In this Bigger Brains course, you’ll learn how shared email solutions can streamline communication and improve teamwork across your organization. You’ll see the different options available for sharing email in Outlook and explore when to use tools like distribution lists, shared mailboxes, or Microsoft Groups. You’ll learn what M365 Groups are, how they work, and the benefits and limitations they bring to team communication.
You’ll also learn how to create and manage a Microsoft Group, set permission levels, and work confidently with shared folders. As you progress, you’ll explore best practices for collaboration, compare key features of the different sharing options, and see common scenarios that illustrate which method works best in each situation. By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped to select and use the most appropriate shared email solution for your team’s needs.
In this Bigger Brains course, taught by Microsoft Certified Trainer Jennifer Buchholz, you’ll explore the benefits of sharing calendars for better teamwork and time management. You’ll learn how to share your personal calendar, view and manage shared calendars, and set permission levels to control access. You’ll also see how to mark entries as private, access group calendars, and add or edit events to keep everyone on the same page. You’ll also learn how to delegate access to calendars, email, and contacts, including setting up delegate permissions and responding to meetings as a delegate. You’ll explore the differences between shared mailboxes and groups, change folder permissions, and allow access to subfolders for more granular control. Plus, you’ll see how to save or print calendars for offline use – giving you all the tools you need to share calendars and email effectively in Microsoft 365.
In this Bigger Brains course, software expert Chip Reaves will demonstrate practical ways ChatGPT can enhance your productivity and creativity. He’ll explain the terminology behind AI tools like LLMs, prompts, and multimodal capabilities and show you how to navigate the ChatGPT interface and its many features. You’ll learn how to use ChatGPT for tasks such as summarizing documents, analyzing spreadsheets, creating images, and even connecting to external apps like Google Calendar! You’ll see how to dictate prompts using voice mode, customize your workspace with the ChatGPT canvas, and refine your results through iteration and formatting. You’ll learn about the risks and limitations of using AI and how you can identify and manage these risks while making the most of ChatGPT’s capabilities. You’ll also discover how multimodal AI can be used to generate and refine images. Whether you’re creating content, analyzing data, or experimenting with new workflows, this course will equip you with the essential skills to use ChatGPT effectively and responsibly in your professional life.
In this Bigger Brains course, you’ll explore how to define, create, and use custom GPTs and how to organize your work efficiently with projects. You’ll learn to customize projects, manage account settings, and adjust memory preferences for a more personalized experience. Microsoft expert Chip Reaves will demonstrate how to navigate ChatGPT’s different modes, including agent mode, and show you how to leverage these tools for complex tasks. You’ll also learn the power of deep research and agents—what they are, how they work, and the benefits they bring to professional workflows. You’ll see how to use these advanced features effectively and learn about potential issues and limitations. By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills to customize ChatGPT, optimize its settings, and use its advanced capabilities to boost productivity and creativity.
In this Bigger Brains course, expert Microsoft trainer Kathy Snizaski will guide you through practical techniques to streamline processes and unlock data-driven insights. You’ll learn how to collect and organize data using forms and apps, including creating new forms, adding branching logic, and building SharePoint lists from scratch or Excel files. You’ll see how to create and customize apps from SharePoint data, modify app functionality, and edit Power Apps to fit your business needs.
You’ll also learn how to automate repetitive tasks with Power Automate, from moving email attachments to creating scheduled flows and writing formulas for trigger actions. Finally, you’ll explore how to turn raw data into actionable insights with Power BI—connecting to SharePoint data, modifying tables, and building interactive reports with slicers. You’ll see how to publish and share reports in Teams, empowering collaboration and smarter decision-making across your organization.
In this Bigger Brains course, you’ll learn what sets Claude apart in the world of large language models. Guided by subject matter expert Dr. Kevin Jones, who has over twenty years of experience with Natural Language Models, Machine Learning, and LLMs, you’ll explore what makes Claude distinctive, its focus on reliability and accuracy, and the differences between its available tiers. You’ll learn how Claude handles data retention and how to opt in or out of specific settings. You’ll also learn how to create an account, adjust privacy preferences, open incognito chats, and navigate the interface. Kevin will show you how to organize your work by renaming, searching, and deleting chats and how to define and use projects for longer workflows. You’ll explore Claude’s core features, including coding assistance, document analysis, and longform writing—and learn how to write effective prompts for each. You’ll see how extended thinking mode and research mode support deeper, more complex tasks. You’ll also learn about Claude’s integration options and its strengths and limitations, equipping you to use it effectively in your daily work.
In this Bigger Brains course, you’ll explore Gemini’s unique features and capabilities that set it apart from other AI tools. Guided by Dr. Kevin Jones—a subject matter expert with over twenty years of experience in Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Large Language Models—you’ll learn how to create an account, adjust privacy settings, and navigate the interface with confidence. You’ll see how to rename and search chats, create temporary conversations, and define and use Gems to organize your work.
You’ll also learn about Gemini’s core features, including multimodal analysis, YouTube video insights, and image and video generation. You’ll explore the benefits of Gemini’s large context window for research, discover how to leverage Deep Research and Workspace integration effectively, and use Google search for comprehensive results. By the end of this course, you’ll understand Gemini’s strengths and limitations, best practices for using it, and how to get started with features that make Gemini a powerful tool for productivity and creativity.
In this Bigger Brains course, Microsoft expert Tim Blake will walk you through many of the practical uses for Copilot. You’ll learn how Microsoft Copilot integrates into apps like Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more, going beyond prompts to see how the AI actually functions in each tool to help you work smarter and faster. You’ll explore how to use Copilot to draft emails, summarize meetings, rewrite and refine content, generate presentations, and find documents using natural language. You’ll see how shared features like translation, help prompts, and file search work across multiple apps to support your daily tasks.
You’ll explore how Copilot works behind the scenes, learning how it uses your organizational data securely through Microsoft Graph and existing permissions and how you can use it to extract insights from your data. Whether you’re a business user, team lead, or support staff, this course will give you a clear, practical understanding of how to use Copilot responsibly and effectively. No AI or technical background is required, but familiarity with Microsoft 365 is recommended.
Having access to powerful tools is different from knowing how to use them with proficiency. Many people currently using Outlook are not taking advantage of the software’s advanced features to customize their messaging and improve communication.
In this course, Microsoft expert Vicki Drewa will show you how to use many of the organization features built into Outlook to set up accounts, manage data files, and manage your inbox. You will be able to customize your Outlook environment by adding commands to the Quick Access Toolbar and placing groups and commands on a new tab.
Wondering how to best use Outlook to communicate effectively? You’ll learn how to customize your emails through formatting rules, stationery, and themes. You’ll be able to share information by inserting tables, calendars, and images into your messages and collect feedback by using polls and voting buttons. Additionally, scheduling will be easier as you’ll be able to share calendars, delegate permissions and create calendar groups. And more!
Improve your Outlook expertise by becoming more proficient in using many of the tools and features Outlook has to offer.
In this Bigger Brains course, you’ll be guided by Dr. Kevin Jones, an expert with over twenty years of experience in Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Large Language Models. Dr. Jones brings a practical and engaging approach to understanding AI reasoning models. You’ll explore what reasoning models are and why they matter, including their availability, benefits, and unique characteristics. You’ll learn how reasoning mode differs from standard AI responses, and you’ll see practical use cases for when to use—and when not to use—reasoning models. You’ll also learn to craft effective prompts using four key components and how to apply a structured process for incorporating reasoning models into your work. By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped to identify, apply, and leverage reasoning models confidently to get better results from your AI tools.
