Blackboard Collaborate for Faculty

New York City College of Technology Instructional Technology & Technology Enhancement Center -- itec Blackboard Collaborate for Faculty Contact Information: 718-254-8565 ITEC@citytech.cuny.edu System Requirements: Windows XP (32 bit), Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit) or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit) with Pentium III 1 GHz processor Mac OS X 10.5 (32 or 64 bit) or Mac OS X 10.6 (32 or 64 bit) with G4, G5, or Intel Processor Needs Java version 6 http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp 256 MB RAM 20 MB free disk space 28.8 KBps Internet connection For Windows: a sound card with speakers and microphone or headset For Macs: an internal, USB, or external isight microphone or headset To check if whether your plugins are up to date, go to http://www.mozilla.org/en-us/plugincheck/ Getting Started A. To log into Blackboard Collaborate go to the CUNY portal and log into Blackboard. B. Go to Tools in your course and click on Blackboard Collaborate. Create a session in Blackboard Collaborate A. Click on Create Session

B. Under the Information tab, type in a Session Title and select the Session Type. a) If you choose a Shared session, then select the courses from your list. C. Select the Date & Time for the session. You may also choose an Early session entry, which allows the participants to join the session before the start time. D. Choose the optional Session Attributes. a) Check the All Permissions box if you want to give your students all permissions during the session, such as video, audio, chat, and whiteboard. You will then need to limit the discussion and give individual permissions by turning off audio and having students raise their hands during a session. b) 3 is the default and recommended amount for users to be simultaneously talking and streaming video at the same time. c) Check the Allow In-Session Invitations box if you plan to invite outside guests during the session. 2

E. Scroll back to the top of the page and click the Participation tab. a) Under Assign Roles, you can select the roles of the participants of the session by moving the users from Available invitees in to the Moderators box. b) Under External Invitees, you can send an invitation link to outside users by simply typing their name and Email Address and clicking Add. F. Scroll back to the top of the page and click the Sharing tab. a) Under Preloads, you can upload a file that will be available during the session. Supported files include: Whiteboard files (.wbd and.wbp) Session Plan files (.elp and.elpx) Multimedia files (.mp3, m4v,.mp4,.mpg,.mpeg,.mpe, Quicktime.qt or.mov, and Flash.swf) 3

G. Scroll back to the top of the page and click the Content Area tab. You can choose to create a link of this session to a content area. a) Under Content Area Details, type the name of the content item. Move the content area from Available Content Areas in to the Selected Content Areas box. You may also type a description and a comment. b) Under Options, you can select the Date Restrictions of the link. H. Click Submit when you are done. 4

Entering the Session A. Click on the session to enter. Your session will automatically download. Click Open to open the session. a) When you enter the session, you automatically get a Recording Reminder. Click Start to begin recording your session or just click Close if you don t want to record the session. B. Click on the Audio Setup Wizard to run audio wizard. You must run the wizard every time you enter the session. C. Setup your Preferences. a) Go to Edit, then Preferences. b) Scroll down to locate Connection and then click on Connection. Make sure to select the correct connection speed. If you are using a computer on campus then you should select LAN. 5

c) Check your Camera Settings to make sure the right webcam is selected. d) Click Apply and then Close. D. Setup your Profile. a) Go to Edit, then Preferences. b) Scroll down to locate Profile and then click on Profile. c) Enter you information under the Identity tab. You can also choose to upload a picture for your profile. You may also enter your information under the Contact and Addresses tabs. d) Click Apply and then Close. 6

Archiving 1) To archive the session click Record and click OK when it prompts you Start/resume recording? 2) When you are finished with your presentation, click the Recording button to end the archive. Click OK when it prompts you Stop/pause recording? All users must be out of the session for the archived file to be saved. Removing Students from the session Note: You may also use these steps to remove all students when closing the session after recording. A. Click on the student s name or highlight multiple students in the Participants list. B. Open the Participants Option menu by Right-clicking on the selected students and then selecting Remove Participant. C. When the Remove Participant dialog appears, click Yes to remove the student. 7

