The Department of Online Education and Support offers webinars for faculty on various topics related to achieving excellence in the online classroom. These fully-online webinars are facilitated by DOES staff and most feature insights from a faculty co-host with expertise on the topic. Each webinar consists of the pedagogical “Why" as well as the practical “How”. At the end of each webinar, time is allotted for attendees to comment, share their views, and to ask questions of all webinar presenters. These webinars are conveniently delivered online, and are easily accessed from a desktop, phone, or tablet.
The DOES Blackboard Support Team hosts the "Blackboard How-To Webinar Series" every Wednesday at 2:00pm. Each session is a review of a specific functionality you need to build your Blackboard course site. Check your email for an announcement and link to the weekly webinar.
If you are interested but unable to attend a webinar, a recording of the webinar and the webinar presentation is posted on this page.
Digital Humanities Webinar
John Jay was awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grant funding through the Cares Act. Part of this funding was set aside to support the Humanities in supporting new projects, including the goal of moving more Humanities courses online. In addition to the Effective Practices in Online Teaching (EPOT) workshops offered over the summer of 2020, this Digital Humanities webinar series has been created to introduce educational tools to engage online students.
Using Synchronous Tools
- Engaging Students on Zoom
The session explores best practices for your synchronous virtual course meetings. Faculty share experiences and experiment with Zoom features such as breakup groups, chat, polls, etc. and discuss what activities can keep your students engaged in your virtual sessions.
See Video - How to Utilize Zoom
Zoom is a web conferencing tool you can opt to use to meet with your students. The webinar feature our John Jay professor, Adam Wandt, who reviews the functionality of Zoom, how to set up a session for your class, how to share your screen, use a whiteboard, how to manage the class virtually, as well as considerations related to having video and audio on/off and instructor presence and presentation.
Previously recorded.
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Download Zoom Background Images from John Jay - Blackboard Collaborate Webinar
Blackboard Collaborate is a simple, convenient, and reliable web conferencing solution built for education and training. Engage with the material and your instructor. Thanks to robust collaboration and conference tools, everyone feels like they're in the same room together, regardless of their location or device
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Start of Semester
- Alternative Assessments
Alternative assessment methods such as collaborative assignments, case studies, e-portfolio, project-based learning, and debates can be implemented in online courses and can serve to provide more substantive insight into what each student has learned. While tests and quizzes are often the primary means of checking student understanding, the alternative assessments can be used as a summative assessment that does not require proctoring. A panel from the Department of Online Education and Support review some alternative assessment methods and how they can be implemented in your online course.
See Video - Getting to Know Your Blackboard Course: Navigating the Template
Did you know that every section at the college is granted an accompanying Blackboard course section? Whether you are teaching face-to-face, hybrid or fully online, this webinar will walk you through what is found in the basic John Jay Blackboard course template, and then explore how to customize it to meet your needs. In addition to looking at the basic template, we will showcase a fully online course and discuss the elements that have made it a successful online learning experience for students.
Previously recorded.
See Video - Opening Your Blackboard Course: Things to Consider for a Smooth Beginning
The beginning of the semester is both an exciting and stressful time for both faculty and students. This webinar will walk you through some easy-to-follow best practices for ensuring that the first few weeks of the semester run smoothly; giving you more time to focus on building relationships with your students and giving your students more confidence and ownership over their learning environment.
Previously recorded.
See Video - Getting to Know Your Online Students: Exploring Instructor Presence and Methods for Early Intervention
Building community is essential to success for any endeavor. How do we do this online? We’ve all heard that online learning, if not thoughtfully structured, can lead students toward feelings of isolation. Many online courses experience high attrition rates due to a misunderstanding of expectations, technical barriers, and a myriad of other reasons. This webinar will explore methods for you to encourage your students to connect with one another, with you, to create an online community of learners.
Previously recorded.
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See Slides - Translating your On-Campus Class to a Distance Learning Course
In the event of an emergency the campus may close and you might need to conduct your course online. This Webinar will discuss some basic guidelines for you to translate your course to a distance learning course in case of an emergency. While we are aware other online teaching choices are in use, these guidelines focus on the currently supported Learning Management System, Blackboard. Each CUNY campus assigns every course to a Blackboard shell where your course materials and assignments can be added. This Webinar will walk you through some basic guidelines and Blackboard functions to get your course online in case of a campus closure. We recommend that you remind your students at each classroom meeting to update their emails in Blackboard and to test all mobile applications that students use to connect to their Blackboard accounts and course materials.
Previously recorded.
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