Tools & Tutorials

Web Conferencing: Zoom

Zoom: To claim your account, register using your John Jay email and password at  https://jjay-cuny.zoom.us. 

• Review Security Guidance on Using Zoom
• Getting Started with Zoom Meetings Training Resources

Creating Video

Video content helps students feel connected and stay engaged while remote learning.

• TEXT: Blackboard Intro Video Best Practices
• VIDEO: How to Record a Zoom meeting

Tutorials for Students

The following resources can be shared with students to help them transition to online learning.

• How to Login to Blackboard
• How to submit assignments using VoiceThread
• How to Comment on Voicethread
• How to change their email address
• How to upload videos using yuja 
• How to complete an interactive video assignment using Playposit 
• Perusall how-to for Students

ADA Considerations when Teaching Online
Resources to ensure your online class is accessible to all students.

• 20 Tips for Teaching an Accessible Online Course 
• https://jjayonlineed.commons.gc.cuny.edu/online-accessibility/
• 14th Annual CUNY Accessibility Conference

Collaboration Tools

PlayPosit is an interactive web-based video platform. It allows you to embed quiz-type questions into videos from other video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and Khan Academy. Data can then be analyzed on the individual or group level for educational trends in the classroom.

• PlayPosit Checklist: Here is a checklist customized for CUNY John Jay - it includes a sample bulb, various use cases, a link to PlayPosit Academy, office hours info, as well as steps to get someone started in PlayPosit. Feel free to share this with faculty as you work with them on getting started.
• Using PlayPosit within Blackboard
• Video Tutorials

Voicethread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos. It allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in with text, audio, or video.

• What is Voicethread? intro
• Voicethread Tutorial Link Page
• How to add Voicethread to your course intro video

Slack is a popular free communication platform with many features, including persistent chat rooms organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging.

• Getting Started with Slack
• Your guide to Slack for higher education

Digication is an ePortfolio tool for students to share their work online with their friends, teachers, and potential employers.

• Login Page
• ePortfolio at John Jay

 Microsoft Teams is a persistent chat-based collaboration platform with document sharing, online meetings, and many other features for communication. Note: at this time, the college does not support MS Teams.

• MS Teams Welcome Page
• Teacher Training Packs

Perusall  is a digital annotation tool that allows students to digitally annotate readings (with text, links, and embedded content) It is designed to get students engaged in coursework by building meaningful social interactions inside the course content.

With Perusall, students ask and answer each others' questions, share opinions and expertise, and are encouraged to think more deeply about course material. Optional analytics and automatic scoring of student engagement give instructors insight into student thinking and helps keep students accountable for doing the work.

• Getting started with Perusall

YuJa, a tool that allows users to store, manage, and share media content, will no longer be available to faculty as of December 31, 2024. If you have any media in your Blackboard courses, you will need to revisit those courses (on Blackboard) to enter the YuJa dashboard and download your media files. You may store your files locally, on the hosting site of your choice (YouTube, etc.), or load them into your Media Library within Brightspace.

For more information on how to bulk download media from YuJa, please see this How-To document.