Blackboard Collaborate Available 21 Jan 2012 for use with students A web conferencing and virtual classroom tool

Session outcomes By the end of the session you will: Be aware of key dates relevant to QUT’s move to Blackboard Collaborate Be able to identify the main features of Blackboard Collaborate Be able to recognise the key differences between Elluminate Live! and Blackboard Collaborate Know where to find training and support resources.

Why the change to Blackboard Collaborate? Blackboard Collaborate was released in July 2011 after Blackboard’s purchase of Elluminate. Support from Blackboard Inc. for Elluminate will be unavailable after 2012, so QUT needs to make the change prior to this. Elluminate Live! has been used widely at QUT since 2010 and has enabled a range of blended learning approaches. Therefore, it is important to continue to provide a web conferencing/virtual classroom option.

Key dates Date Academic staff can explore Blackboard Collaborate in a QUT Blackboard Sandpit site (contact the IT Helpdesk to arrange this). Self-paced training resources available online. From Friday, 11 November 2011 There will be a freeze on the use of Elluminate Live!. Friday, 20 January 2012 Blackboard Collaborate will be available for learning and teaching purposes and for virtual offices. Online and face-to-face training options will be available. From Saturday, 21 January 2012

eLearning Services resources Blackboard Collaborate web pageBlackboard Collaborate QUT Blackboard tipsheets for staff and students (about how to use Collaborate with QUT Blackboard sites)QUT Blackboard tipsheets Learning and Teaching with Technology Effectively (LATTE) community site (and Learning Design Live sessions run via Collaborate).LATTE

Blackboard resources Participant and moderator guides Participant and moderator guides Best practice guidesBest practice guides

Major changes Simplified, easy to rearrange and customisable interface Easy, one-click upload of any supported content Simplified audio and video controls (i.e. webcam) Streamlined session management for moderators More flexible chat experience Easy, one-click entry to audio setup wizard.

Revisiting Elluminate Live! – Moderator view Menu Moderator tools Participants Chat Audio Whiteboard

Blackboard Collaborate – Moderator view 1. Session title 2. Session menu 3. Audio and video panel 4. Participants panel 5. Chat panel 6. Close button (to exit session) 7. Collaboration toolbar 8. Content area

Blackboard Collaborate – Participant view Participants do not see these moderator functions: Load content (see 7) Record (see 7) Navigation bar (see 8) Other participant control depends on permissions granted by the moderator.

Preparing to use Blackboard Collaborate You will need: 1.Reliable internet access 2.A mic-equipped headset 3.To complete the First Time Users check. First Time Users check Example of the First Time Users check for Windows users.

Creating a Collaborate session Inside a QUT Blackboard unit or community site (for learning and teaching purposes) –See tipsheet – Blackboard Collaborate.Blackboard Collaborate Outside of QUT Blackboard – ‘virtual office’ (for collaborating with peers or research partners) –Contact the IT Helpdesk.IT Helpdesk

Joining a session 1.Plug in your headset. 2.Click on the Collaborate session link in QUT Blackboard (or your virtual office link). 3.When the Opening meeting.jnlp window appears, choose ‘Open with Java…’ and click OK. Wait for Java to load. 4.When the Warning – Security message appears, choose ‘Always trust content from this publisher’ and click Run. 5.The Blackboard Collaborate loading window appears. Select connection speed and click OK. 6.Blackboard Collaborate will load and you will be signed in. 7.Complete the audio setup wizard

Important features a)Audio & Video panel b)Participants panel c)Chat panel d)Content area e)Polling f)Profiles g)Other features. These topics will now be covered in more detail: First, it’s necessary to understand options menus and how to customise panels.

Options menus Options menus provide quick access to most functions.

Customisable panels The Audio & Video, Participants, Chat and Page Explorer panels can be detached, moved and resized as desired. To reset the layout to normal, choose ‘Restore Default Layout’ from the View menu. Click and drag panels

a) Audio & Video panel 1.Expand/Collapse button 2.Microphone level setting and indication 3.Talk button 4.Audio Setup Wizard button 5.Options menu 6.Name and profile photo of person currently talking 7.Speaker level setting and indication Talk button off Talk button on Video button offVideo button on Preview image Preview button

Audio & Video options menu Click to reveal options menu Up to six people can share the microphone Active microphones are shown in the Participants panel Up to six people can transmit video

b) Participants panel 1.Expand/Collapse Participants panel 2.Participant feedback options 3.Step away button (Charlie = stepped away) 4.Raise hand button (Ricky = hand raised) 5.Polling response menu 6.Participants list 7.Main options menu 8.Status area 9.Toolbar 10.Polling response bar 11.Activity indicators 12.Participant options menu

Participant feedback Participants and moderators can provide quick feedback using the feedback options. 1.Hover mouse over to reveal all feedback options. 2.Choose desired option. 3.Feedback appears beneath the person’s name.

