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Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud storage service enabling easy online backup, file sharing and document collaboration. Files you store in your Dropbox can be accessed online and look like regular files on your computer. Files stored in your Dropbox are accessible from anywhere you have Internet access, including mobile devices. You can easily share files in Dropbox with students regardless of file size.

How do I access my CUNY Dropbox?

Go to dropbox.cuny.edu and login using your CUNY Login credentials. You can choose to install Dropbox on your computer and mobile device.

Benefits

• Very easy to use
• Fast setup time: usually around 5 minutes
• Use from your web browser or install to your computer
• Access you files from anywhere
• Many available tutorials
• Easy to share links to files and folders with your students
• Easy to collect files from your students
• Unlimited free cloud storage from CUNY

Drawbacks

• Not intended for real-time collaboration with students
• Requires downloading your student email addresses to share files

How can I use this in my class?

1. Copy your course materials to Dropbox and share links to the files or entire folders with your class via email. Here is a simple example folder structure:
   
2. Copy recordings of your lectures created using one of the other tool options on this page (PowerPoint Recording, Blackboard, Teams or Google Meet) and store the videos on Dropbox. Share links to videos via email.
3. Collect files from your students using File Requests

Getting Started Resources

• How to start using your Dropbox account
• Complete Dropbox video training playlist(use the CUNY sign-in link instead of dropbox.com)
• CUNY Dropbox training resources

Where do I go for help?

Contact the ITS helpdesk at: helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-4357.

Recording Your PowerPoint Lecture

A simple way to record your lecture with video and voice-over narration is to use the Record a Slide Show feature in PowerPoint 2016 or later. This is an easy way to simulate some of your classroom experience without the need for expensive recording equipment or special screen capturing software.

How can I get the latest version of PowerPoint?

Go to office.com and login using your CUNY Login credentials. You will see an option to "Install Office". You have free access to the Office 365 suite from CUNY. See below for details on Office 365.

Benefits

• Very easy to use
• Many available tutorials on the web
• You can re-record sections of your presentation as needed

Drawbacks

• Plan your recording carefully
• You need a computer with a microphone and video camera (for video recording)

How can I use this in my class?

1. If you haven't done so already, create a PowerPoint presentation for your lesson.
2. Use the Record a Slide Show feature to record your video and/or voice-over
   
3. Export your presentation to video
4. Copy your video file to Dropbox
5. Share your video with students

Getting Started Resources

• How to record a PowerPoint presentation

Google Meet

Google Meet is a great video conferencing alternative to Zoom or WebEx hosted on the G-Suite platform. It includes join links, dial-in numbers, recording and screen sharing for up to 250 attendees. G-Suite is Google's business version of it's popular consumer tools such as GMail, Hangouts, Docs and Forms.

How do I access Google Meet?

Request an account from ITS. Once your account is created you will receive an email from Google to set your password. After setting your password, go to meet.google.com and login using your newly created G-Suite account.

Benefits

• Very easy to setup and use.
• Record your video conference or lecture
• Share you screen
• Up to 250 attendees
• Conference link and dial-in phone number
• Phone only option is available
• Requires only browser on desktop/laptop computer

Drawbacks

• Requires a separate account and password
• If you already use Google services, such as Gmail, you need to switch between accounts using the Google Account Switcher
• Requires downloading your student email addresses to invite students via email
• Students need to install Meet app on their phone

How can I use this in my class?

1. Once you have an account, you can instantly start a video conference or schedule a conference for a later date
2. Get your student email addresses and invite them to the conference
3. Record your conference for students unable to make the live recording
4. Share the recording link via email.

Getting Started Resources

• Getting Started: Setup Your Account and Schedule a Meeting
• Simple Video Conferencing for Your Course Using Google Meet
• Google Meet Help
• Google: Starting a video meeting
• Google: Scheduling a meeting using Calendar

How do I schedule a meeting?

You will likely want to schedule a meeting in Meet as opposed to just starting a live meeting on demand. Once you are signed in to your G-Suite account, open the Google Calendar associated with your account (https://calendar.google.com) and follow these instructions to schedule a meeting. Here is a video tutorial on scheduling a meeting.

How can I protect my Google Meet session from uninvited guests (Zoombombing)?

