USC Brightspace Faculty Institute–Foundations

ITS and CET will host multiple sections of a Brightspace institute twice during the Spring ‘24 Semester. The first offerings will begin January 17th, and the second on March 6th.

Institute sessions will provide 1) the pedagogical purpose of Brightspace tools, 2) a demonstration of how to access and use them, and 3) time to practice in break-out rooms with tech support. Sessions will be recorded to allow flexibility in attendance and review of the sessions. Session recordings will be made available within the Brightspace Premium Guided Training materials to allow all faculty access to the recordings regardless of whether they register for the institute. An advanced institute will be offered in March on advanced tools and functions within Brightspace.

This institute includes 7 90-minute sessions and 1 asynchronous introduction module:

• Module 0:  Course Navigation and User Options (Asynchronous review prior to first session)
• Module 1:  Uploading and Creating Content
• Module 2:  Creating an Assignment Submission
• Module 3:  Grading and Providing Feedback
• Module 4:  Gradebook Set-Up
• Module 5:  Creating a Quiz, Survey, and Self-Assessment
• Module 6:  Communicating with Students
• Module 7:  Collaboration:  Discussions and Groups

Register for the institute section that best meets your teaching and scheduling needs below.

January 17 – March 3

• The Arts and Humanities & Social Science section will include examples of assessments for performance, studio, and lecture courses.  
• The Clinical & Social Science section will include examples that use feedback, self-reflection, and survey tools.  
• The STEM & Social Science concentration will include examples that use the equation editor and various quiz formats. 
• *Social Science faculty have very diverse approaches to teaching, depending on the field. Teaching methods may resemble those of any of the three disciplines above. Therefore, we encourage social science faculty to choose the section that best reflects the teaching methods they use in their courses. 

Foundations Institutes

Social science faculty are invited to join the cohort that best reflects their approach to teaching.

• Arts & Humanities and Social Science Section, Thursdays 10-11:30 am
  • Registration link
  • Thursday, January 18, 10 am–Module 1
  • Thursday, January 25, 10 am–Module 2
  • Thursday, February 1, 10 am–Module 3
  • Thursday, February 8, 10 am–Module 4
  • Thursday, February 15, 10 am–Module 5
  • Thursday, February 22, 10 am–Module 6
  • Thursday, February 29, 10 am–Module 7
• Clinical and Social Science Section—Fridays, 10-11:30 am
  • Registration link
  • Friday, January 19, 10 am–Module 1
  • Friday, January 26, 10 am–Module 2
  • Friday, February 2, 10 am–Module 3
  • Friday, February 9, 10 am–Module 4
  • Friday, February 16, 10 am–Module 5
  • Friday, February 23, 10 am–Module 6
  • Friday, March 1, 10 am–Module 7
• STEM and Social Science Section—Wednesdays, 1-2:30 pm
  • Registration link
  • Wednesday, January 17, 1 pm–Module 1
  • Wednesday, January 24, 1 pm–Module 2
  • Wednesday, January 31, 1 pm–Module 3
  • Wednesday, February 7, 1 pm–Module 4
  • Wednesday, February 14, 1 pm–Module 5
  • Wednesday, February 21, 1 pm–Module 6
  • Wednesday, February 28, 1 pm–Module 7

March  4 – April 26

The deadline to sign up, if you plan to attend the institute training sessions, is Friday, March 1, 2024.

Foundations Institutes

• General Wednesday Section—Wednesdays, 10-11:30 am
  • Registration link 
  • Wednesday, March 6, 10 am–Module 1
  • Spring break, 3/10-17
  • Wednesday, March 20, 10 am–Module 2
  • Wednesday, March 27, 10 am–Module 3
  • Wednesday, April 3, 10 am–Module 4
  • Wednesday, April 10, 10 am–Module 5
  • Wednesday, April 17, 10 am–Module 6
  • Wednesday, April 24, 10 am–Module 7

• General Thursday Section—Thursdays, 1-2:30 pm
  • Registration link
  • Thursday, March 7, 1 pm–Module 1
  • Spring break, 3/10-17
  • Thursday, March 21, 1 pm–Module 2
  • Thursday, March 28, 1 pm–Module 3
  • Thursday, April 4, 1 pm–Module 4
  • Thursday, April 11, 1 pm–Module 5
  • Thursday, April 18–Module 6
  • Thursday, April 25, 1 pm–Module 7

USC Brightspace Faculty Institute–Advanced

Institute sessions will provide 1) an introduction to advanced Brightspace tools, 2) a demonstration of how to access and use them, and 3) time to practice in break-out rooms with tech support. Sessions will be recorded to allow flexibility in attendance and review of the sessions. Session recordings will be made available within the Brightspace Premium Guided Training materials to allow all faculty access to the recordings regardless of whether they register for the institute.

This institute includes 6 90-minute sessions. Topics will include Creator+ elements, class progress analytics, intelligent agents, and customizing the course homepage and navigation bar.

• Advanced Monday Section—Mondays, 1-2:30 pm
  • Registration link
  • Monday, March 4, 1 pm–Module 1
  • Spring break, 3/10-17
  • Monday, March 18, 1 pm–Module 2
  • Monday, March 25, 1 pm–Module 3
  • Monday, April 1, 1 pm–Module 4
  • Monday, April 8, 1 pm–Module 5
  • Monday, April 15, 1 pm–Module 6

• Advanced Friday Section—Fridays, 10-11:30 am
  • Registration link
  •  Friday, March 8, 10 am–Module 1
  • Spring break, 3/10-17
  • Friday, March 22, 10 am–Module 2
  • Friday, March 29, 10 am–Module 3
  • Friday, April 5, 10 am–Module 4
  • Friday, April 12, 10 am–Module 5
  • Friday, April 19, 10 am–Module 6

Registration for March 4-April 26 spring institutes ends on Saturday, March 2 at midnight.

Workshops on Individual Tools

Workshops will be held on topics on which institute participants would like additional support. Because of the frequency of workshops provided, we won’t be announcing them on the “all faculty” listserv.  Workshop topics, dates, and links will be emailed to faculty registered for the institutes, webinars, and through CET’s Newsletter subscriber list. If you won’t be participating in these training options, but want to be informed of the workshops, please subscribe to CET’s newsletter to be added to our mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time.