How-to-Guides Part 1: Introduction to Adobe Connect Introduction Adobe Connect is a web conferencing platform that enable users to conduct/participate in webinars and web conferences online. It presents a virtual meeting space that allow users to: share their screen, document or web links communicate and engage using chat rooms, status icons, audio (via microphone), video (via web camera) interact with polls, whiteboards and break out rooms for group activity The screen shot below highlights the basic features and pods (windows) in Adobe Connect. ❶ ❷ ❸ ❺ ❻ ❹ ❼ 1. Main Menu, 2. Speaker, Microphone, Webcam & Status Options, 3. Video pod, 4. Share pod, 5. Attendees, 6. Chat, 7. Layout Manager Page 1 of 6
The Basics Defining Roles Your role determines your capabilities for sharing, broadcasting, and other activities in an Adobe Connect session. There are three roles for session attendees: Hosts, Presenters, and Participants. It is useful to understand what others would be able to see and do when you host or present a session. The table below shows a quick overview of the rights and access of different roles in Adobe Connect: Hosts can, Customise and manage layout and pod Invite guests Upload content to the library Share Document/Screen Whiteboard Work on pods in the Presenter Only Area Upgrade participant to role of host or presenter Create and manage small group breakout rooms within a meeting Record meetings Grant access / enable webcam or microphone for participants Chat and set status Presenters can, Have microphone and webcam controls for themselves Share Documents/Screen Whiteboard View and share materials upload by the host in the Presenter Only Area Chat and use status options Forward meeting invitations to participants Organise Participants into break-out rooms Participants can, View the content that the presenter /host is sharing Hear and see the audio and video broadcasts Use chat and use status options Set their own microphone to mute Participants cannot, Share their screen Access the microphone or webcam until it is granted by the host Page 2 of 6
Main menu The four Main menus; Meeting, Layouts, Pods and Audio contain the bulk of the controls and settings for each property. Apart from Meetings all other menus are only visible to Hosts. The properties of each menu will be discussed in the following sections. Host View Main menu Quick Links to: Speaker, Microphone, Webcam and Status Presenter / Participant View Layouts As a host you can customise and manage your meeting room layout. Please contact the staff at the Department for Learning Development to assist you with the set-up of your meeting room. Page 3 of 6
Pods Pods are panels/windows that make up the meeting room layout. You can show, hide, move, arrange, resize, and access pod options by clicking the drop down icon on the top right corner of each corresponding pod. With the exception of the Attendees and Video pods, Hosts can add more than one instance of a pod in a session at the same time. ❶ ❹ ❺ ❷ ❸ ❻ 1. Share, 2. Poll, 3. Web Links, 4. Video, 5. Attendees, 6. Chat Under the Pods main menu, you will find a selection of pods that may be used within a session. Select the appropriate pods for your session, avoid using every available pod. The selection of pods and layout should reflect the purpose of your presentation. Page 4 of 6
Share: Share Screen / Document / Whiteboards Notes: Show information Attendees: List of users logged into the session Video: Broadcast live video feed (webcam) Chat: Send message to other attendees Files: Upload files to share Web Links: Share website with attendees Poll: Create questions/polls for participants Q&A: Post questions to host/presenters It is best practise to rename the pods to the appropriate title instead of leaving it the default i.e. Notes 7. This will be particularly useful when you have a collection of pods and could easily identify pods related to your presentation. In order to rename the pod, double click on the existing title and start typing in the new title. Page 5 of 6
Status Options Status options are visual cues used provide feedback to the presenter and other attendees. As a host or presenter it is vital that you monitor and keep track your attendees status and feedback. Click the Status options on the main menu bar and select the desired status options. The selected/active status will be displayed beside your name under the Attendees pod. Note that the first half of the options (i.e. Raise Hand, Agree, Disagree and Step Away) once clicked will be visible until it is cleared. To clear your status, click the Status options drop down and select Clear Status. The other options, once clicked will appear for approximately 10 seconds. Please refer to the Part 2: Using Adobe Connect to find out more on Adobe Connect features. Page 6 of 6