The Participants Panel You can view and manage your students in this area. Image taken from Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing Moderator s Guide (www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/overview.aspx) 1. Expand/Collapse button 7. Global options menu 2. Feedback menu 8. Status area 3. Step Away button 9. Toolbar 4. Raise Hand button 10. Polling response bar 5. Polling Response 11. Activity menu indicators 6. Participants list 12. Participant options menu Participant Permissions A. The Audio permission will allow students to talk during the session. B. The Video permission will allow students to stream their video in the session. C. The Chat permission will allow students to type chat messages during the session. D. The Whiteboard permission will allow students to use the drawing tools in the Whiteboard. E. The Application Sharing permission will allow students to host an Application Sharing session. F. The Web Tour permission will allow students to host Web Tours and Web Pushes. G. The Closed-Captioning permission will allow students to enter text into the Closed-Captioning Window. 8

Activity Indicators A. The microphone has been turned on. B. The Audio Setup Wizard is being run. C. Video is being transmitted. D. The user is currently entering a Chat message. E. The user is using the Whiteboard tools to put content into the Whiteboard. F. An Application Sharing session is being hosted by that user. G. The user is running a Web Tour or Web Push. H. The user is away from the session. Sending an In-Session Invitation A. Go to the Tools menu, select In-Session Invite and then Invite New Participant. B. The Invite New Participants dialog will open up. You may edit the text of the Invitation Message. a. Click on the Compose Email button to send the message to your default email application. You may also click on Copy Link to copy the link and paste it into another application. C. Enter the email address of the invitee and then click on Send. 9

Locking the session A. Go to the Tools menu and select Moderator. B. Click on Allow New Participants to Enter Session to de-select it. C. To unlock the session, simply re-select Allow New Participants to Enter Session. Chatting 1) Audio Chat a) Use audio chat with the class if you have speakers/headphones and a microphone on your computer. To talk, click on the Talk button. To stop talking, click on the Talk button once again. b) To enable/disable students from talking i) Students are given permission to talk by default if you selected all permissions when setting up the session. To remove that permission from all students, click in the Global Options menu and deselect Audio. ii) If you want only one student to speak at a time, but the entire class to hear then have students raise their hands. Then go to that student s Participant Options menu and select Audio to give them permission to talk. iii) To disable a certain student when all students have permission to speak: (1) Go to that student s Participant Options menu and deselect Audio. (2) To enable a student to talk, go to that student s Participant Options menu and select Audio. 10

Video Broadcast c) Use the video broadcast feature with the class if you have a webcam on your computer. Click on the Preview Video button to preview the broadcast before going live. To broadcast video, click on the Video button. To stop the broadcast, click on the Video button once again. d) To enable/disable students from video broadcasting: i) Students are given permission to broadcast video by default if you selected all permissions when setting up the session. To remove that permission from all students, click in the Global Options menu and deselect Video. ii) To disable a certain student when all students have permission to broadcast video: (1) Go to that student s Participant Options menu and deselect Video. (2) To enable a student to broadcast video, go to that student s Participant Options menu and select Video. 2) Text Chat a) To text chat with the class: i) Go in to the Chat Panel, and simply type your messages in the Message Text Box. Press Enter on your keyboard when done. b) To send messages to one student: i) Double-click on the name of the student in the Participants list. ii) Enter your message in the text box and press Enter on your keyboard to send the message. c) To send a message as an Announcement: i) In the Chat panel, go to the Chat Options menu and select Send Announcement. ii) Enter your message in the text box and press Enter on your keyboard to send the message. 11

d) To Save Chat Conversations: i) Go to File, Save, and then Chat Conversation. ii) Enter a file name, select where you want to save it, and then click Save. e) To enable/disable students from text chat: i) Students are given permission to text chat by default. To remove that permission from all students, click in the Global Options menu and deselect Chat. The Whiteboard Supported File Types: *.wbp and *.wbd for Protected and non-protected Whiteboard files. A. The Whiteboard is where you can draw, write, display images, or present slides. The session begins in the Whiteboard mode by default. B. Use the tools on the left to start drawing or writing. C. Rich or plain text and images can be copied and pasted on to the Whiteboard. Simply copy the object from another application and then paste it on to the Whiteboard. D. To Save the Whiteboard pages: a) Go to File, Save, and then Whiteboard. b) In the Select Pages dialog box, choose whether you want to save All Pages, the Current Page or Selected Pages. c) Enter a file name, select where you want to save it, and then click Save. E. To enable/disable students from using the Whiteboard tools: a) Students are given permission to the Whiteboard tools by default. To remove that permission from all students, click in the Global Options menu and deselect Whiteboard. 12

