Using Blackboard Collaborate WithOUT Blackboard Blackboard (Bb) Collaborate is a web conferencing tool similar to AdobeConnect. It can be used separately without Bb and it can be embedded within Bb. This training documentation will provide steps to use Bb Collaborate without using a Bb course. NOTE: Please access Bb Collaborate from the Chrome web browser for a full feature experience. Access Bb Collaborate During the pilot, people who want to use a Collaborate session without going through Blackboard will need to request login access. People who currently have login access to Adobe Connect have already been setup in Bb Collaborate. Request a Login Login Call TAC at x-4822 to submit a ticket to request a login to Bb Collaborate. A task will be created for the E-Learning team. One of the E-Learning team members will create a generic username and password in Collaborate. The E-Learning team will notify you when your access is ready. After the user is provided their account, they will log into Bb Collaborate. Login to MyFSU Click on the Employee tab In the My Workplace icon, scroll to the bottom and find the Collaborate Ultra box and click the Collaboration Ultra link. Page 1
Two Versions Blackboard is in the process of migrating Bb Learn and Bb Collaborate (Classic) to a newly rewritten version called Ultra. One of the features when using Bb Learn Ultra and Bb Collaborate Ultra is to have the option to use the Classic experience or the Ultra Experience. It is a toggle switch between the two versions. Once you get logged into Bb Collaborate, scroll to the bottom of the page to click the link to go Back to Collaborate Ultra experience. Create Bb Collaborate Sessions On the left menu, there is a link called Sessions. You can create as many sessions as you would like, however, you can only run one session at a time with your login. Other people may access your session (e.g. Student Group Meetings ) while you are logged into another session (e.g. Meet With Jackie Hughes.) Click on the Plus icon to create new sessions. Click on the Pencil icon to edit existing sessions. Page 2
In the box that shows up on the left of your screen, give your new session a name. There are three sections in which you can enter session details: Event Details, Invitations, and Sessions Settings. Session Details: Event Details The Event Details criteria allow you to have a start and an end date. You may not want the session to end; as it may be a recurring meeting you have each week. In this case, you would check the No End (Open Session) box. Otherwise, you can schedule a one-time meeting or you can schedule a repeating meeting (e.g. monthly department meeting). You have the option to allow attendees to get into your meeting 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes before the meeting start time if you had a specific start time scheduled. Page 3
This is where you would allow guests and set the role that you would like your guests to have. Session Details: Invitations This is where you go to invite people to attend your meeting. Click on the Plus icon to add people to the invite list. Click on the Airplane icon to send an invitation to an individual. Click the Resent All Invitations to send all participants a link to the meeting. Session Details: Session Settings The session settings allow you to set default options for each sessions. You will have the ability to adjust these options when you start the meeting. The three settings with the green check box. Page 4
Use Bb Collaborate Bb Collaborate is a web conferencing tool similar to AdobeConnect. If you are familiar with AdobeConnect, just know that Bb Collaborate has similar features as Adobe Connect; the key is to find them! When you go into a Bb Collaborate session, you will see the screen below. At the bottom of the screen is a series of icon buttons, which are described in detail below. My Settings Click on the My Settings icon to go into the settings area. Click on the icon to change your profile picture. You can either upload a picture from a file or capture a photo from the web camera. Once you get your profile picture set, click on Save. You can also join your meeting and then set yourself as being away if you have to leave for a short period of time. Page 5
Audio and Video Settings Expand the Audio and Video Settings to generate a phone number for phone conferencing. You can also setup your audio and video here if you need to change camera or microphone. Notification Settings Expand the Notification Settings to turn on closed captioning. You can also turn off the sound or pop-up alerts from attendee activity. Connect Audio Click on the Audio icon to turn on your audio and your computer will detect the mic hardware on your computer. Sometimes you may see a message at the top of your screen asking you to set up your audio and video hardware. All you have to do is click through the prompts to configure your audio session. Once finished, the Audio icon live. will become Connect Video Click on the Video icon to turn on your audio and your computer will detect the mic hardware on your computer. If not already done, you may see a message at the top of your screen asking you to set up your audio and video hardware. All you have to do is click Page 6
