Join us for learning and renewing of helpful teaching and technology skills. From Blackboard to Google and a lot in between, be prepared to learn how to take your classroom instruction to a different level. Sessions go from 8:30 until 5:00 throughout campus.

Sponsored by University Technology Services and the Center for Teaching Excellence, the BEST Institute is available for all faculty and instructors. Registration is required.

Schedule & Listing

Adobe Connect
Create PowerPoint presentations with audio for delivery on the Web or CD. Connect also allows for live Webcasts and archiving of lectures, including slides, desktop sharing, chat and more. Get introduced to Adobe Connect Professional and why it may be helpful to you whether you are teaching online, or in a traditional classroom and providing some information online. Ideas for online lectures, assessment and classroom tips will be discussed. Bring your ideas to share.

BEST Opening & Welcome Session
This general session will provide a panel discussion on how some faculty are using Blackboard in their teaching, followed by an introduction to some of the other instructional technology tools that are supported at USC. 

Beginning Online Teaching
Are you teaching online for the first time or do you want to learn some new tips for teaching online? This session provides basic tips for setting up your online course, using discussion boards and reducing email overload. Examples will be shown, rubrics will be provided and time will be allotted for participants to share their ideas as well.

Blackboard Accessibility 101
You may have learned how to post course content to Blackboard, but can it be accessed by all of your students? Can a student that is blind read your syllabus? Can a student that is deaf hear your online video presentation? This session will show you ways of making your class accessible to all of your students. Some of the software that will be discussed: Microsoft Word, Adobe, Camtasia.

Blackboard and VIP Basics
New faculty will be introduced to VIP, the USC administrative portal, which allows access to payroll information, class rolls, and posting of final grades. Then, in Blackboard they will learn how to log-in, add course content, create announcements and send email. Explore online course design, the discussion board, see how to set up groups and use the Grade Center.

Blackboard Adaptive Release / Performance Dashboard
Did you know you could display content or a test based on a grade made on a previous test or assignment? Did you know you could require students to mark an item as reviewed before they can take a test or view another item? Do you have a need to release an item or test to an individual student or group? Have you ever thought about requiring your students to complete a syllabus quiz before granting them access to the rest of your course? You can do all that and more with the Adaptive Release feature in Blackboard.

Blackboard Assignment / Safe Assign
Assign Learn how to post assignments, load files, receive student input and files, organize information, and grade assignments using the Assignment Manager. Discover how to check for plagiarism using Safe Assign.

Blackboard Basics
Learn how to log-in, add course content, create announcements and send email. Explore online course design, the discussion board, see how to set up groups and use the Grade Center.

Blackboard: Course Merge and Grade Center Smart Views
Blackboard has a new course merge tool. This tool will allow instructors to merge multiple sections of courses they teach into a single Blackboard section. The merge tool makes all the merged sections inactive so all students only see the merged section. Additionally, the new tool creates a column in the Grade Center to let you know the original section for the merged students. This column can be used in conjunction with the Grade Center Smart View feature to allow you to create a view for each section for easier entry of final grades.

Blackboard: Grade Center
The Blackboard grade book has a new look and a new name, Grade Center. Learn how to manage your Blackboard Grade Center. This session will cover how to weight grades, download and upload, drop the lowest grade and many more time-saving features.

Blackboard: Mashups (YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare)

Blackboard: Personal Portfolios

Blackboard: Rubics for Grading Assessments
Do you use rubrics in your teaching? Would you like to find out how to create and re-use rubrics? This session will cover the new Blackboard rubric tool. You'll learn how to attach a rubric to an assignment or to a grade center column and how to use Blackboard rubrics for grading.

Blackboard: Tests & Surveys
Learn how to create tests and surveys. You can use test and surveys in place of paper/pencil exams, to assess mastery of a concept, or to prepare students for in class exams.

Blackboard: Self & Peer Assessment
Allison Marsh (History) and Jeremy Searson (Athletic Training Education Program) both experimented with using Blackboard’s Self and Peer Evaluation feature during the fall semester.  They will share their original goals, the varying success of their assignments, and the challenges.

