Workshops for Brightspace Users
The Office of Online Learning and Academic Technologies is offering the following
workshops throughout the year. Except where noted, all workshops are led by Todd Taylor, Online Learning Manager.
You may sign up for either the live session or the asynchronous online resources.
Register for all sessions here.
2026 - August/September - Brightspace Fundamentals Workshops
During August and September, the fundamental skills in Brightspace workshops will get you up and running in Brightspace. Register for all sessions here.
Adding and Structuring Content
Tuesday, August 4 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, August 5 from 3pm - 4pm
Tuesday, September 1 from 3pm - 4pm
Wednesday, September 2 from 11am - 12pm
The Adding and structuring content workshop will provide exercises on adding modules,
embedding existing videos and audio files, adding existing graded activities to modules,
and adding new pages. You will also be provided with exercises on moving content within
a move as well as how to change a module title. This workshop will outline how to
ensure content is released to students.
Adding a Syllabus
Tuesday, August 11 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, August 12 from 3pm - 4pm
Tuesday, September 8 from 3pm - 4pm
Wednesday, September 9 from 11am - 12pm
The Adding a Syllabus workshop provides resources and step-by-step instructions to
help you setup and configure your syllabus using the Syllabus tool in Brightspace.
Adding Assignments
Tuesday, August 18 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, August 19 from 3pm - 4pm
Tuesday, September 15 from 3pm - 4pm
Wednesday, September 16 from 11am - 12pm
The Adding Assignments workshop will focus on building out basic assignments in Brightspace.
You will be provided with an example of an assignment. The exercises will outline
how to create a basic assignment with an appropriate title, score, description, submission
method, and visibility.
Setting up the Gradebook
Tuesday, August 25 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, August 26 from 3pm - 4pm
Tuesday, September 22 from 3pm - 4pm
Wednesday, September 23 from 11am - 12pm
The Setting up the Gradebook workshop aims to provide you with a show-and-tell of
the gradebook from the perspective of the student. In doing so, the workshop will
aim to explain how the gradebook communicates to the student their performance. The
workshop will then provide exercises on how to set up the gradebook. First, the workshop
will outline the recommended settings for the gradebook. Then, the workshop will guide
participants through the process of creating high level categories. Finally, the workshop
will show how to associate assignments, discussions, and quizzes with those categories.
2026 - September Workshops
During September, we will be looking at communication tools available in Brightspace after go-live, which can help with online facilitation. Register for all sessions here.
Ad Hoc Communication
Tuesday, September 1 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, September 2 from 3pm - 4pm
Are your messages met with tumbleweeds and the sounds of crickets? Are your students
misinterpreting your announcements? This session will review a 2 x 2 matrix to provide
a framework to analyze ad hoc (course logistic) communication tools in Brightspace.
On one dimension, we will compare synchronous and asynchronous tools. On the other
dimension, one- and two-way communication tools will be outlined. Upon review, it
may be discovered that the most versatile tools for course communication, such as
Padlet and Discussions, may be overlooked. The session will demonstrate how to set
up and use each tool.
Performance Communication
Tuesday, September 8 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, September 9 from 3pm - 4pm
Performance communication is communication related to tasks set in the course. Performance
communication is often based on feedback and grades. This session will outline various
methods for providing multimodal feedback in Brightspace, including annotations, video-based
overall feedback, video-based think aloud feedback, and whole-of-class feedback. Awards,
as an alternative form of performance communication, will be introduced and an attendance
tool will also be demonstrated.
Soliciting Feedback
Tuesday, September 15 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, September 16 from 3pm - 4pm
Body language gives us insights into student engagement in an in-person class. This
workshop considers how we might garner similar insights for the online components
of our course. It will provide a deep dive into the survey tool in Brightspace. The
session will also explore how to set up reports, use AI to analyze survey data, and
build a feedback discussion forum.
Automated Communication
Tuesday, September 22 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, September 23 from 3pm - 4pm
Is your time wasted chasing up non-responsive students? This workshop will explore
automated messages in Brightspace. You will automate emails to students who have not
logged into your course, as well as provide support resources to students whose grades
fall below your benchmark. Automation can also be used to recognize students. You
will set up rules to send emails to congratulate students. You will also explore how
to use Awards to get a treasure hunt in your course, rewarding students for completing
activities.
2026 - October Workshops
During October, we will be starting our deep dive into interactive instruction. This month, we will focus on principles that guide student-to-student discussions within online courses. Register for all sessions here.
Visualizing Student Engagement in Discussions (new)
Tuesday, October 6 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, October 7 from 3pm - 4pm
This workshop is targeted at existing online instructors who use the Discussions tool
in Brightspace. In this session, we will discuss various patterns of interaction.
You will visualize the desired pattern of interaction for your course. Then, using
data from Brightspace, you will visualize actual interaction patterns in your course.
Depending on the alignment between desired and actual states, we will share or brainstorm
strategies for success.
