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UToledo Online

Faculty Development Training Schedule & Registration

UToledo Online provides comprehensive technical training and course design development offerings. Choose the training option that best suits your course development goals. Offerings rotate throughout the year, so we invite you to check here often or reach out to us at UTLV@utoledo.edu for your Blackboard course needs!

Please see our list of upcoming offerings and registration links below: 

Please note that all registration forms and access to Teams webinars require UTAD authentication. Teams webinars will populate to your UToledo Outlook and Teams calendars with a join link after registration. 

Technical Training

Demo: MS Teams for Live Class Sessions

This Teams webinar will assist faculty with using Teams Meetings for live class sessions using the Microsoft Education Blackboard integration. This session will demonstrate:

  • Enabling Microsoft Education in Blackboard
  • Creating Teams Meetings for live class sessions in Blackboard
  • Sharing Meetings links to your calendar and/or guests
  • Sharing content in Teams Meetings
  • Using the Whiteboard in Teams Meetings
  • Troubleshooting A/V settings in Teams Meetings
  • Teams Meetings recordings

Format/Location: Virtual (via Teams)

Session Length: 45 minutes total: 30-minute demo, 15-minute Q&A

Dates & Registration: 

Improving Course Accessibility with Ally in Blackboard

Join UToledo Online for one-hour webinar focused on using Ally in Blackboard to identify and remediate accessibility issues in your course content. This session will include a live demonstration showing how to locate Ally accessibility scores, review instructor feedback, and access alternative formats available to students.

Participants will also see practical examples of how to address common remediation needs, including creating proper heading structures, adding effective alternative text for images, and ensuring transcripts are available for audio and video content. As institutions prepare for upcoming Title II accessibility requirements, this session will highlight how Ally can support proactive compliance while improving the overall learning experience for all students.

Format/Location: Virtual (via Teams)

Session Length: 1 hour total: 50-minute demo, 10-minute Q&A

Dates & Registration:

Managing Gradebook in Blackboard Ultra

Description: Blackboard's August 2026 product release significantly updated the workflows in the Ultra Gradebook. This 1-hour webinar will provide faculty with a comprehensive overview of the Blackboard Ultra Gradebook, including how to add due date extensions, enter manual grades and/or arrow through grading columns, and access Needs Grading in the new workflow. The session will demonstrate key features, including using Grid and List View, setting automatic zeros, adding and organizing grade columns, managing overall grade calculations, and hiding inactive students for a clearer view of course data. Participants will also learn best practices to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and transparency in grade management. A live Q&A will follow the demonstration, allowing faculty to address specific questions and scenarios.

Format/Location: Virtual (via Teams)

Session Length: 1 hour total: 45 min demo, 15 minute Q&A

Dates & Registration: There are two dates to choose from. Please choose only one session:

New Faculty Orientation

Description: UToledo Online educational technology team hosts a 1-hour session as part of annual New Faculty Orientation events to introduce incoming faculty to the main features of Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV). The demonstration reviews content creation and course copy; bulk editing; assessments, including tests, assignments, and discussions; communication tools; gradebook settings; roster management including student accommodations and adding TAs; and a brief intro to integrated tools such as LockDown Browser, EchoVideo and MS Education. This is a high-level overview intended for faculty new to UToledo and/or the UCV platform. 

Format/Location: in-person/Student Union 2591

Session Length:  2 hours

Dates & Registration: Wednesday, August 26 | 10 am - 12 pm

Returning faculty are welcome to attend; please contact Cathy Zimmer with the Office of the Provost at cathy.zimmer@utoledo.edu

Instructional Design Webinars

Rethinking Student Assessment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Description: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly changing how students learn, create, and demonstrate their learning. Many faculty report increased student use of AI tools, alongside growing concerns about academic integrity, originality, critical thinking, and overreliance on automated systems.

Rather than framing AI solely as a threat, this workshop invites faculty to re‑examine the strategies and purpose of assessment in an AI‑rich learning environment. Participants will explore how AI is reshaping what it means for students to demonstrate learning and consider practical strategies for designing assessments that remain meaningful, authentic, and aligned with course learning outcomes—whether AI use is intentionally integrated or thoughtfully constrained.

The session emphasizes assessment design choices that foreground learning processes, higher‑order thinking, and student agency, while acknowledging the evolving role of AI as a tool that students are already using.

Format/Location: Virtual (via Teams)

Session Length: 1.5 hours total: 1 hour demo, 30 minutes Q&A

Dates & Registration:

Advancing Learner Interaction with the Ultra A.I. Design Assistant & A.I. Conversations

Description: Integrating Generative AI (GenAI) into education promises a transformative shift in how learners engage with content, peers, instructors, self, and real-world contexts. This workshop explores how the Blackboard Ultra AI Design Assistant and AI Conversations can enhance five critical educational interactions: learner-content, learner-faculty, learner-learner, learner-self, and learner-client.

