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Workshops

CFT staff run Brightspace workshops for instructors interested in learning how to use Brightspace tools effectively and efficiently. We are also available during the academic year to facilitate Brightspace workshops on topics both general and specific for departments, programs, and schools, upon request. Email brightspace@vanderbilt.edu to ask about these offerings or the possibility of an invited workshop.

See the main CFT website for other teaching workshops, including workshops focused on educational technology, and for extensive resources on teaching in the fall 2021 semester.

Click here to go directly to our Workshop Calendar.

 


Fall 2023 Workshops

A Beginner’s Guide to Brightspace 

In this hands-on workshop for people who have little to no experience teaching with Brightspace, participants will get oriented to Vanderbilt’s course management system and learn how to accomplish common teaching tasks. By the end of the workshop, users will be able to:

  • Confidently navigate around the different areas of a Brightspace course
  • Post, edit, and link Content for students using a variety of tools
  • Communicate with students about Brightspace tools they are using
  • Access Brightspace Support when they have questions 

There will be time at the end of the workshop for participants to ask questions about using Brightspace.

Participants who would like to access Brightspace during the workshop should make sure they are able to log into Brightspace with their VUnetID beforehand.

Workshop Date: TBD
Time:
TBD
Location:
Virtual – Zoom
Facilitator:
Erica Brandon, Instructional Technology Consultant, Center for Teaching

 

These workshops are open to anyone teaching or developing courses at Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt University is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. Please contact Juliet Traub at cft@vanderbilt.edu or 615-322-7290 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

Setting up your Gradebook

Participants in this workshop will learn about the range of tools available in Brightspace to make grading more efficient and effective. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Build a gradebook that mirrors the grading scheme in their syllabus
  • Understand and control how grades are viewed
  • Create a gradebook that can be used throughout the semester, and transferred into future courses

Workshop Date: TBD
Time:
TBD
Location:
Virtual – Zoom
Facilitator:
Erica Brandon, Instructional Technology Consultant, Center for Teaching

 

This workshop is open to anyone teaching or developing courses at Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt University is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. Please contact Juliet Traub at cft@vanderbilt.edu or 615-322-7290 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

Generative AI’s Impact on Teaching and Learning

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Stable Diffusion have taken over the world of higher education in the past few months. While some instructors see these tools as helpful aids to teaching and learning, others worry about inappropriate use by students and how to address that. Given that AI is being put into many tools that we interact with regularly in search engines like Google and Bing, productivity & office software like Google Drive & Microsoft Office, and a seemingly endless number of educational technologies, many people will have a hard time avoiding AI in the coming months and years. This workshop plans to explain the basics of how these tools actually work, some common opportunities and limitations of current AI technology, and how to discuss appropriate and inappropriate generative AI usage with your students. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Explain the basics of how generative AI tools like ChatGPT work
  • Identify opportunities for using these tools in the teaching and learning process
  • Formulate plans to discuss generative AI usage with students

Workshop Date: Tuesday, September 12 (CURRENTLY FULL, BUT WE ARE ADDING MORE DATES.)
Time: 12:00-1:00pm
Location: CFT classroom (1114 19th Avenue South, 3rd floor) Click here for location information.
Facilitator:
Michael Coley, Instructional Technology Consultant, Center for Teaching


Workshop Date: Wednesday, September 20
Time: 11:00am-12:00pm
Location: Virtual – Zoom
Facilitator:
Michael Coley, Instructional Technology Consultant, Center for Teaching

 

This workshop is open to anyone teaching or developing courses at Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt University is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. Please contact Juliet Traub at cft@vanderbilt.edu or 615-322-7290 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

Perusall 

Perusall is a tool that allows students to engage in the social annotation of text, audio, and video. With features such as hashtags, upvoting, and automatic grading to complement the asynchronous discussions, your students will be more engaged than ever as they prepare readings and go over homework using Perusall.

Workshop Date: Tuesday, September 5
Time: 1:00-1:45pm
Location: Virtual – Zoom
Facilitator: Jenny Park, Instructional Technology Consultant, Center for Teaching

 

Perusall is a tool that brings the social annotation of digital resources into your classroom. Instructors can assign PDFs, webpages, video, or audio and have students collaboratively engage with those texts. In this workshop, we will explore three concrete ways you can start using Perusall in your classroom right away to increase student engagement with readings, respond to student questions, and direct student attention to course policies and expectations.

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

This workshop is open to anyone teaching or developing courses at Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt University is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. Please contact Juliet Traub at cft@vanderbilt.edu or 615-322-7290 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

 

Assignments & Video Assignments in Brightspace Workshop 

Participants in this workshop will learn about how to use the Brightspace Assignments and Video Assignments tools to receive, organize, and provide feedback on student work. Ideally, participants will have Brightspace open during the session so they can explore and build content in our test course! By the end of the workshop, users will be able to:

  • Build assignments and video assignments in the Content area and the Assignments tool
  • Select the most appropriate options and settings
  • Connect assignments to the gradebook and use the many built-in assessment and academic integrity tools

There will be time at the end of and throughout the workshop for participants to ask questions about using Brightspace.

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Building Quizzes in the New Brightspace Quiz Experience 

Participants in this workshop will learn about the new update to the Quizzes tool in Brightspace. This new quiz experience came out last fall and became the default and only option for quizzes this summer. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Create and/or edit a quiz in the new quiz experience
  • Understand and control timing options for availability and time limits in quizzes
  • Connect quizzes to the gradebook 
  • Determine what students see after they complete a quiz

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Turnitin 

Are you an instructor planning to use Turnitin this semester, either for the originality checker or for the easy-to-use grading features? If so, plan on joining us for a frank conversation about how to use Turnitin to support student learning and spend less time grading. 

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Gradescope 

Gradescope is a tool that helps instructors administer and grade all of their assessments, whether online or in-class. With features that allow for multiple graders, auto-updating rubrics, and more, this tool can help reduce the grading load in classes with certain kinds of assessments. Join the Gradescope Workshop Series to learn more, ask questions, and demo key features. 

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Grading and Feedback with Rubrics Workshop 

Feedback and grades should convey to students where they are succeeding and where they need to invest more effort in order to meet expectations. Rubrics are organized grading schemes that can help you give better feedback in less time while also making grading criteria transparent for students. Instructors interested in thinking through how to use rubrics in their teaching are welcome to attend this workshop. Participants will explore several models of rubrics, workshop a rubric that connects to course objectives, and learn how to create easy-to-use rubrics on Brightspace.

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Respondus

LockDown Browser is a custom browser that prevents digital cheating during a Brightspace quiz. This training session will cover how to use LockDown Browser to prevent digital cheating in proctored testing environments and how instructors set up tests to require LockDown Browser. It will also cover how to allow students to access resources such as digital calculators, spreadsheets, external websites, eBooks, and more, during online tests that use LockDown Browser and the student perspective taking a Brightspace quiz that requires LockDown Browser. The workshop will also touch on best practices and resources and will conclude with a Q&A period.

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Groups and Discussions in Brightspace Workshop 

Participants in this workshop will learn about how to use the Brightspace Groups and Discussions tools for engagement, interaction, formative assessment, individual journaling, and more. Ideally, participants will have Brightspace open during the session so they can explore and build content in our test course! By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Build discussion forums, topics, and threads using a variety of available options
  • Connect discussions to the gradebook and use the built-in assessment tools
  • Construct useful prompts and activities that will promote maximum engagement from your students

There are currently no workshops scheduled.

 

Brightspace and Instructional Technology Support Workshops & Trainings Calendar