Scheduling a Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing Session in a Blackboard course

The Building Block 4.1.2 enables Blackboard Learn 9.1 customers to easily and seamlessly integrate a Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing session into a course. Participants can launch a live session or recorded session directly from the Blackboard Learning System for a

great user experience every time—regardless of connection speed.

Creating a Meeting Room Content Area

1. At the top left of the Course Menu, click the Add Menu Item button .

2. Select the first item: Content Area

3. In the Name box, type the name you want to call this new Content Area that will hold links to your Collaborate Session(s) and recording(s).

4. Check the box Available to Users. This will allow users to see the item on the Course Menu.

5. Click Submit.

Schedule a Web Conference Session

1. Log into your Blackboard Course.

2. Locate your course and select the Content Area you want to place your meeting session links

in (e.g. Meeting Room).

3. From the Information screen, select Tools and click Blackboard Collaborate.

4. From the Bb Collaborate List Page, click Create Session to schedule a new web conferencing session.

Session Information

1. The title, by default, is the course name. You can edit this, but it is recommended that you leave the course number and you include at least your last name:

Ex.: 2013SP_MAT-109-W02: McMinn’s Meeting Room

2. Choose the type of session

Course – session will only be displayed in the current course

Shared - session is displayed in multiple selected courses. Available for instructors who have more than one course. Select the course(s) you want to share with in the

Additional Courses list.

o To select additional courses, click the box and select the course(s) you want to share this session with. NOTE: you can only select one at a time.

Use case: create a virtual office.

Schedule

1. Date – set the Start Date and End Date. Session can be for a specific date and time

or set to run over a longer period of time for example for a full semester or term.

2. Early session entry – the period of time before the start of the session during which

users can join the session. NOTE: This has NO impact on a session that’s scheduled to run fro an entire semester.

3. Repeat session – sessions can be set up to repeat.

Use case: create a virtual office.

Session Attributes

1. Recording Mode

a. Manual – Moderator activates recording b. Automatic – Recording starts when the first person enters the session

c. Disabled – Session will not be recorded

2. Maximum Simultaneous Talkers and Max Cameras – up to six simultaneous talkers and cameras can be activated for the session. The moderator can change the number during the live session.

3. Supervised – allows moderators to view all private chat messages in the session.

4. All Permissions – all participants will have full permissions when they enter the session. Permissions are audio, video, chat and whiteboard. The moderator can give and take away permissions during the session.

5. Raise Hand on Entry – when a participant enters the session their hand will be automatically raised thereby notifying the moderator that someone has entered the room.

6. Allow In-Session Invitations – the session URL will be available to send from within the session so others may join the session.

7. Hide Names in Recordings – names of session participants are hidden from viewers of

the recording. Names are replaced with Participant 1, Participant 2, etc.

Integrate with Grade Center

To grade attendance in a web conferencing session, enable the Grade Center integration. This

turns the Blackboard Collaborate session into a graded activity. Any participant in the course who attends the session will receive 100 points in a new column of their Grade Center report.

Attendance in a Collaborate session simply means the participant entered the session. It does not mean they participated in any way.

Enabling Grade Center integration turns the Blackboard Collaborate session into a graded

activity. Any participant in the course who attends the session will receive 100 points in a new column of their Grade Center report. This grade reflects only attendance.

Each time one or more participants join an empty session, a new graded instance is created and a new column is added to the grade center. For example, if participants join at 2:00 and all of them leave at 2:30, then one or more rejoin at 2:45, two separate columns will be created for

each student's grade center report – one for the 2:00 period and one for the 2:45.

Participation

The Participation tab allows the session creator to assign session roles and to invite participants

who are not registered in the Blackboard course. 1. Assign Roles

a. Restrict Participants – to restrict access to the session to a sub-set of the participants registered in the course. Participants can then be assigned the role of Moderator or Participant.

b. All Moderators – to assign the role of moderator to all session participants.

2. Guest Invitees a. Allow Unregistered Guest - If a session has been set to allow unregistered guests,

an HTTP web address will be created. This link can be copied and pasted into emails or documents to distribute to guests you wish to invite to the session.

b. Select Allow Unregistered Guests to invite by email a guest who is not registered in the course. The link will be specific to that invitee. To find this link again later, locate your session in the list. Click the chevron to the right of its name to open the options

menu, then select Guest Link.

