BIG BLUE BUTTON TRAINING Contents Introduction... 2 Objectives... 2 Connecting to BigBlueButton Through Canvas... 2 Using BigBlueButton... 6 Saving Your BigBlueButton Conference... 15 Minimum Requirements to use BigBlueButton... 16 Additional Information on using BigBlueButton... 16
BigBlueButton 2 of 16 Introduction BigBlueButton is an open source project that enables students to participate in online conferences and meetings with their peers and their professors through UF s course management systems. These conferences can include audio, video, chat, and shared desktops. They can also be recorded and saved for later reference. It has been observed that this software works best in Firefox (it does not work with Internet Explorer or Chrome any longer). Objectives After finishing this lesson plan, participants will be able to: 1. Set up BigBlueButton conferences through Canvas 2. Use BigBlueButton to conduct conferences 3. Download the conferences if they have been recorded 4. Become familiar with the minimum requirements to use BigBlueButton Connecting to BigBlueButton through Canvas 1. In your Canvas Course, click on the word CONFERENCES on the left side of the screen.
BigBlueButton 3 of 16 2. On this screen, choose NEW CONFERENCE in the upper right hand side of the screen 3. This screen below shows up. Name the conference, fill in the duration or choose no time limit, then decide to record or not. Next, invite all course members or only certain ones. Then click update. 4. Canvas will send out a message to invite participants to the conference. It will not, however, provide a link to the conference itself in the email.
BigBlueButton 4 of 16 5. When you are ready to start the conference, click START which is found on the same line on which your conference name is located. 6. The attendees must log on to the course site, then choose CONFERENCES, then choose JOIN which is found on the same line on which the conference name is located. 7. Make sure your microphone is connected if you want to interact in the conference. It is recommended to use a headset, not the microphone on your webcam (as it sounds like you are speaking in a tunnel). 8. Firefox will prompt with this window. Choose your microphone device then choose share.
BigBlueButton 5 of 16 9. BigBlueButton will test the audio. 10. If you are having issues with your microphone, make sure it is enabled. Open the control panel and choose sound. Right click to enable the device if necessary. 11. If you want to share a webcam, click on the small webcam icon in the upper left hand of the screen.
BigBlueButton 6 of 16 12. You may be prompted to allow your camera. Click on allow then choose to start sharing. 13. Webcams of all participants can be seen in the webcam box on the screen if they choose to share their cameras. 14. If you want to record the conference, be sure to click on the record icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Even though you clicked that in settings, you need to click it during the session to begin recording. Otherwise, the session will not be recorded. Using BigBlueButton 1. You can load a presentation from your desktop to share with the group. First, choose the load icon located in the lower left of the presentation window.
BigBlueButton 7 of 16 2. It will ask you what file to load. It does prefer pdf files so if you have a PowerPoint presentation, save it as a pdf. Then choose upload. 3. It will then show on the screen in the presentation window. 4. To share your screen with the others, choose the share screen icon located in the upper left of the screen. 5. If you do not plan to use things like chat or webcams, you can close those windows and enlarge the windows you plan to use. For example, if you do not plan on using the chat
BigBlueButton 8 of 16 window, you can minimize it and enlarge another window such as the presentation window. It will minimize to the lower left of the screen. You can see the chat window again by clicking on it. In the presentation window, you can use the tool bar on the right of the screen to underline, write, draw lines around, etc. Roll over the area to the right of the presentation with your mouse and it will show up.
BigBlueButton 9 of 16 6. In the users window, the moderator/presenter s name will appear in blue and have a projection screen by their name under status (at least initially). Other participants names will appear in gray in this window as they join the session. As you talk, your microphone icon will be highlighted. As other people join, you can see their webcam and microphone icons beside their names under media. 7. The moderator/presenter can mute all users so that they cannot use their microphone (for example, during a presentation). Or they can mute all but the presenter. If someone enters
BigBlueButton 10 of 16 into the conference late, if you mute all users except presenter, they will not disturb your call. 8. You can also mute and unmute individuals as well by clicking on the microphone icon by their name. Un-mute Mute 9. You can give a participant the role of presenter by clicking on the image of the person to change it to the icon of the projector screen. They are not the moderator (the name in blue is the moderator), but they are designated the presenter.
BigBlueButton 11 of 16 10. You can chat publicly or privately with all users in chat window under the public tab or you can chat with individuals in the options tab. If you want to speak to individuals, choose which person you want to chat with from the list. No one else will be able to see what you have typed. You can also go back and forth between the tabs. 11. You can also change the layout of your conference. You can change the layout from the drop down menu located at the bottom right corner of the screen. Below are the different screenlayouts.
BigBlueButton 12 of 16 Default layout. Video chat screen layout.
BigBlueButton 13 of 16 Webcam meeting layout. Presentation meeting layout.
BigBlueButton 14 of 16 Lecture assistant layout. Lecture layout. 12. When you are done with your conference, choose the log out icon in the upper right corner of your screen.
BigBlueButton 15 of 16 13. It will take you back to the Home page in your Canvas course. Go back to CONFERENCES to end the session. The END button is located on the same row as the conference name. Saving Your BigBlueButton Conference 1. If you recorded your conference, BigBlueButton will then prepare your video. Depending on the length of the conference, this may take a while. When it is done, it will say 1 Recording on the same row as the name of your conference at well as provide the date. 2. To view the recorded conference, click on the arrow beside the name of your conference then click the VIEW icon. 3. To save the recorded conference onto your computer, right click on the video screen that opens and choose save video as. The only choice is as an mp4 video.
BigBlueButton 16 of 16 Minimum Requirements to use BigBlueButton 1. Computer and other devices: a. Desktop or laptop with XP (or later) or Mac OS 10.x (or later). The computer should have at least 2G of memory and 1 Ghz processor. b. A laptop with a built-in webcam and microphone is sufficient, but you must be in a quiet area to use it. c. BBB cannot be used on mobile devices. d. It is strongly recommended to use a headset with a microphone and not use the webcam microphone. 2. Recommended browsers: a. As of May 2015, Mozilla Firefox is the recommended browser for using BBB through canvas. b. The web browser must run Flash 11.2 (or higher). c. In addition, presenters need to have a Java runtime to share their desktop. 3. Internet connection: a. For bandwidth, we recommend 1Mbits download and 0.5 Mbits upload speed. If you suspect a bandwidth issue, you can test it with http://speedtest.net. b. It is preferable to connect through a wired network. Wireless network might experience periodic disconnects when the wireless drops in signal. c. BBB will disconnect the user anytime it detects the network connection has dropped. If you have any issues, hit the refresh button to start the session again, set the audio and share the video again. Additional Information on using BigBlueButton BigBlueButton provides a separate user guide which can be accessed here.