IPI workshops
This page shows a list of all currently available workshops offered through the
Center for Instruction and Program Innovation. All workshops are free for
faculty and staff, but registration is required.
All Scheduled Sessions
AI Course Policies
Tuesday, September 1, 2026 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop will consider how to communicate your course’s AI policy to students, including when AI may and may not be used, why you’ve chosen your approach, and how to identify consequences if the policy is not followed.
Brightspace: Site Creation and Management
Thursday, September 3, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop introduces the processes by which course sites are created, populated (with rosters and teaching materials), and managed from semester to semester. Note: the workshop does not cover the creation of new materials.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, September 3, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: Site Creation and Management
Friday, September 4, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop introduces the processes by which course sites are created, populated (with rosters and teaching materials), and managed from semester to semester. Note: the workshop does not cover the creation of new materials.
Brightspace: Creating and Uploading Content
Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the creation and use of the resource objects (pages, urls, files) that can be added to Brightspace sites, with specific attention being paid to the HTML Templates that can add a consistent look and feel to your course content.
Managing concerns over inappropriate AI use on assignments
Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Learn how to thoughtfully respond when you suspect a student has used AI inappropriately, including how to evaluate evidence, understand the limitations of AI detectors, and have a productive conversation with the student.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: Creating and Uploading Content
Friday, September 11, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the creation and use of the resource objects (pages, urls, files) that can be added to Brightspace sites, with specific attention being paid to the HTML Templates that can add a consistent look and feel to your course content.
Coffee and conversation
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 from 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Feinberg Lobby (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This informal gathering offers a chance to take a short break during a busy point in the semester, connect with colleagues, and talk about your teaching.
Brightspace: Assignments
Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the creation, management, and grading of Brightspace's "Assignments" (dropboxes).
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: Assignments
Friday, September 18, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the creation, management, and grading of Brightspace's "Assignments" (dropboxes).
Accessibility: PDF Accessibility Mitigation Clinic
Monday, September 21, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This clinic provides faculty with an opportunity to get one-on-one help remediating PDFs for accessibility. Bring your course materials and work with staff to fix tagging, reading order, alternative text, tables, forms, and scanned documents.
Brightspace: Discussions
Thursday, September 24, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop introduces the creation, management, and effective use of Brightspace discussion topics/forums.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, September 24, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Accessibility: PDF Accessibility Mitigation Clinic
Thursday, September 24, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This clinic provides faculty with an opportunity to get one-on-one help remediating PDFs for accessibility. Bring your course materials and work with staff to fix tagging, reading order, alternative text, tables, forms, and scanned documents.
Brightspace: Discussions
Friday, September 25, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop introduces the creation, management, and effective use of Brightspace discussion topics/forums.
Accessibility: Acrobat Pro - Alternative Text and Image Descriptions
Monday, September 28, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop focuses on creating and adding alternative text (ALT text) with special attention to complex graphs, charts and diagrams used in PDFs. Learn how to distinguish between decorative and meaningful images and how to write effective descriptions that communicate essential information to screen reader users.
Accessibility: Acrobat Pro - Alternative Text and Image Descriptions
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop focuses on creating and adding alternative text (ALT text) with special attention to complex graphs, charts and diagrams used in PDFs. Learn how to distinguish between decorative and meaningful images and how to write effective descriptions that communicate essential information to screen reader users.
Appropriate use of AI for students and instructors
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
We will discuss evidence for the circumstances when AI can be used appropriately to enhance student learning and your teaching. Consider ways students can use AI as part of meaningful learning activities and how instructors can use AI to support effective, evidence-based teaching practices.
Brightspace: Quizzes and Question Library
Thursday, October 1, 2026 from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the creation, management, and grading of quizzes in Brightspace, beginning with an introduction to Brightspace's Question Library.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, October 1, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: Quizzes and Question Library
Friday, October 2, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the creation, management, and grading of quizzes in Brightspace, beginning with an introduction to Brightspace's Question Library.
Accessibility: Acrobat Pro -Tags and Reading Order
Monday, October 5, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the use of the tags panel and reading order tool in Adobe Acrobat Pro to create properly structured PDFs for screen reader users. Participants will learn how to run accessibility checks and identify and fix common tagging issues involving headings, lists, tables, and document structure.
Accessibility: Acrobat Pro -Tags and Reading Order
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop covers the use of the tags panel and reading order tool in Adobe Acrobat Pro to create properly structured PDFs for screen reader users. Participants will learn how to run accessibility checks and identify and fix common tagging issues involving headings, lists, tables, and document structure.
Engagement: How can we improve students’ intrinsic motivation?
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Have you ever felt like a task was too much? Too overwhelming? Or didn’t have a benefit that seemed to reflect the necessary effort to complete a task? If yes, it might be that intrinsic motivation was the factor that helped you tackle that overwhelming challenge. We will explore evidence-based strategies to intertwine opportunities for students to build intrinsic motivation both inside and outside the classroom.
Brightspace: Release Conditions and Intelligent Agents
Thursday, October 8, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop provides an overview of Brightspace's "Release conditions" and "Intelligent Agents," allowing you to automate some course communications and to make parts of your Brightspace site respond directly to student activity.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, October 8, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: Release Conditions and Intelligent Agents
Friday, October 9, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop provides an overview of Brightspace's "Release conditions" and "Intelligent Agents," allowing you to automate some course communications and to make parts of your Brightspace site respond directly to student activity.
