Center for Creative Instruction

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 10 – 10/27/25)

*Want a reminder, sign-up and we’ll send you a Featured email each Monday.

Threads on the Horizon
Chatting in Teams—whether through personal messages or team channels—is central to our daily work. Soon, Microsoft will roll out a major update that reimagines how posts and replies are organized. The new Threads feature brings clarity and structure to conversations, making it easier to follow discussions and stay engaged. Watch How to Use NEW Threads in Microsoft Teams – 09:11 for a quick overview of what’s coming.

Post vs. Thread: Time to Rethink Communication
Although the Threads feature may take time to reach our M365 environment, now is a great opportunity for your team or committee to reflect on how you communicate in Teams. Should you continue with traditional posts or prepare to shift toward threaded conversations? To explore the potential impact, check out Teams Update You NEED to Know About – 15:12 and start the conversation.

Posted on Week 9

Presenting
When you think about dynamic and inspiring presentations, TED Talks often come to mind. The video What happens when you share an idea? – 05:29, part of TED’s Public Speaking 101 playlist, introduces the core principles of presenting a powerful idea—highlighting the importance of clarity, authenticity, and meaningful audience connection.

Public Speaking 101
Explore the TED Public Speaking 101 playlist through this direct link. These concise, high-quality videos offer practical guidance on how presenters can mentally prepare for a talk and outline specific strategies to deliver presentations that are both effective and engaging. Whether you're preparing your own lecture or coaching students on presentation skills, these videos are a valuable resource.

Posted on Week 8

Copilot in M365
You may have noticed the new Microsoft 365 landing page and wondered about the changes—the prominent integration of Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant. Watch the Microsoft 365 Copilot Tutorial – 18:24 video which highlights why this is a positive shift, showcasing how Copilot helps you search, summarize, and create effortlessly. Now fully integrated across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote—at no additional cost—Copilot empowers you to generate charts, design images, draft personalized memos or emails, and even build intelligent “Agents” for specialized tasks.

Posted on Week 7

Notifications in MS Forms
The “Get email notification of each response” feature in Microsoft Forms allows you to receive alerts when someone submits a form. While this functionality has been available for some time, many users may not realize that it also supports notifying additional recipients—making it a valuable tool for teams and committees who need to stay informed. Watch Get instant notifications for Microsoft Forms – 3:30.

You should be using Group Forms
If you're working within a department, office, or committee, creating a group form—one associated with a Microsoft Team—is the best practice. Group forms ensure shared access to collected data, even if the original creator leaves the university. This keeps your team’s data secure and accessible.

While the updated “Get email notification of each response” feature now supports team notifications, we recommend using Power Automate for more robust and flexible alerts. Power Automate allows you to send notifications directly to Teams channels, making it easier to manage access and keep your team informed. It also eliminates the need to manually update recipient lists, reducing the risk of missed updates or forgotten changes.

• Notify a User when a Team (Group) Form is Submitted – 04:02

• How to create a Group MS Form – 00:45

• How to use tags in Microsoft Teams – 01:07

• How to create an MS Form for Power Automate Flows – 02:21

Form Response Restrictions
Microsoft Forms has long supported basic response restrictions (e.g., required fields, long answers, numbers). Now, new validation options like Email and URL formats are available—making your data collection even more precise. Watch New validation / restrictions in Microsoft Forms – 06:31 to learn more.

Posted on Week 6

Academic Journals
Is that important report missing? Did you know you can get an alert when a Teams file is deleted? As we work collaboratively in committees and groups, managing key files can be very important. Using the “Alert” automation feature (powered by Power Automate), you can select a file or folder and get an email alert when it is changed or deleted. Watch Notify Me! File Change Notifications in Teams – 04:24.

Library HELP with Research
Our friends at the College Libraries are eager to assist you and your students with your next research paper. Whether you need help with campus books, journals, academic databases, or AI research tools, visit the library’s Help page for more information on the available resources and services.

Posted on Week 5

File Change Alert
Is that important report missing? Did you know you can get an alert when a Teams file is deleted? As we work collaboratively in committees and groups, managing key files can be very important. Using the “Alert” automation feature (powered by Power Automate), you can select a file or folder and get an email alert when it is changed or deleted. Watch Notify Me! File Change Notifications in Teams – 04:24.

Retrieve Deleted Files
When a file is deleted from OneDrive or SharePoint (Teams), the file is moved to the Recycle folder for approximately 90 days. Watch How to restore deleted items on SharePoint – 01:23 for step-by-step instructions.

More Automation
Power Automate is an incredibly powerful Microsoft app with hundreds of templates you can use to automate your repetitive tasks. Watch What is Power Automate – 09:13 and Power Automate for Beginners – 16:54 for an intro to the basics.

CCI Flow Designer
Power Automate Templates are great to create simple flows, but when you need to design robust, sophisticated workflows tailored to your office's or department's needs, use the CCI Flow Designer. With this tool, your workflows can collect data, process responses from multiple approvers, handle document submissions, send reminder notices, and much more. After filling out the form, you'll receive a "Blueprint" of your flow via email, complete with detailed instructions to make updating your flow a breeze. To access the designer, visit the More Resources section of the CCI webpage or the Power Automate section of Tech Tools.

Posted on Week 4

Interview – AI and Education
Take a long walk and tune into a compelling conversation about the future of education (Educating Kids in the Age of AI – 1:07). 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.

Teams Calendar
You might not use the calendar in Teams often, but that's about to change! The new upgrades will offer a near-Outlook experience, making it more powerful and user-friendly. Check out How to Use the NEW Microsoft Teams Calendar – 11:25 for a complete walkthrough. If you're a regular Teams user, you'll love the fantastic features and flexibility the new calendar brings.

Bookings in Outlook
Need students to sign up for office hours, advising, or meetings? With Outlook Bookings, you can share a personal scheduling page where they can easily book in-person or virtual appointments. You control your availability, and confirmed meetings are automatically added to both calendars. Watch Create A Personal Bookings Page – 09:21 for a full overview.

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.

Stream Recorder
Explore every tool and feature currently available in the Camera Recording and Screen Recording options within Microsoft Stream. This comprehensive walkthrough is perfect for anyone looking to understand the full capabilities of Stream’s built-in recording tools (watch Stream Recorder - Tool Features Overview – 04:10).

OneDrive/Stream Settings
Whether you're opening a video from OneDrive or directly in Stream, the Stream viewer provides a consistent experience. This update highlights how to use Stream’s settings to boost viewer engagement—ideal for student courses, team meetings, or committee presentations. Watch Microsoft Stream Video Settings – 07:06.

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.