Back-To-School Workshops

At the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, we offer a variety of tech trainings and pedagogy workshops to help instructors prepare for the new semester. Below you’ll find descriptions and links to register for sessions we’re offering this August. At the bottom of the page are links to recordings from prior sessions, in case you’re unable to attend one this August but would like to see the content.

We begin BTS for Fall 2023 the week of August 7, with a remote presentation on Teaching in the Age of GenAI. The week of August 14 we offer a suite of sessions on Zoom while many instructors are still off campus. The week of August 21, all tech trainings and some pedagogy workshops will be offered in hybrid format with options to attend in person or remotely, to make them accessible to as many instructors as possible. Where meeting face to face creates the best conditions for a particular workshop, it will be held in person. Lunch will be served Monday, August 21 - Thursday, August 24 at 11:30.

Teaching in the Age of GenAI Presentation (via Zoom)

Wednesday, August 9, 1:00-1:45

Since ChatGPT was released to the public in 2022, faculty have been concerned about how the technology will impact teaching and learning. In this presentation, we will introduce faculty to ChatGPT and offer strategies for how to prepare for the upcoming semester. This general overview  will cover how the technology works, its possibilities and limitations, strategies for discussing Academic Integrity with students, and tips on course and assignment design. All are welcome.

Register for Teaching in the Age of GenAI

Canvas Basics (via Zoom)

Monday, August 14, 10:00-11:30

Canvas is an online learning management system that can serve as a central hub for your course. It can be an important tool for communicating with your students about course structure and requirements, and sharing course materials including syllabi, readings, and other media. During this workshop, we will introduce instructors to the Canvas platform and essential features such as Announcements, Files, Modules, Pages, and Discussions. The session will include substantial hands-on practice.

Register for Canvas Basics

Canvas Assignments (via Zoom)

Monday, August 14, 1:00-2:30

This session provides an overview of the Assignments tool in Canvas. We will introduce instructors to how the tool can be used to create quizzes, graded discussions, and accept a variety of online submission formats  (i.e. files, images, text, URLs, etc.).  We will demonstrate how assignments can be assigned to everyone in the course or differentiated by section or user. The session will include substantial hands-on practice.

Please note that this workshop will only briefly discuss the Quiz tool. For an in-depth workshop on Quizzing in Canvas, please see the Canvas Quizzes workshop.

Register for Canvas Assignments

Panopto (via Zoom)

Tuesday, August 15, 10:00-11:30

Panopto allows instructors to create recordings of lectures or presentations, including audio, video and screen content, and share them with students in Canvas. This workshop will introduce lecture capture, which records classes in technology-equipped classrooms and can also provide live streaming. We’ll cover the changes to lecture capture protocol this fall, including the “opt in” process for requesting recordings, and how to make them available to students. We’ll also demonstrate personal capture, which allows instructors to make recordings on their own laptops for students to view asynchronously, allowing more synchronous time for interaction.

Register for Panopto

Canvas Grading (via Zoom)

Tuesday, August 15, 1:00-2:30

In this session, we will review Gradebook settings that determine how grades and feedback are communicated to students. This session is recommended for anyone new to grading through Canvas, or anyone who has used Canvas grading and is interested in exploring it further. The session will include substantial hands-on practice.

Register for Canvas Grading

AI and Academic Integrity

Thursday, August 17, 10:00-11:30 (fully remote)
Tuesday, August 22, 10:00-11:30 (hybrid)

What can we do now to ensure that we are grading student work instead of something created by artificial intelligence? In this workshop, we’ll assess the current approaches to addressing academic integrity concerns in light of ChatGPT. Building on what we already know about promoting academic integrity, we will provide new strategies that can allow for increased focus on learning and less focus on policing. We will also dedicate time in the workshop for participants to develop preliminary policies that can be integrated into syllabi.

Register for AI and Academic Integrity on August 17th (fully remote)
Register for AI and Academic Integrity on August 22nd (hybrid)

Drop-in Session (O'Neill 250, or via Zoom)

Friday, August 18, 10:00-11:30

Bring questions on Canvas and other BC-supported technologies, and CTE staff will answer them on a first come, first served basis. To make drop-ins accessible to as many instructors as possible, they will be offered in person with the option to attend remotely. Please indicate when registering whether you plan to attend in person or via Zoom. You are welcome to participate in the other format if you change your mind, but having projected numbers is useful for our planning.

Register for Drop-in Session

Lecturing for Learning (O'Neill 250, or via Zoom)

Monday, August 21, 10:00-11:30

Whether our classes involve significant amounts of lecturing or rely more on other methods, presenting content tends to be a central task in university teaching. This session will explore ways to make delivery engaging and effective and discuss strategies to further enliven a strong lecture or presentation by interweaving it with other types of learning activities.

Register for Lecturing for Learning

Teaching with ChatGPT 

Friday, August 18, 1:00-2:30 (fully remote)
Monday, August 21, 1:00-2:30 (hybrid)

This workshop will examine key features, limitations, and potential educational uses of ChatGPT, an artificial-intelligence (AI) tool that generates original text in a variety of formats. While not all faculty will be keen to use ChatGPT, this workshop will focus on how to frame discussions with students about the tool, how to teach students to write effective ChatGPT prompts, and how to respond to student work that includes content generated by ChatGPT.

