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 4 – 09/15/25)
*Want a reminder, sign-up and we’ll send you a Featured email each Monday.
Take a long walk and tune into a compelling conversation about the future of education. Students are reading less for pleasure and increasingly relying on generative AI to complete academic tasks—raising urgent questions about how and why we teach. This shift challenges traditional models and calls for a renewed focus on deeper learning, emotional engagement, and flexible thinking—human skills that AI can't replicate. To prepare students for an uncertain future, educators must foster motivation, resilience, and the capacity for lifelong learning.
This Week
This week’s featured content includes in-depth interviews and discussions on the evolving role of AI in education. These sessions are rich with insight but may be too lengthy to watch in one sitting. We hope at least one of them offers clarity on the future of AI and Education—and sparks ideas on how you can prepare and adapt successfully.
ChatGPT 5
In this GPT 5... And What's Next – 1:05:25 interview, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlights how ChatGPT-5 brings advanced features for coding and scientific research.
AI Forum
This Askwith Education Forum – 1:26:44 brings together educators, policymakers, technologists, and researchers to explore how generative AI is reshaping education. Presenters discuss its emerging potential to transform teaching, learning, and human development, and offer insights into how we can prepare for the future it’s helping to create.
Highlights:
- 15:53 – Marta McAlister, Google
- 35:00 – …revolutionize the educational system.
- 58:47 – incorporating validated ed practices into AI tools.
- 1:03:42 – Finding the sweet-spot of collaboration.
Posted on Week 3
Share OneDrive Files
Watch the How to share files in OneDrive – 02:24 video. Learn how to create and customize share links, and discover how to manage access to files you've shared.
IMPORTANT – Share Defaults
Did you know that the default setting for sharing files in OneDrive has changed? Files are now shared by default with “People you choose,” which helps protect university data by ensuring only specific individuals can access your content. This reduces the risk of unintentionally exposing sensitive information such as student records, research data, or internal communications. In contrast, “Anyone” links allow unrestricted access—anyone with the link, regardless of identity or affiliation, can open the file without authentication. These links remain active indefinitely unless manually deleted, and if forwarded or posted publicly, they can be accessed by unintended recipients without your knowledge. Because of this, “Anyone” links should never be used for files containing sensitive or confidential information. It’s also a good practice for campus users to periodically review and delete old “Anyone” links to prevent lingering exposure.
Resource: When to Upload or to Link Files in Brightspace (PDF)
IMPORTANT – Brightspace and Files
With recent changes to Brightspace, faculty are now able to upload files directly from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, rather than relying on shared links. This is a significant improvement, making it easier to add content to assignments and ensuring that students can access materials without encountering permission issues.
While it’s still appropriate to use links for external resources like YouTube videos, websites, and databases, it’s time to move away from the practice of linking to OneDrive Word and PowerPoint documents. Even when a “Only Potsdam users” share link is correctly created, students may still have trouble accessing the file if they forget to log in to OneDrive before clicking the link.
To avoid the confusion and delays caused by share links, upload all course materials directly to Brightspace whenever possible. For video files, some consideration is needed: short videos (under five minutes) can be uploaded directly to Brightspace, but must include closed-captioning and transcripts. For longer videos, especially full-length lectures, faculty should contact cci@potsdam.edu to request that the videos be uploaded to the campus Teams video site, as Brightspace has a 2 GB upload limit.
Posted on Week 2
New Teams Experience
Sometime soon, your Team app will automatically switch to the new Teams experience. This Microsoft update introduces a redesigned way to manage your Chat, Meetings, and Teams conversations—all in one convenient location. Additionally, get ready for an enhanced Calendar experience in Teams, offering a layout and functionality that closely mirrors Outlook. Watch The New Chat & Channels Experience – 11:13.
Posted on Week 1
Record in Stream
Discover the easiest way to record your lessons and create quick screen captures using Microsoft Stream. Fully integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, this powerful yet user-friendly app empowers you to record, edit, and share polished, engaging videos with ease. Watch Recording in Microsoft Stream Is Better Than You Think! – 06:10.
Professional Development - Survey- Please provide insights and recommendations on how to enhance PD.
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.
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).