through the prompts to configure your audio session. Once finished, the Video icon will become live. You are ready to receive meeting participants. Participant List Once the meeting participant(s) arrive into your Bb Collaborate session, you will see the number of people in the Participants List icon increase. Click on the icon to see a list of the participants. You can hover on the participants to make them a moderator, presenter, or captioner. The moderator can see participants connect, if their microphone is turned on, and if they are connecting with good bandwidth. Raise Hand People can click the Raise Hand icon to get the moderator s attention. The moderator will see a number in a red circle indicating the number of hands being raised. Depending on how you have your Notification Settings configured in the My Settings section, you may hear a ding and see a pop-up when people raise their hand. Click the Clear link in the pop-up to make the notification go away. Page 7
Chat Meeting participants can click on the Chat icon to type questions. The moderator will see a number in a red circle indicating the number of chat posts that have been made. This number goes away when the moderator goes into the chat area. Depending on how you have your Notification Settings configured in the My Settings section, you may hear a ding and see a pop-up when someone posts a chat. The moderator can chat with everyone or have a private chat with the moderators. Follow the Speaker At the top of the screen is a button that toggles back and forth between Group Mode and Follow the Speaker mode. You will see one of these buttons in the upper left corner if you have more than one participant in and if you are using Chrome. This feature is only available when using Chrome. Below are screen shots of both modes. Figure 1: Group mode Page 8
Figure 2: Follow the speaker mode More Tools: Start Recording Bb Collaborate videoconferences can be recorded, or it can be used as a lecture capture tool similar to Tegrity. You can record your meeting/session by clicking on the ellipses button and selecting Start Recording. If you are using it to record a training session or lecture, you may want to share content first and then start recording. When you are finished recording, click on the ellipses button and selecting Stop Recording. If you forget to stop the recording, it will stop automatically for you when you exit Bb Collaborate. See the Recording section to find where the recording will be saved. Page 9
More Tools: Session Settings You can find additional session settings by clicking on the ellipses button and selecting Session Settings. If you have people attending your classroom remotely, you might want to turn off their audio be default. Page 10
Share Content: Documents / Screen You can also share content with meeting participants by clicking the Share Content icon in the upper right corner of the screen. After clicking the Share Content icon, you should have three options if you are using Chrome: Share Blank Whiteboard, Share Application, and Share Files. The Share Application feature is only available in Chrome. Share Content: Share Application Select the Share Application option to share your screen or a particular application. You will have to open the application before clicking this link. You will need to use this option if you want to share a Word doc, Excel spreadsheet or a web page. Page 11
Share Content: Share Files Select the Share Files option. Browse the computer to find the image, PowerPoint or PDF file you want to share. Once it comes up, you need to highlight it (select it) and then click the Share Now button. You will have to select a slide to begin sharing with the meeting participants. The shared file can be marked up with colored pencil, shapes, and text. You can arrow through the pages of the file. When finished, simply click Stop Sharing. At the top of the screen will be a bar with options to arrow through the shared file, to mark up the file with your choice of color, to point to specific items on the shared file, to add text and to add shapes. Please note that these markups are not permanently on the shared file. It is more like an overlay until it is erased or until Bb Collaborate is closed. Click the Stop Sharing link to close the file. Recordings On the left menu is a link entitled Recordings. If you have any recordings, they will be listed here. Currently, your only options are to download the recording by clicking on the download icon or to delete the recording by clicking on the trash icon. Page 12
If you do not see an older recording on the list, you will have to expand the Show Recent Recordings list and select Show Recordings In A Range to enter the date range. Bb Collaborate Helpful Links Blackboard Blackboard has a short video tutorial that explains how to use Bb Collaborate Ultra: Blackboard Video Tutorial Atomic Learning Atomic Learning has some tutorial videos for the older version of Bb Collaborate that might be helpful. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to log into MyFSU before the following URL will work. Atomic Learn Ferris State University The Ferris E-Learning team has helpful documentation online at: Page 13
Blackboard Ultra Documentation Bb Collaborate Disclaimers Please exclude any confidential or restricted data from being stored on the site because it may not be in a location that is HIPAA and/or FERPA compliant. This is a SAAS (cloud) model and the data from our online conversations are not stored on FSU owned devices. Ferris is not responsible for backups. Backups are performed by Blackboard and they stated they do NOT test restores. We do not want faculty to think that they can request a restore and it will happen or work. Page 14