Sharing

1. Preloads (Optional) – content can be preloaded into a session. The following file types

are supported: .wbd, .wbp, .elp, .elpx, .swf, .m4v, .mp4, .mpg, .mpeg, .mpe, .mp3, .qt, .mov, .wmv

2. Telephony (Optional) NOT AVAILABLE – a teleconferencing for audio can be added to the session. The session supports a mix of VOIP and telephone audio. See the

Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing user guide available from the On-Demand Learning Center for detailed information about configuring a teleconference.

3. Session Notes (Optional) – notes can be added for the moderator and for participants. These notes are available on the details page and viewable prior to joining the session.

Content Area

1. Content Area Details - To access the web conferencing session from a content area,

select from the Available Area List and move the desired are to the Selected Content Areas. Add a description and/or comment if desired.

Content Item Name: This is the link that will appear in the selected content areas.

Content Area List: Place a check next to available content areas. Checked content areas

will have a link to the session added to them.

Description: A detailed description of the session to appear under the link.

Comment: A comment to appear under the link.

Required:Place a check in the box to mark this content as required. If left unchecked,

content links are labeled "Suggested."

2. Options – Set a date restriction on access to the session.

Date Restrictions: Type or select from the calendar and clock menus a date and

time of day for this session to be available in the content area. If the session is still open, it will be accessible through the List page even after the content link has been

removed.

Creating Links to Sessions and Recordings

Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing sessions may be linked to from a course or organization's content folder or information area. Placing direct links in those locations will allow

quick access to a recording or ongoing sessions that will be accessed again and again. The List page contains a record of all rooms and recordings that are both accessible to the user and meet the set parameters.

Opening the List Page

1. Navigate to the desired content or information folder.

2. If edit mode is off, click OFF on the Edit Mode toggle to turn it on. 3. In the Edit Content tool bar, move the mouse over Tools to open that menu. 4. Click Blackboard Collaborate. The List page opens.

Using the Search Options

1. Select Contains, Equal To, or Starts With in the drop-down field and type some text in the field to search for sessions whose titles shared that text string. Select Not blank to search for all sessions.

2. Type a Start date or click the calendar button to select a day from the calendar. This will be the earliest date of creations for sessions in the list.

3. Type an End date or click the calendar button to select a day from the calendar. This

will be the latest date of session creation for sessions in the list. 4. Click Go.

The list will include all sessions or recordings that are either public or are associated with courses in which you are enrolled. The recordings tab is set to look for recording created in the last 7

days. If you need to link to a recording created further back than 7 days, you will need to use the search options.

When the desired course(s) appear(s) in the list, select them by placing a check mark in the box

in the far left of its row. Sort the list by clicking Title, Start Date, or End Date to select the sorting criteria. Click the column header again to toggle the sorting order.

Adding a Link to an Existing Session or Recording

1. Navigate to the Bb Collaborate List Page 2. Optionally, click the Recordings tab to create a link to a recording instead of an

available session. 3. Use the Search parameters to locate the desired session. Refer to Using the Search

Options (above).

4. Click the icon to open the Options menu. 5. In the Options menu, select Add Content Item. The Add Content Item page opens.

6. In the Content Area List, select the desired content or information folders to which to add link(s) to this session. Links are added to any folder in the Selected Content Areas

list.

NOTE: The Content Item Name, by default, it the name of the session. You may

want to modify this name to something that best identified the session or recording. This does not change the name of the Collaborate session or recording, this is just the name of the link the participants will see in the Content

Area.

7. Optionally edit any of the other fields on this page.

8. Click Submit to create the link and return to the List page. Click Cancel to return to the List page without creating the link.

Deleting a Session or Recording

After you have finished with a session, it should be deleted from the system. If you have scheduled a session to run for the entire semester, you will need to delete the session at the end of the semester. Likewise, if you scheduled a session for a single instance, you should delete

that session once the meeting is over.

NOTE: A recording has no link to a session. That means that if a session was recorded and you delete the session, the recording is still available.

Deleting a Session or Recording

1. Navigate to the Bb Collaborate List Page.

2. Use the Search parameters to locate the session or recording you need to delete.

3. Click the box to the left of the session or recording name.

4. Click the delete button at the top or bottom of the page.

5. Review Deletion to make sure you are deleting the proper session or recording

6. Click Confirm.