Remote Recess
Take a Break with Colleagues and Learn Something Too!
Remote Recess sessions offer an opportunity for faculty to gather online and learn something new in a low-stakes, casual, and FUN way. Each session will focus on a topic (like Panopto) and a short demo, then the facilitator will open the session to Q&A. Participants are encouraged to share tips and tricks. These sessions are designed to help you decide how and when to use certain technologies and activities.
TLED Faculty Calendar
For the latest events and training, please visit the TLED Calendar. To view only the Remote Recess sessions choose the “RemoteRecess” tag to view a list of available offerings.
Remote Recess Archive
Remote Recess sessions are available to view. New recordings are uploaded within a week after a Remote Recess session. Click the Remote Recess tab at the top of the page to view the archive list. Note: To view the archive, please log in with your ACC credentials.
Spring 2026 Remote Recess Sessions
Sessions are offered on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. or Wednesdays at 2 p.m.
All sessions are one hour long.
Courage to Discover – Exploring ACC’s Academic Technology Toolkit
Join us for an engaging overview of tech tools available to faculty and staff through Austin Community College’s Academic Technology resources. This session will showcase a variety of platforms and technologies that can enhance teaching, increase productivity, and increase student engagement. Whether you’re looking to make your lessons more interactive or streamline everyday tasks, you’ll leave with practical ideas and inspiration. Come explore what’s possible and find out how these tools can support your success!
Blackboard Basics: Creating Dynamic Content using Blackboard Ultra
This workshop will equip you with the tools to build a more interactive and visually appealing learning experience in your Blackboard courses. You will learn to effectively organize your course materials using different block types, seamlessly embed rich media like Panopto and YouTube videos, and gain the confidence to move and resize blocks to create a polished, professional layout.
Blackboard Basics: Navigating the Blackboard Ultra Gradebook
This informative workshop will guide participants through the process of effectively managing the Gradebook in Blackboard Ultra, covering essential features such as setting up grade columns, inputting grades, granting exceptions and exemptions, managing late submissions, and making custom calculation columns. By the end of the session, participants will feel confident in navigating the Gradebook and will be equipped to manage it effectively, saving time and improving the grading process for both instructors and students.
AI Conversations in Blackboard Ultra: Engaging Students Through Intelligent Course Dialogue
Discover how Blackboard Ultra’s new AI Conversations tool can create meaningful student engagement right inside your course. Join Jaime Cantu, Biology faculty member and AI Fellow, for a live demo showing how the tool works from both instructor and student perspectives. Learn how to enable, customize, and monitor conversations to support your learning outcomes while maintaining transparency and academic integrity. Participants will explore ethical use cases, test the tool in real time, and leave with ideas for guiding responsible AI dialogue in their own classes.
Connection Ready: Strategies for Presence, Empathy & Impact Online
In an online environment, connection doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by design. This interactive session explores how educators and facilitators can build genuine personal connections through intentional communication, strong digital body language, and empathetic engagement. Participants will learn how subtle choices in tone, timing, presence, and structure shape the learner experience, and how to create a digital environment where people feel seen, supported, and valued. Through practical strategies, real-world examples, and hands-on activities, this workshop empowers you to elevate your online interactions from transactional to transformational.
Padlet for Feedback, Engagement and Brainstorming
Discover how Padlet can transform your classroom dynamics by offering a simple yet powerful space for feedback, collaboration, and creative brainstorming. This session will guide you through setting up Padlet boards for synchronous and asynchronous use, designing inclusive activities that promote student voice, embedding your Padlet into Blackboard, and leveraging multimedia and collaboration features to support engagement and community. Walk away with ready-to-use activity ideas that align with your course goals and enhance belonging, interactivity, and student ownership of learning.
Google Gemini for Education: Exploring AI Tools for Teaching and Productivity
This hands-on workshop introduces Google Gemini for Education, exploring how ACC faculty can access and use its four core tools—Canvas, Image, Research, and Guided Learning—to enhance teaching and productivity while maintaining privacy and data security. Through interactive activities like UDL lesson planning, visual concept generation, article summarization, and AI tutoring exploration, participants will gain practical experience with each Gemini mode and discuss real-world classroom applications.
Introduction to Recording and Editing with Panopto
Panopto is a lecture capture tool that can be used to create audio and video recordings with automatic machined captions. It is readily accessible by desktop or web browser. In this session you will discover how to create and edit recordings in Panopto.
Getting Started with NotebookLM
Discover how NotebookLM can help you quickly organize, analyze, and synthesize course materials using AI. This hands-on session introduces the core features of NotebookLM and demonstrates how it can extract learning goals, themes, and structures from your existing documents. We’ll work together to create an infographic-style “Syllabus Insights Map” that highlights key elements of your course at a glance. Participants will learn practical ways to apply these tools for lesson planning, research organization, and strengthening student connection. Please bring a copy of one of your syllabi to use during the workshop.
Unlocking Adobe at ACC
Explore the creative possibilities of Adobe at ACC! In this hands-on session, you’ll learn how faculty and staff can activate their Adobe accounts, discover the suite of apps available, and tour Adobe’s rich library of tutorials and inspiration. Participants will leave prepared to incorporate Adobe tools into their academic, professional, or creative projects.
Empowering Accessible Learning with Blackboard Ally
Blackboard Ally is more than an accessibility checker—it’s a powerful partner in building truly inclusive learning environments. This session guides faculty through Ally’s most impactful features, from real-time accessibility scoring to automated alternative formats that support diverse learners. Participants will see how Ally simplifies document remediation, aligns with Quality Matters principles, and reduces instructional risk while boosting student success. Through hands-on exploration, faculty will learn how to evaluate course accessibility, improve common file types, and integrate accessibility best practices into their everyday workflow.
Respondus LockDown Browser: Procedures & Updates for Blackboard Ultra
Join the Procedures & Updates workshop to learn about the LockDown Browser—a custom browser that secures assessments in the Blackboard Learning Management System. The session will cover the steps for enabling it on an assessment, plus updates and improvements to its integration with Blackboard Ultra.
Remote Recess Rewind: Self-Paced Online Courses!
Remote Recess Rewind is a series of online, self-paced courses that allow Austin Community College (ACC) faculty and staff to learn more about tools and technologies by rewatching Remote Recess sessions, taking a short quiz, and accessing resources to support continuous learning.
Professional development credit is automatically awarded in Workday after successful completion.
Contact us
For any questions about Remote Recess, please contact Sara Schulz at sara.schulz@austincc.edu.