Continue your journey. We’ll help.
We support you! Providing faculty and staff with teaching and technology help is what we do. Please explore our site for tools and resources to help you in your professional development. If you find you still have questions, contact us at cci@potsdam.edu to open a support ticket. We’ll do our best to respond promptly and even schedule a follow-up meeting with you if needed. If you’re interested in collaborative discussion, join the Creative Instructors Community team and post your thoughts and questions in the Professional Development and Brightspace channels (watch Joining a Microsoft Teams with a code – 01:16, code n9v5whd).
Come by each week and check out our Featured section. We’ll post on important CCI news and highlight new functionality available on your favorite program or app. (Week 2 – 09/07/26)
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With the new academic year underway, this is the perfect time to reemphasize the importance of creating accessible content. Whether you're building a course page in Brightspace, creating a Word document, or preparing a PowerPoint presentation, ensuring accessibility helps all students engage with course materials and supports SUNY's commitment to inclusive learning. This video highlights the importance of properly using headings to ensure all users can efficiently navigate and understand the information on a page. By employing these practical tips, you can immediately begin creating more inclusive, accessible, and effective learning materials.
Hyperlinks
There is a proper way to make your links more accessible. Watch ID Linsay O’Neill’s Hyperlinks video (03:45) and the NC State’s Accessible Hyperlinks video (02:41) for brief but informative overviews.
Headings
When sharing content, it's crucial to ensure it's accessible to all users. Adding section headings is an important first step when creating resources. Watch How to Create and Customize Headings in Microsoft Word video (06:02). While this video covers the basics of headings in Word, the same principles apply when creating other resources like Brightspace course pages or assignments.
Accessibility Overview
YouTuber and instructional designer Lindsay O'Neill has created a series of short videos that cover many of the most common and effective practices for creating accessible content. To improve your accessibility skills and learn techniques you can apply to your own courses, documents, and digital materials, explore her ELearning Accessibility Tips and Tricks playlist.
Posted on Week 1
Microsoft Stream is now Clipchamp
Microsoft has retired the Stream brand and moved its video features under the Clipchamp name. As a result, there are now two related but separate tools: the Clipchamp video editor and Clipchamp Pages.
All the features and tools available through Clipchamp Pages are the same ones that were previously branded as Microsoft Stream. Watch the Microsoft Clipchamp Recording Is Better Than You Think! video (06:10) for a overview of options, such as “Upload a video,” “Record screen,” and “Record camera.” If you select “Create video project,” Clipchamp Pages opens the full Clipchamp video editor, which includes more advanced editing capabilities.
Bookings in Outlook
Need students to sign up for office hours, advising, coaching, or project meetings? With Outlook, you can offer appointment slots that are easy to book. Simply share your personal Bookings page, and students or colleagues can schedule in-person or virtual meetings. You control your availability, and once a meeting is booked, it’s automatically added to both calendars! Watch Create A Personal Bookings Page video – 09:21 for a full overview.
Brightspace- Find How-to guides and resources on Brightspace (used to deliver course content and instruction).
Record in M365- Find a complete guide to recording in Teams, Stream, and PowerPoint and sharing with OneDrive.
CCI Flow Designer- Design a custom workflow and receive detailed instructions along with templates.
Course Evaluations- Find complete details, including policies and procedures, on the Provost website.
Base Camp- Find step-by-step guidance on what to learn first if you’re just starting to use technology.
Accessibility- Find resources and tools to help you create accessible content and courses.
Department PD Form- Select a PD session (from a list of offerings) for your department’s next meet.
Mission & Goals
The mission and goals of each administrative unit have been compiled into one document. View Mission & Goals (PDF).