It is highly-recommended that you invite your students directly via email using a calendar invite by scheduling a meeting as opposed to sharing a public link. As students join the meeting you will be prompted to admit each student. Be mindful of who you are admitting, since there is currently no option to disable attendee screen sharing in Google Meet. If you experience Zoombombing in a Google Meet session, end the current meeting, delete the calendar event and schedule a new meeting. Consider switching to an alternative video conferencing option such as Zoom or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra.

Where do I go for help?

Contact the ITS helpdesk at: helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-4357.

Blackboard

Blackboard is CUNY’s primary learning management system and is fully-supported by CUNY and Brooklyn College Academic Information Technology.

How do I access Blackboard?

Go to bbhosted.cuny.edu and login using your CUNY Login credentials.

Benefits

• The only complete learning management tool available at CUNY
• All courses and student enrollments are pre-populated in Blackboard each semester in course shells
• Many available tutorials
• Video conferencing via Collaborate Tool
• Discussion boards
• SafeAssign
• Online testing options

Drawbacks

• Relatively steep learning curve to fully utilize all of the tools
• Communication with students in Blackboard uses student's cuny.edu email addresses (not the student's preferred email address)

Getting Started Resources

• Introduction to Blackboard
• Teaching Remotely – Putting your Course Resources Online
• Blackboard Collaborate Tutorials
• Adding Collaborate Ultra As A Permanent Space
• Brooklyn College Blackboard for Faculty
• CUNY Blackboard Resources
• BMCC - Step-by-Step Guide to Using Blackboard

How can I protect my Blackboard Collaborate session from uninvited guests (Zoombombing)?

It is recommended that you do not send the direct link to your Blackboard sessions to your students. Anyone with the “guest link” that Blackboard generates can access your session. Instead, create a dedicated content area for your Blackboard Collaborate sessions where students can find all your Collaborate class sessions. See: Adding Collaborate Ultra As A Permanent Space.

Where do I go for help?

Contact AIT at aitsupport@brooklyn.cuny.edu or call 718-951-4634

Microsoft Office 365

Office 365 is Microsoft's entire office suite online. You can download all of the office free of charge on up to five devices, including desktops and laptops, tablets, and smart phones. This includes widely used Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Outlook, and Skype for Business

How do I access Office 365?

Go to office.com and login using your CUNY Login credentials.

Benefits

• Free Microsoft Office
• Use all applications online or install on your computer or device
• Many available tutorials
• Easy to share links to files and folders with your students
• Free cloud storage from CUNY
• Additional collaboration and productivity tools, such as Teams, Planner and ToDo

Drawbacks

• Requires some training to get comfortable using the entire suite.
• Intended to be more of productivity and collaboration platform as opposed to a learning management system like Blackboard

How can I use this in my class?

1. Prepare your lessons using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
2. Share files with students directly from OneDrive, Teams or save them to your Dropbox.

Getting Started Resources

• CUNY Office 365 Training Resources
• Just go to Youtube and search for any of the available applications.
• Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning - free access using Brooklyn Public Library card

What happens to my Office 365 and Dropbox account if I leave CUNY?

If you are using PowerPoint, Word, Excel, etc. to create and share your course materials or using OneDrive or Dropbox, the software licensing and storage is linked to your CUNY credentials. The license will expire a short period after your CUNY Login is deactivated. There is at least a 30-day grace period to back-up materials, but CUNY IT admins can restore backups, if needed.

Where do I go for help?

Contact AIT at aitsupport@brooklyn.cuny.edu for assistance and training using Office tools

Contact the ITS helpdesk at: helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-4357 for access problems.

Microsoft Teams

Teams is a group collaboration platform built on top of Microsoft Office 365.

How do I access Teams?

Go to office.com or teams.microsoft.com and login using your CUNY Login credentials.

Benefits

• Hosted on CUNY Office 365

• Excellent for both real-time and asynchronous group discussion and collaboration

• Share, collect and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files

• Collaborative file-editing

• Assignments and quizzes

• Integrated video conferencing with recording

• Generally very fun to use once you get used to it

Drawbacks

• Students must be invited as guests to your team since students do not share the same Office 365 environment as staff.

• You need to manually invite students "one-by-one" to your team via email

• Ideal for small classes

• Takes some practice

How can I use this in my class?