Register for Teaching with ChatGPT on August 18th  (fully remote)
Register for Teaching with ChatGPT on August 21st  (hybrid)

Part I: Planning for Critical Conversations (O'Neill 250)

Tuesday, August 22, 10:00-11:30

Critical conversations are charged moments in the classroom that can present in a variety of different ways, though they're often focused on questions that bring together topics of difference, power, and justice. Whether a critical conversation predictably breaks out in a discussion of a provocative text or unexpectedly erupts in response to a student comment, they are an opportunity for learning. 

For this session on planning for critical conversations, we’ll consider how taking a particularly antiracist approach to preparing for critical conversations can lead to greater learning for all students. While the session will encompass conversations that are explicitly about race and racism, there will also be space to consider how we can take an antiracist pedagogical lens to all the critical conversations that occur in our courses. Participants will leave with concrete steps they can take to plan ahead for antiracist critical conversations that increase student engagement and understanding. Participation in the afternoon workshop on “Facilitating Critical Conversations” is encouraged but not required. 

Register for Part I: Planning for Critical Conversations

Part II: Facilitating Critical Conversations (O'Neill 250)

Tuesday, August 22, 1:00-2:30

Critical conversations are charged moments in the classroom that can present in a variety of different ways, though they're often focused on questions that bring together topics of difference, power, and justice. Whether a critical conversation predictably breaks out in a discussion of a provocative text or unexpectedly erupts in response to a student comment, they are an opportunity for learning. 

For this session on facilitating critical conversations, participants will leave being able to: articulate what might be at stake for individuals with different identities in the room; identify pedagogical moves that support learning while attending to racialized power dynamics; and identify opportunities for repairing relationships with students when conversations get off track, cause harm, and interrupt learning. While the session will encompass conversations that are explicitly about race and racism, there will also be space to consider how we can take an antiracist pedagogical lens to all the critical conversations that occur in our courses. Participation in the morning workshop on “Planning for Critical Conversations” is encouraged but not required to attend. 

Register for Part II: Facilitating Critical Conversations

Perusall (O'Neill 250, or via Zoom)

Wednesday, August 23, 10:00-11:30

This session will focus on how to set up and use Perusall, a tool that integrates with Canvas and allows students to collaboratively annotate documents and other content in conversation with their classmates. We will begin with a brief framing of pedagogical considerations, followed by an overview of the process for creating annotation assignments and options for guiding and tracking student work. Facilitators will highlight recent improvements to the Canvas integration which make assignment set-up and grade sharing easier, and allow groups created in Canvas to be used in Perusall. For previous Perusall users, we’ll briefly review steps to take to update any content you want to re-use. 

Register for Perusall

Poll Everywhere (O'Neill 250, or via Zoom)

Wednesday, August 23, 1:00-2:30

This session will provide an overview of the Poll Everywhere platform, a free, web-based tool for creating interactive activities and polls for students. We will cover creating and presenting activities in Poll Everywhere, registering students and preparing them to participate, as well as viewing student responses and exporting grades from Poll Everywhere to Canvas.

Register for Poll Everywhere

Canvas Quizzes (O'Neill 250, or via Zoom)

Thursday, August 24, 10:00-11:30

Canvas offers both Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes, two tools for assessment which will co-exist for the foreseeable future. This workshop will begin with an overview of both systems and criteria instructors might consult in choosing between them. Facilitators will show how to create Quizzes with a variety of question types, and how to organize and grade them and provide student accommodations. 

Register for Canvas Quizzes

Drop-in Session (O'Neill 250, or via Zoom)

Thursday, August 24, 10:00-11:30

Bring questions on Canvas and other BC-supported technologies, and CTE staff will answer them on a first come, first served basis. To make drop-ins accessible to as many instructors as possible, they will be offered in person with the option to attend remotely. Please indicate when registering whether you plan to attend in person or via Zoom. You are welcome to participate in the other format if you change your mind, but having projected numbers is useful for our planning.

Register for Drop-in Session

Question, Persuade, and Refer Suicide-Prevention Training (O'Neill 250)

Thursday, August 24, 1:00-2:30

QPR is a 1.5 hour evidence-based suicide prevention training developed by the QPR Institute. Facilitated by colleagues from the Center for Student Wellness, QPR training teaches how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and to follow the 3 simple steps of QPR — question, persuade, and refer. As instructors who are often amongst the first to notice that a student might be struggling, you can be part of this movement to reduce stigma and offer hope to those in crisis. Key components covered in training: how to Question, Persuade, and Refer someone who may be in a suicidal crisis; how to properly identify and respond to the warning signs of serious psychological distress in order to get help for someone in crisis; and how to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide.

Register for Question, Persuade, and Refer Suicide-Prevention Training

Session Recordings

Click the links below to see recordings from previous tech trainings:

Accommodation Requests

The Center for Teaching Excellence is committed to providing equal access to its events and programs. Individuals with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about physical access may contact centerforteaching@bc.edu.

Past Back-to-School Workshops

Back To Top