Activity indicator examples Ethel = has the Audio button pressed. Vivian = transmitting Video. Charlie = using the Audio Setup Wizard and has entered some chat text. Lucy = hand raised and entering Closed Captioning text. Ricky = has stepped away from the session. Notes: Your name will always appear at the top of the Participants panel (i.e. this image shows Vivian’s view of the session). Moderator names are listed first and then participant names. Both lists are ordered alphabetically and this order cannot be changed. Ethel and Vivian have added profile photos.

Permission, activity and status indicators ItemPermission granted Permission revoked Currently Active Small delayLarge delay Audio Video Chat Whiteboard Screen Share Web Closed captioning This icon indicates a participant is running the Audio Setup Wizard. These indicate the user may have a poor wireless signal or other connection problems.

Global and individual permissions To grant or revoke permissions from all participants, select the desired permission in the Main Options menu. These changes will not affect Moderators. To grant or revoke permissions from individual participants or moderators, select the desired permission in the individual’s Participant Options menu. A selected permission has a faint box around its icon. Main Options menu Participants Options menu Default Permissions Global: Individual:

c) Chat panel 1.Expand/Collapse chat panel 2.Message text box (type your message here) 3.Conversation tabs* 4.Chat Options menu 5.Conversation pane 6.Emoticon menu (see below) * Use the conversation tabs to send messages to the room (i.e. everyone), moderators or individuals.

Private messages Hide/show private messages: When moderating, if you don’t want to see participants’ private messages, you can hide them by unselecting Show Supervised Messages in the Chat Options menu. 1.Right-click a participant or, from the Participant Options menu next to their name, select Send a Private Chat. 2.A new tab will appear with the participant’s name. Type your message and press on your keyboard. To close the private chat, hover over the blue icon to the left of the participant’s name – the icon will turn into an X. Click to close. To send a private message:

d) Content area 1.Switch between Whiteboard, Application Sharing and Web Tour modes 2.Add and delete pages 3.Load content and Record session 4.Navigate pages 5.Tools palette 6.Tool Properties Editor

Loading a PowerPoint 1.Click the Load Content button. 2.Locate the desired PowerPoint file –.ppt or.pptx. 3.Select the file and click Open. Wait for the PowerPoint file to be converted to the Whiteboard format. Note: Hyperlinks and animations in PowerPoint slides do not function in Blackboard Collaborate. Also, speaker notes do not show. 4.The Page Explorer will open automatically. Use it to navigate the pages or click the X in the upper right corner to close. 5.Page navigation will then appear at the top right of the Whiteboard.

The Tools palette 1.Selector tool 2.Pointer tools 3.Pencil tool 4.Text box tool 5.Filled shape tools 6.Empty shape tools 7.Line tool 8.Screenshot tool 9.Clip art tool 10.Highlighter tool 11.Simple text tool The Properties Editor (below) appears when the current tool has properties that can be changed. For example, the Text box tool contains options to change colour, font, size and text style. To choose a sub-option for a tool with these available: 1.Click the tool. 2.Hold down the mouse and the sub-options will open. 3.Select the desired sub-option.

Recording a session 1.Click the Record button to start recording. A highlighted Recording button and a red dot then appears. 2.Click the Recording button to stop or pause a recording. 3.To resume a paused recording, click the Record button again. Note: All moderators and participants must exit a session before the recording becomes available. This recording reminder appears to a moderator when joining a session. Usually, you won’t need to start recording immediately, so click Close.

Playing a recording 1.Play/Pause button 2.Index markings (e.g. slide changes) 3.Current playback position 4.Current index name 5.List all index entries 6.Time of current playback position 7.Playback timeline 8.Total recording time When viewing a recorded session, these controls appear at the bottom of the Collaborate window.

Application sharing 1.Switch to Application Sharing mode. 2.Select Share Desktop or a specific application from the list. Only open applications that are not minimised will appear on the list. 3.Click Share. 4.The shared application will display in the content window for participants. 1.Application Sharing tool bar 2.Stop Sharing button 3.Pause/Resume button 4.Send Snapshot to Whiteboard button

1.Switch to Web Tour mode. 2.Type a URL and hit on the keyboard. 3.The webpage will appear in the Content window for all participants. Notes: Participants are free to navigate the website independently. When a moderator has enabled the Follow Me option, participants will then be redirected to any page the moderator views. Use the back and forward buttons to move between previously viewed pages. Publish the URL to Chat via the options menu. Web Tour

e) Polling Other useful options: Publish Responses to Whiteboard Lock Responses Make Responses Visible. Participants click here to give response. Moderators click Clear to start again. Tools menu > Polling 1. 2.

f) Profiles To edit your profile: Edit menu > Preferences > Profile Hover your mouse over a person’s name to view their profile.

g) Other features Breakout Rooms File Transfer The Timer Multimedia Files View the online Moderator’s Guide for further details.Moderator’s Guide

Further information Visit the Blackboard Collaborate web pageBlackboard Collaborate Contact: Roger Cook, Blackboard Collaborate Service Manager eLearning Contact the Learning Designer working with your facultyLearning Designer