1. Follow the tutorials below to create a new team for your class
2. Get your student email addresses and invite them to the team
3. Create channels to keep topics focused
4. Share your lessons using the Files tab
5. Create a classroom plan using Planner
6. Start or schedule a video conference for your class

Getting Started Resources

• Setting up Your Course on Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft: Welcome to Teams
• Microsoft: Instructor Lead Training - Best Practices
• Microsoft: Teams Training
• Teams Tips and Tricks

• CUNY Office 365 resources

Adobe Creative Cloud

Term-active CUNY students can download Adobe Creative Cloud applications to their personal devices for free through July 6, 2020.

How to access

Students should go to https://creativecloud.adobe.com and use their CUNY Login username to authenticate and select which Adobe Creative Cloud applications to install. As per Adobe, the free license is available through July 6, 2020. More information is available  here: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/covid-19-edu-labs-faq.html

How to Access Adobe Creative Cloud [pdf]

Where do I go for help?

Contact the ITS helpdesk at: helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-4357.

Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing platform licensed by Brooklyn College for faculty. Zoom does not use your CUNY Login and requires a separate account. Note: Zoom licenses are limited.

How do I access Zoom?

1. Email helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu to request a Zoom license.
2. You will receive an email from Zoom with the subject "Zoom account invitation"
3. Click on the "Sign in to Zoom" link from the email to open the account activation page.
4. Complete the sign-up form
5. Start a test meeting to ensure everything is working

How can I use this in my class?

1. Login to your Zoom account and schedule a new meeting, you can also share your personal meeting room link
2. Get your student email addresses and invite them to the conference
3. You have the option to record your conference for students unable to make the live recording
4. Share the recording link via email.

Getting Started Resources

• Zoom Training Resources
• Zoom Video Tutorials
• Getting Started Guide
• Using Breakout Rooms
• Installing and Using the Zoom Outlook Plugin

Can I take attendance in Zoom?

The best approach for tracking attendance would be to require meeting registration so you have everyone’s full name. After the meeting, you can download the participant list from the usage reports. To access: log into your Zoom web portal and navigate to the “Reports” tab. From the available reports, select “Usage,” click on the participant count of the meeting you want to review. You can export this list to a spreadsheet.

What is Zoombombing and how can I protect my class?

Zoombombing is when uninvited users join a Zoom meeting with the intention of disrupting your class and possibly sharing disturbing images or violent messages. Please follow CUNY's Zoom Security Protocol when using Zoom.

Additional Resources:

• Preventing Zoombombing by USC
• How to Keep the Party Crashers from Crashing Your Zoom Event by Zoom
• Zoom Settings to Prevent Zoombombing by UC Berkeley.

Where do I go for help?

Contact the ITS helpdesk at: helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-4357 to request a Zoom account and for access problems.

If your conference is not working properly, check the Zoom status page.

CUNY Academic Commons

The CUNY Academic Commons is a WordPress platform customized for CUNY instructors and students. You can host your course on the platform using only a “Group”. Groups have a simple setup process and allow instructors to store course materials in the group library, host discussions in the forum, and email students. 

How do I access the CUNY Academic Commons?

Go to: commons.gc.cuny.edu and register for a new account (if you don't already have an account).

Getting Started Resources

• Quick User Guide
• Commons Help

Where do I go for help?

Contact AIT at aitsupport@brooklyn.cuny.edu or call 718-951-5242

* Thank you to the CUNY Graduate Center for this wonderful service

CUNY WebEx

WebEx is a video conferencing platform licensed by CUNY for all faculty and staff until August 30, 2020. After signing in, you have the option to start or schedule a meeting.

How do I access WebEx?

Go to: connectcuny.webex.com and login using your CUNY Login credentials.

How can I use this in my class?

1. Login and start or or schedule a new meeting
2. Get your student email addresses and invite them to the conference
3. You have the option to record your conference for students unable to make the live recording
4. Share the recording link via email.

Getting Started Resources

• CUNY WebEx Getting Started Guide
• WebEx Getting Started Guide
• WebEx Training Webinars
• Managing Breakout Sessions (requires WebEx Training meeting)
• Remote Screen Control
• WebEx Pro features

Where do I go for help?

Contact the ITS helpdesk at: helpdesk@brooklyn.cuny.edu or 718-951-4357 for access problems.

If your conference is not working properly, check the WebEx service status.