Uploading PowerPoint Supported File Types: *.ppt and *.pptx for PowerPoint 2003 and higher; *.sxi and *.odp for OpenOffice.org 3.1 and higher. A. Once you re inside of your session, click on the Load Content button. Locate the file that you want to load in to your session and click Open. B. The Page Explorer window will automatically open up after the file has been loaded into the Whiteboard. You can close the window and have the same page controls available to you on the Collaboration Toolbar. Uploading Images Supported File Types: *.bmp, *.gif, *.jpg, *.jpeg and *.png A. Click on the Load Content button. Locate the image file that you want to insert in to your session and click Open. B. Select whether you want to Import Images as Individual Pages or Place Images on Current Page and then click Load. 13

Inserting External Links A. Click on the Simple Text tool or the Text Editor tool. B. Click the area on the Whiteboard that you want to type the external link and begin typing the link. Make sure you use the syntax before the address. Creating a Quiz in Advance A quiz can only be setup inside of a session, so you will need to create the quiz before the class. There are two ways you can do this. Choose the one that works best for you. 1. One way to do this is to create a session and make it unavailable to your student. Open that session, and create your quizzes. Then export them to your desktop hard-drive or USB thumb-drive, and import them back into new session for your students. (See below regarding quiz library for additional details.) 2. Another option is to set up your early session entry time to give yourself enough time before the session to create the quiz. The limit is an hour. You can then save to quiz library and import from library when class is in session. Creating a Quiz A. Go to File, New, and then Quiz. B. Type the name of the Quiz in the title box. C. To create a new question, click on the New Question button. D. Type in the new question inside the text box. E. Next you have a choice between Multiple Choice and Short Answer. a) Click on the Multiple Choice button to enter the multiple choice responses. 1) Type in the response. By default, each response will be marked wrong. To select the correct response, click on the Wrong button to change it to the Right button. 2) Click on the Multiple Choice button again to add more responses. 3) Click on the Trash icon to delete a response. 4) Use the arrows to change the sequence of the responses. 5) When finished, click on the New Question button to continue adding questions. 14

b) Click on the Short Answer button to enter the short answer response. 1) Type in the response. 2) Click on the Trash icon to delete the response. 3) When finished, click on the New Question button to continue adding questions. F. When finished adding all of the questions and responses, click on the Save Quiz button to save the quiz and go back to the Quiz Library. The quiz will save locally on your computer. Saving a Quiz A. After you created your quiz, click the save icon and it will be saved in the library. 15

B. In the quiz library, click on the Save icon. You have the option save all quizzes or save selected quizzes C. Name and save your quiz to your desktop hard-drive or thumb-drive, which is saved in their.vcq format. Launching/ Importing a Quiz A. Go to Window, and then select Show Quiz Manager. B. The quizzes that you created during the session will be listed in the library. a) To upload a saved quiz, click on the Open Quiz button. b) Select the file and click on Open. C. After selecting the quiz, click on the Find button. D. Click on the Time button if you would like to set up a time limit for the quiz. E. Click on the Play button to hand out the quiz and begin. Viewing Quiz Results 16

A. The Quiz will stop after the students have finished or if the time has ran out. You may also press the Stop button to end the quiz. B. Click on the View Results button to allow the students to view their results. C. Click on the Stop button to return to the Quiz Library. D. Click on the Save Quiz button if you would like to save the results of the quiz. a) Select the quiz when the Save Quizzes dialog appears and click Save. b) Choose where you would like to save the file. c) Type the file name and click Save. Polling 1) Decide the type of poll you want to conduct. Go to Tools=>Polling=>Polling Type, and select the poll type. 2) Ask your question and let your students know to select a choice. a) You may lock the polling results if you don t want your students to change their answer or if you don t want to accept any additional responses. Go to the Global Options menu and select Lock Responses. To unlock responses, simply unselect Lock Responses. 17