Accessibility: MS Word Documents
Wednesday, October 14, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This course provides an overview of how to make a Microsoft Word document accessible.
Brightspace Gradebook Clinic
Thursday, October 15, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
The Brightspace Gradebook Clinic provides you with an opportunity to have your Brightspace gradebooks set up, reviewed, and/or tweaked. Arrive whenever you like within the workshop's posted time period; leave when you're all set.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, October 15, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace Gradebook Clinic
Friday, October 16, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
The Brightspace Gradebook Clinic provides you with an opportunity to have your Brightspace gradebooks set up, reviewed, and/or tweaked. Arrive whenever you like within the workshop's posted time period; leave when you're all set.
Accessibility: MS Word Documents
Friday, October 16, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This course provides an overview of how to make a Microsoft Word document accessible.
Engagement: Increasing in-person attendance and on-time assignment completion
Monday, October 19, 2026 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Getting students to class is more than arriving on time; it's also being present in our relationships and creating meaningful opportunities for students to learn with the instructor and each other. During this session, we will explore evidence-based strategies to support students' attendance and task completion.
Accessibility: Powerpoint
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
PowerPoint accessibility shares many general concepts with other electronic documents, such as using sufficient color contrast and adding alt text to images. But there are also some unique features to examine, such as slide design and embedded multimedia. In this workshop, we’ll explore the topics you need to know to create an accessible PowerPoint presentation.
Accessibility: Powerpoint
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
PowerPoint accessibility shares many general concepts with other electronic documents, such as using sufficient color contrast and adding alt text to images. But there are also some unique features to examine, such as slide design and embedded multimedia. In this workshop, we’ll explore the topics you need to know to create an accessible PowerPoint presentation.
Brightspace: Reports and Analytics
Thursday, October 22, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop takes you into Brightspaces's reports, logs, and the Class Progress view, providing you with the data that can help you tweak your course, where needed, assess the utility of course content, analyze quiz data, and monitor student behavior.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, October 22, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: Reports and Analytics
Friday, October 23, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
This workshop takes you into Brightspaces's reports, logs, and the Class Progress view, providing you with the data that can help you tweak your course, where needed, assess the utility of course content, analyze quiz data, and monitor student behavior.
Accessibility: PDF Documents
Monday, October 26, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
PDF offers many accessibility features, but they have to be deliberately incorporated — they don’t happen by accident. Learn how to mitigate various issues in order to make your PDF documents more accessible.
Engagement: Classroom management
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Despite a perfectly prepared class meeting, instructors often face difficult classroom behaviors such as late arrivals, screen distractions, and disrespect for the learning process. During this workshop we will consider evidence-based strategies to prevent these problems and address them for mutually beneficial outcomes.
Accessibility: PDF Documents
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
PDF offers many accessibility features, but they have to be deliberately incorporated — they don’t happen by accident. Learn how to mitigate various issues in order to make your PDF documents more accessible.
Brightspace: AI features for Faculty
Thursday, October 29, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Brightspace has introduced AI features that allow for the automated generation of topic summaries, assignments, discussion topics, and quizzes. In this workshop, you'll learn about the ethics, opportunities, and limitations of Brightspace's built-in AI.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, October 29, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Brightspace: AI features for Faculty
Friday, October 30, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Brightspace has introduced AI features that allow for the automated generation of topic summaries, assignments, discussion topics, and quizzes. In this workshop, you'll learn about the ethics, opportunities, and limitations of Brightspace's built-in AI.
Accessibility: Ally
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Learn how to use Blackboard Ally in Brightspace to assess the accessibility of your course materials and meet federally mandated ADA compliance standards. This hands-on session introduces Ally’s features, explains what the tool can and can’t do, and walks you through generating a course-level accessibility report. Participants will practice identifying issues and learn simple strategies to fix common problems in Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files. No prior experience required—just bring have a course in Brightspace that's ready to scan and a willingness to improve accessibility for all learners.
Office Hour (Peter Friesen)
Thursday, November 5, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Zoom (Online) (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
A CIAPI office hour is a place to get one-on-one support for your questions about teaching. Dr. Friesen's expertise lies in the areas of Brightspace and multimedia.
Online teaching: Discussion forums
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Discussion forums aren’t just an online substitute for in-class conversation—they’re a powerful learning tool in any teaching modality. This session explores how well-designed discussions deepen learning, support inclusive participation, and strengthen student engagement across face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses.
Accessibility: Ally
Thursday, November 12, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Feinberg Library 249 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Learn how to use Blackboard Ally in Brightspace to assess the accessibility of your course materials and meet federally mandated ADA compliance standards. This hands-on session introduces Ally’s features, explains what the tool can and can’t do, and walks you through generating a course-level accessibility report. Participants will practice identifying issues and learn simple strategies to fix common problems in Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files. No prior experience required—just bring have a course in Brightspace that's ready to scan and a willingness to improve accessibility for all learners.
Online teaching: Academic integrity through assessments and assignments
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Angell College Ctr Meeting Rm 2 (Seats available for Faculty/Staff)
Creating a learning experience balanced with both low- and high-stakes assessments and assignments offers students the opportunity to practice, learn, and grow in the application of course materials and content. During this session, we will discuss how to use student performance data through low-stakes assessments and assignments to support academic integrity.