semester for you. This comprehensive session focuses on mapping out your weeks or units logically using modules and built-in AI tools, setting up assignments clearly, and organizing your layout. You will also learn how to update due dates at once, fix broken links, and spot legacy formatting traps so your content is clean and accessible before the first day of class.

Sessions:

Tuesday, December 8 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Wave your wand and let AI work its magic! This spellbinding session unveils Blackboard’s AI Design Assistant for effortless quizzes, assignments, rubrics, and visuals, plus the AI Roleplay tool for immersive, interactive learning. Save time, spark creativity, and enchant your students with AI-powered tools that make course design feel like wizardry. Join us and add a little magic to your teaching!

Sessions:

Join us to explore Gemini's NotebookLM, an AI-powered research assistant that transforms how you work with documents and sources. Upload PDFs, articles, notes, and other materials to create a personalized AI that can summarize content, answer questions, generate study guides, and help synthesize information across multiple sources. Perfect for research projects, course preparation, literature reviews, and collaborative analysis. We'll cover practical applications for both teaching and research, including how to generate podcast-style audio discussions from your materials and create interactive study resources for students.

Bring your laptop and a few documents you'd like to experiment with!

Sessions:

Wednesday, October 14 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Woods Classroom, Harrison Libraries

Thursday, November 5 | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Virtual

Unleash the potential of interactive learning with Blackboard’s AI Roleplay tool. This workshop explores how to design dynamic roleplay scenarios that promote student engagement, critical thinking, and real-world application. Learn to create immersive simulations and adaptable role-based activities that bring course concepts to life. Whether you're teaching case studies, fostering collaborative problem-solving, or preparing students for professional interactions, this tool empowers you to craft impactful learning experiences. Recommended: Completion of Blackboard Basics training.

Sessions:

Tuesday, October 13 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Kaltura is the University's video platform for creating, managing, and sharing media content. This introductory workshop will demonstrate how to record and upload videos, organize media, add videos to Blackboard courses, and share content with students. No prior experience is required.

Sessions:

Discover how Microsoft Teams can support teaching and learning both inside and outside the classroom. This workshop explores instructional uses of Teams, including course communication, file sharing, online meetings, virtual office hours, collaboration spaces, and integration with Microsoft 365 tools. Learn practical strategies for using Teams to foster engagement, streamline communication, and support student success. 

Sessions: 

Wednesday, October 14 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Virtual

Wednesday, November 4 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Woods Classroom, Harrison Libraries

Learn how Blackboard Assignments and Rubrics can support efficient grading and clear expectations for students. This session covers creating assignments, configuring submission settings, building and attaching rubrics, grading student submissions, and providing meaningful feedback. Participants will leave with practical techniques for improving consistency, transparency, and efficiency in student assessment. 

Sessions: 

Ready to move from theory to practice with artificial intelligence? Skip the traditional lecture and bring your actual course materials, syllabi, research projects, or workflow ideas to this bi-weekly drop-in lab. Whether you want to draft discussion prompts, build custom AI agents, explore AI-enhanced research workflows, or experiment with course design assistants, this session gives you protected time to create with peer support and instructional technology guidance right by your side. Bring your laptop, grab your lunch, drop in for all or part of the session, and let’s tackle your AI projects together in a collaborative space.

Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Teaching & Learning Space, Lower Level, Harrison Libraries

Fall 2026 Schedule & Dates:

Session 1: Friday, September 4

Session 2: Friday, September 18

Session 3: Friday, October 2

Session 4: Friday, October 16

Session 5: Friday, October 30

Session 6: Friday, November 13

Session 7: Friday, December 4

Need assistance preparing your Blackboard courses for the semester? Stop by our Blackboard Drop-In Hours for individualized support with course setup, content organization, assessments, gradebook questions, Kaltura integration, and other Blackboard-related topics. Faculty may attend for as little or as much time as needed. No appointment is necessary for in-person sessions. Faculty interested in a virtual consultation should email actech@hartford.edu to schedule a virtual drop-in appointment. 

Sessions: 

If none of our workshop times or topics fit your needs, we’re happy to meet with you individually. Faculty and staff can schedule a one-on-one appointment for tailored support with Blackboard Ultra, course design, Organizations, or other academic technology tools. Appointments are available in-person or virtually via Microsoft Teams—whichever works best for you. Let us know what you’d like to focus on, and we’ll match you with the right team member to assist you. Email us at actech@hartford.edu to schedule your appointment. 

Please Note: Due to the increased volume of support requests at the beginning of the semester, appointment availability may be limited between August 17 and September 4. We encourage faculty to attend Jumpstart workshops and Drop-In Hours whenever possible, and to contact actech@hartford.edu as early as possible for individualized assistance.