Format/Location: Virtual (via Teams)

Session Length: 1.5 hours total: 1 hour demo, 30 minutes Q&A

Dates & Registration:

Department Training (By Request)

Description: UToledo Online offers departmental group technical training upon request. To help us better serve you, please provide detailed information by completing the request form linked below.

Please Note: Customized training requires at least 2-weeks advance notice and a minimum of 8 participants. For in-person sessions, the department is responsible for securing a location (computer lab required). The maximum time of a training session is 2 hours.

Format/Location: In-Person or Virtual

Department Training Request Form

Pathway Program Courses

The Pathway to Master Online Instructor Program is a series of free professional development courses for UToledo faculty and teaching assistants developed and offered by UTo­ledo Online. In this program, you will learn the fundamentals of online course development and delivery and current trends in the field of online learning. The program is comprised of five courses offered throughout each academic year. Upon successful completion of all five courses, participants are recognized as Master Online Instructors. These are the current semester courses being offered:

ADA Compliance in Online Courses

Description: This three-week online course prepares faculty and teaching assistants at The University of Toledo to address accessibility when designing and developing their online courses. This course covers topics such as cultural and legal aspects of ADA, course design considerations for accessibility, and includes hands-on activities in formatting electronic documents and preparing multimedia content with accessibility in mind.

Please Note: This is not a self-paced course. Participants will complete scheduled course activities with due dates.

Format/Location: Online via Blackboard

Session Length: 3 weeks

Dates & Registration:

  • This course runs Monday, September 21 - Sunday, October 11, 2026. Pre-registration is required.

New! AI for Teaching and Learning Certificate

Description: In this three-week online course, faculty and teaching assistants at The University of Toledo will explore the effective, responsible, and practical use of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. Participants will engage with real-world examples, emerging tools, evidence-informed instructional strategies, and thoughtful discussions. The course culminates in a reflective project in which participants will develop a practical, personalized action plan for integrating AI into their teaching, grounded in the course learning and tailored to their specific instructional context. 

Please Note: This is not a self-paced course. Participants will complete scheduled course activities with due dates.

Format/Location: Online via Blackboard

Session Length: 3 weeks

Dates & Registration: 

  • This course runs Monday, September 28 - Sunday, October 18, 2026. Pre-registration is required.

Online Teaching Certificate

Description: This three-week online course prepares faculty and teaching assistants at The University of Toledo to effectively facilitate teaching and learning in an online environment, through discussion and active learning activities. The course also enables participants to practice using various online communication and assessment tools as they complete learning activities from the student perspective.

Please Note: This is not a self-paced course. Participants will complete scheduled course activities with due dates.

Format/Location: Online via Blackboard

Session Length: 3 weeks

Dates & Registration: 

  • This course runs Monday, September 14 - Sunday, October 4, 2026. Pre-registration is required.

Online Course Design Certificate

Description: This four-week online course prepares faculty and teaching assistants at The University of Toledo to effectively design instructional materials, learning activities and authentic assessment for online delivery. Participants will gain insights about online pedagogy and best practices through a wide range of authentic tasks. A capstone project enables participants to demonstrate what they have learned in an applied setting, while building a foundation for additional course development in Blackboard.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the Online Teaching Certificate course.

Please Note: This is not a self-paced course. Participants will complete scheduled course activities with due dates.

Format/Location: Online via Blackboard

Session Length: 4 weeks

Dates & Registration:

  • This course is only offered in the summer. The next offering of this course will be sent by invitation only to participants who have met the prerequisiste.

Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (two format options are available)

Option 1: Virtual Workshop

Description: The Ohio Quality Matters Consortium is offering multiple sessions of QM’s flagship workshop, Applying the Quality Matters Rubric. This workshop is included as part of UToledo Online’s Pathway Program. Participants will learn about the QM Higher Education Rubric, the course review process, the concept of alignment, and how to draft helpful recommendations for course improvement.

Format/Location: Virtual. Participants will be provided with workshop access information via email prior to the workshop date. Participants must log in on time, participate throughout, and stay for the duration of the workshop to earn a Certificate of Completion.

Session Length: 1 full day with break for lunch

Dates:  

  • Thursday, October 8 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
  • Friday, November 13 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
  • Tuesday, December 8 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Registration: If you are interested in registering for one of the dates above, please contact Rachel Barnes, Lead Instructional Designer and Coordinator for Quality Assurance, at Rachel.Barnes@utoledo.edu at least 3 days prior to the workshop date. Spots are limited!

Option 2: In-Person Workshop

In-person APPQMR workshops are available only by department request.  Request requires at least 2-weeks advance notice and a minimum of 15 participants. The department is responsible for securing a location (computer lab required). The workshop may be scheduled for one full day (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) or it can be split into two half-day sessions, with participants attending both half-day sessions to complete the training.

Department Training Request Form

Last Updated: 8/19/26