3) The poll responses are displayed in the Polling Response bar. The poll response for each student is displayed next to their names in the Participants list. a) If you would like to publish the polling results to the Whiteboard, go to the Global Options menu and select Publish Responses to Whiteboard. 4) To clear the Poll, click on reset. Web Tour A. To have a Web page open on everyone s computer: a) Click on the Web Tour button. b) Type in the URL of the Web site you want to display on everyone s computer and hit Enter on your keyboard. c) Check the Follow Me option if you want your students to follow you when browse the website. Unchecking the Follow Me option will allow your students to browse the website freely. d) Switch to Whiteboard mode to end the Web Tour. Application Sharing You can demonstrate an application you have through Blackboard Collaborate without the students having the same application installed on their computers. A. To begin sharing an application on your computer: a) Click on the Application Sharing Mode button. b) You can choose to share a screen area of your desktop, a window, which is just the application, or your entire desktop. Make your selection and then click Share. c) If you choose to share an application, a yellow outline box will appear around the application window. To resize the box, move your mouse over the edges of the application window and drag to the desired size. 18

d) If you choose to share your desktop, a yellow outline box will appear around the desktop. e) If you want one student to interact with your application, select the student s name in the Participants list. Then go to Tool, Application Sharing, and Give Control of Shared Applications. It is best to choose one user at a time to interact with the shared application. i) To take back control of the application, simply press Control+Space on your keyboard. f) To end the Application Share session, click the Stop Sharing button. You can also pause the Application Share session by clicking the Pause Sharing button. B. If you want a student to share their application from their computer, you must give them permission to do so. a) Go to that student s Participant Options menu and select Application Sharing. b) The user can choose to share a screen area of your desktop, a window, which is just the application, or your entire desktop as indicated above. Breakout Rooms Rooms can be either Public or Private. Students are not required to be in a public breakout room, which allows the instructor to load content and switch Content modes before the students are moved into the room. A private breakout room is temporary. Students are required to be in a private breakout room, so the room will close if no students are present. A. To create a private breakout room: a) Select the Participants you want to move from the Participants list. b) Go to the Tools menu, select Breakout Rooms, Send to Breakout Room, and then New Private Breakout Room. c) A new tab is then created in the Participants list for each breakout room that was created. B. To create a public breakout room: a) Go to the Tools menu, select Breakout Rooms, and then Create Breakout Rooms. b) Enter the new name of the breakout room. 19

c) Enter the number of rooms that will be created. d) Select a Distribution Option. Select Don t move participants, if you want to manually move your students into the breakout rooms. e) Click Create to create the room. C. If you want to move yourself or other students into different rooms, simply drag and drop yourself or student into the new room. D. To close all breakout rooms go to the Room menu and select Close All Breakout Rooms. To close one breakout room, go to that room s Options menu and select Close Breakout room. File Transfer You can upload files into the File Transfer Library, so you can share them with your students. A. To access the File Transfer Library, go to the Window menu and select Show File Transfer Library. B. To load a file: a) Click on the Load File button. b) Locate and select the file you want to transfer. c) You may select the option Prompt recipients if you want to notify your students that the file has been added to the File Transfer Library. d) Click Open to load the file into the File Transfer Library. C. To remove a file, select the files from the File Transfer Library and click on the Remove button. 20

The Graphing Calculator To use the calculator, go to the Window menu and select Graphing Calculator. Image taken from Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing Moderator s Guide (www.blackboard.com/platforms/collaborate/overview.aspx) 1. Y-axis 8. Restore Default button 2. X-axis 9. Function boxes 3. Zoom buttons 10. Evaluate buttons 4. Shift view area button 11. Minimum X range box 5. Point select button 12. Maximum X range box 6. Grid spacing selection 13. Minimum Y range box 7. Privacy settings 14. Maximum Y range box Closing the Session To close the session, simply click on the session window s Close button. Then click on OK when the confirmation dialog appears. Be sure to remove all users from the session before closing it. All the users must be out of the session in order for archiving to fully complete. Please see the Removing Students from the session section on page 7 for steps. 21