Blackboard: Wiki, Blogs & Discussion Board
Did you know you can put a blog or a wiki in your Blackboard site? Journal LX and Teams LX are packages created by Learning Objects, Inc. that work with Blackboard. Learn how to add Wikis and Blogs or discussion boards to your course site as well as some interesting ways to use Wikis, Blogs and discussion forums.

Camtasia & Jing
Learn how to create multimedia tutorials for almost anything you do on a computer. This class will show you how to create "how-to" videos that you can load to your Blackboard site, other Web page or write to CDs. Camtasia will allow you to edit your recordings and create a variety of video formats including flash and podcasts. Jing allows you to easily create very short videos that are great for answering questions or short explanations. Jing is free.

Copyright: Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
In this session faculty will learn their rights and responsibilities under federal copyright law. In addition to discussing how to appropriately apply the Fair Use Exception when using or distributing copyrighted materials in the physical or virtual classroom, participants will learn how to better educate students about their use of copyrighted materials

Digital Natives: Connecting with your students
So, you have heard about the Millennial or Gen Y students. But, who is coming to USC now? The Digital Natives or the Generation "Z" student. This is the first generation to be born with complete technology. This session will go over some of the needs and expectations, tendencies, and learning preferences of those students born after 1994. You will leave with a better understanding of the students as well as some helpful teaching hints.

Facebook, Twitter & Skype @ USC
Don't know where to start with these 3 technology tools? How can you use them? Come to this session for an overview of Facebook, Twitter, and Skype and see how members of the USC community use them.

Googlize an Assignment
Google is not just for searching! Learn to use free and powerful Google tools for teaching and learning. Develop skills in using Google tools and learn ways to integrate their use into the classroom. Create a project using Google tools that can be used to provide 21st Century skills to you and your students.

Graphical Syllabus: Spark up that Syllabus!
Does your syllabus look like a mortgage contract than a course guide? Do your students get glassy-eyed trying to find critical information? A graphic syllabus can help spark new interest in your course, highlight critical items, and entice students to actually read the information they need. Learn how to plan, design, and create a syllabus that promotes interest in the subject and kick-starts your class! Bring your syllabus with you!

iPads in Teaching
So you finally got that iPad, or you're thinking about getting one. Join us to find out more about how you can use it with instructional activities and your own productivity. We'll discuss iPad features, some great apps for teaching and course management, and discussion with others about cool (and effective!) uses of tablets in teaching.

iTunesU Podcasting
Come learn about the basics of podcasting with iTunes U project. Learn how to request an iTunes U site for your class, upload your podcast and incorporate it with Blackboard.

Non-Blackboard Communication & Collaboration Tools
This session will introduce a few non-Blackboard communication & collaboration tools that can be used in traditional and distributed learning courses. These tools include VoiceThread, Vocaroo, Speakamessage, Eyejot, and Voki. VoiceThread allows for conversations (video, voice, and text) in the cloud, Vocaroo and Speakamessage are quick ways to share voice messages, Eyejot is a way to send and receive video email from a computer or mobile device, and Voki allows users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a talking avatar.

"Smart" and Enhanced Classroom Technology
This session is designed to demonstrate how you can get the most out of your class by utilizing equipment provided in the University's enhanced classrooms. You will have the opportunity to experience the technology before you step foot into your class. How do I hook up my laptop? Who do I call with problems? How do I best use the document camera? These are just a few of the questions we will address during this hands on session.

Tenure & Promotion Dean and Department Chairs: Blackboard Workshop
This session is specifically for dean and department T&P Chairs and their administrative assistants who will be using Blackboard to manage T&P files for the upcoming T&P cycle. The session covers assembling the PDF package(s) that will be reviewed, enrolling the reviewers in your unit, posting the PDF package(s) for review, and forwarding the file(s) to the next level of review.

Tenure & Promotion Unit Chairs: Blackboard Workshop
This session is specifically for unit T&P Chairs and their administrative assistants who will be using Blackboard to manage T&P files for the upcoming T&P cycle. The session covers assembling the PDF package(s) that will be reviewed, enrolling the reviewers in your unit, posting the PDF package(s) for review, and forwarding the file(s) to the next level of review.

Web 2.0 Technologies
Be a part of this demonstration and discussion session dealing with Web 2.0 technologies. These technologies include applications like Twitter, Facebook, del.icio.us, etc. used for organizing information and social networking. Bring your ideas.

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