Breaking the A-Ice
Tuesday, October 13 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, October 14 from 3pm - 4pm
Online courses often have an icebreaker at the start of the semester. Then, it is
all business. This session says whether it is possible to build trust and rapport
through a single interaction. It will explore strategies to weave ice breakers throughout
an online course. Together, participants will ideate ice-breakers for the start of
the semester, preceding small group work, prepping for a midterm or final, and reflecting
on a milestone. The workshop will aim to identify key events during a semester and
how we might build trust and rapport during those events.
The ‘Bystander Effect’ versus Small Group Discussions (new)
Tuesday, October 20 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, October 21 from 3pm - 4pm
You may have heard of the “Bystander Effect”. This is a psychological principle that
is associated with apathy. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely people
are to react to an emergency situation. This session asks whether we can apply the
same concept to online discussions and, when viewed through this lens, whether there
is anything that we can do to address it. The session will consider group size, student
roles, and prompts that leverage problem-based learning. The workshop will show how
to create small group discussions online and how to leverage AI to suggest problem-based
learning prompts.
Facilitating and Grading Interactive Instruction (new)
Tuesday, October 27 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, October 28 from 3pm - 4pm
You may have heard of the “Hawthorne Effect”. This popularized principle suggests
that people change their behaviors when they know they are being observed. This session
will discuss the positive and negative aspects of this. Balancing these aspects, we
will consider facilitation best practices and as well as consider companion activities
that allow you to grade reflections of the discussion.
2026 - November Workshops
During November, we will be continuing our deep dive into interactive instruction. This month, we will turn to tools to orchestrate and stage student-to-student interaction in online courses. Register for all sessions here.
Brightspace Discussions Tool
Tuesday, November 3 from 11am - 12pm *(Election Day - Optional Holiday)
Wednesday, November 4 from 3pm - 4pm
A deep dive into setting up interactive student-to-student activities using the Discussions
tool in Brightspace.
Padlet
Tuesday, November 10 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, November 11 from 3pm - 4pm *(Veterans Day - Optional Holiday)
Padlet can be visualized as a virtual noticeboard. In response to an instructor prompt,
students are able to post their notes to a wall. These notes may be text, images,
videos, or even files. Students are also able to engage with and respond to each other’s
posts. In this workshop, you will create a Padlet, add it to Brightspace, and grade
student contributions.
VoiceThread
Tuesday, November 17 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, November 18 from 3pm - 4pm
VoiceThread is a tool that lets students annotate instructor-created videos and other
rich media presentations. These annotations can be videos, audio clips, text and images.
In this workshop, you will explore three possible applications of VoiceThread. First,
we will explore an interactive lecture in which students are required to either ask
questions or to illustrate concepts with their own real world examples. Second, we
will look at an activity in which students are invited to create voiceover content
for an instructor-created visual slidedeck. Finally, for a language course, students
could practice and record their pronunciation as the words are being introduced.
Google Docs (new)
Tuesday, December 1 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, December 2 from 3pm - 4pm
We keep hearing 'I just want to hear the voices of my students again!'. In this workshop,
we will explore Google Docs as a 'hard' tool and scaffolded milestones as a 'soft'
tool. First, we will demonstrate the 'Document History' feature in Google Docs. This
feature allows you to see each edit within a Google Doc. You can see if a student
copy-and-pasted slabs of text, as well as see if a student removed and reformatted
telltale signs of AI. This is a reactive use case for the tool. To introduce a proactive
use case, we will consider scaffolding an assignment into milestones, then we will
explore how students can use this tool to 'version' their work. Putting the Document
History tool front and center aims to encourage greater accountability. Finally, we
will consider the 'Comments' tool as a method to facilitate peer reviews using annotations.
2026 - December Workshops
During December, we will be addressing the most prevalent SUNY Online Support requests for Brightspace. Register for all sessions here.
Adding Quizzes - The Basics
Tuesday, December 8 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, December 9 from 3pm - 4pm
This workshop will provide a step-by-step overview of quizzes. The workshop will demonstrate
a quiz, including the different types of quiz questions. You will be invited to complete
exercises on how to build out a bank of questions and release them as a quiz. You
will also review how to add accommodations to a specific quiz as well as across all
quizzes.
Setting up the Gradebook
Tuesday, December 15 from 11am - 12pm
Wednesday, December 16 from 3pm - 4pm
The Setting up the Gradebook workshop aims to provide you with a show-and-tell of
the gradebook from the perspective of the student. In doing so, the workshop will
aim to explain how the gradebook communicates to the student their performance. The
workshop will then provide exercises on how to set up the gradebook. First, the workshop
will outline the recommended settings for the gradebook. Then, the workshop will guide
participants through the process of creating high level categories. Finally, the workshop
will show how to associate assignments, discussions, and quizzes with those categories.
Get Help
If you need assistance with Brightspace, call the SUNY Online Support Services Help Desk (open 7 days per week) at 1-844-673-6786 during the following hours:
Monday - Friday 7:00am-12:00am Midnight EST
Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm EST
Sunday 10:00am-9:00pm EST
If you are having trouble with your FIT Username and Password, call IT for FIT at (212) 217-4357.