Bb Communication – Page 3 – OLD – eLearning Support and Resources eLearning support and resources for the University of Southampton Blackboard for Staff Blackboard Ally Supporting the Continuity of Education Access Blackboard Prepare your course for the next academic year Rollover – Copy course content to a new course Blackboard Collaborate Support Getting Started Your Course Content Communication Assessment E–Submission User Admin Blogs and Journals Wikis Service and Policies Blackboard for Students Blackboard Ally Access Blackboard Blackboard Mobile App Blackboard Collaborate Getting Started Blackboard App Student FAQs How to… Using Blogs Using Wikis Support Turnitin Collaborate Blackboard Collaborate for Staff Blackboard Collaborate for Students TurnItIn Turnitin for Staff Managing Assignments Originality Reports Feedback Studio for PC Feedback Studio for iPad Rubrics in Feedback Studio External Guides Turnitin for Students Viewing submission ID Submitting to Turnitin Checking your submission Viewing your Similarity Report Viewing feedback Viewing assignment Info Viewing rubrics OnDemand Panopto Panopto and Blackboard Creating a recording Live-streaming Uploading Settings Editing Assessments and other uses Legal information Office 365 BoB TV MySouthampton Training Vevox Vevox for instructors Vevox for students Accessibility Blackboard Ally Check accessibility as you work in Microsoft Office Using Colours Accessibly Captions, Subtitles, and Transcripts University Digital Accessibility Resources eAssignments Staff FAQ’s Student FAQ’s eFolio Dashboards Module Information Bb Communication 1st April 2020 Sharing Content During a Blackboard Collaborate Session Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate Main Page ↵ Share Content Panel The Share Content panel contains options to share content is accessible only to those attendees who have either the moderator or presenter role. Content shared will display in the Media Space for others to view. From the Share Content options, moderators and presenters can select the type of content they would like to share. Once a Content Share has begun, a Stop icon appears in the upper right-hand corner of the Media Space for all session attendees with a moderator or presenter role, allowing anyone with this role to stop the share in progress. While there are multiple types of content that can be shared, this page focuses on teaching you how to use Share Blank Whiteboard, Share Application/Screen, and Share Files. Share Blank Whiteboard allows for Collaborate real-time annotations and text entry. Share Application/Screen allows you to share your entire desktop or specific applications from a visual display of available options. Share Files allows you to upload content with drag-and-drop simplicity while allowing for real-time annotations and text entry. Sharing Applications First, we are going to explore how to share applications. Users with the role of moderator or presenter have the ability to Share Application/Screen. To access the Share Application/Screen feature, navigate to the Collaborate panel and open the Share Content panel. The Share Application/Screen feature allows users to share their desktop or an application. Application sharing allows you to share your screen or a specific application during a web conferencing session. If the session is being recorded, the application shared will be viewed in the recording as well. Desktop sharing is useful for instantly sharing what you are looking at on your screen with the people you are meeting with. For example: Share a learner’s assignment (Word file) and make changes in real time. Help a learner who is having difficulty understanding how to create formulas in Excel. Demonstrate the steps for logging into YouTube and posting a movie. As you navigate through the application(s), all participants will see your mouse movements and the changes to the displayed content as they are being made. The service is fully secure, and you are always in control of what is shared and when. As a best practice, you should be prepared by 1) opening all the application files you want to share and 2) closing those you don’t want seen prior to starting to share. To stop sharing, select the Stop button in the upper right-hand corner of the Media Space. For Mac users who wish share computer desktop audio at the moment it is not possible. You can only do so in Google Chrome, if you go to share a ‘Chrome Tab’ you will be given the option to share the tabs audio. Sharing Camera Moderators or presenters using a PC or Mac can access this option from the “Share Content” pane on the right hand side of the screen. Using this method will make that user’s camera the main piece of content shared on the screen, full size for both them and their attendees. Moderators/presenters joining via a mobile device will not have this Share Camera option available. Note that the message is readable, not mirrored. The key benefit here is that the video is not “mirrored” as happens with regular video for members of collaborate sessions: Here you can see that while sharing my camera I am raising my left hand. In the regular video preview below you can see that this is mirrored. This camera stream: Will be the correct orientation for both presenter and audience for written content displayed to be readable. Can be zoomed in on by users as per their personal preferences, using the controls in the top left of the stream. Cannot be shared alongside other content (eg. slides or whiteboard) or other camera streams. Will appear in recordings. Can be picked from however many camera devices you have attached to your computer – When you select “Share Camera” it will then ask you to choose the desired device. Sharing Files Sharing files is a common need to be able to collaborate during a web conference session. The role of moderator or presenter will be needed to share files. To access the Share Files feature, navigate to the Collaborate panel and open the Share Content panel. The Share File feature allows users to upload GIF, JPEG and PNG images, PDF files, or PowerPoint presentations of 60 MB or lower to your session. Files can even be uploaded with drag-and-drop simplicity for display at any point during your session. You can upload multiple presentations; however the total size allowed is 125 MB or lower per session. Once files are uploaded, select Share Now when you’re ready for attendees to see the file. Files that have been uploaded will persist in the session until deleted by the moderator, which adds the ease of loading them once and using the content often. Moderators can choose to allow participants to use the Content Editing tools for real-time annotation of shared files. Screen reader users can access text from PowerPoint and PDF files uploaded in the session, as opposed to the Share Application option. Navigating a Shared File Navigation tools display at the bottom of the Media space for shared files that include multiple pages, such as PowerPoint slide decks, or PDF files, allowing the moderator or presenter to navigate forward and backward through the various pages of the file. To navigate to a particular slide or page: Select the slide title displayed in the slide navigation area to open the Slides panel. Select the slide or page you wish to display to change the current share view. If the Draw on whiteboard and files permission is enabled, participants may employ the Content Editing Tools to annotate the shared file. As a moderator or presenter, you can use all the available Content Editing Tools even if the permission has been disabled for the participant role. Further information This Blackboard web page has further information. The video below provides a good overview. 1st April 2020 Roles, permissions, and external guests Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate For Staff Main Page ↵ Blackboard Collaborate has a 250 attendee limit. If you wish to use Blackboard Collaborate with more than 250 attendees view our guide. Roles There are three major roles within Blackboard Collaborate, here is a breakdown of the roles and what they can do. Moderator This is typically by a course instructor, which gives them full control over all content being shared in a session. They can make any attendee a presenter or a moderator. Moderators see hand raise notifications and can lower hands. They can remove attendees from a session, but they cannot remove other moderators. Moderators can set the session settings, including deciding what participants can and can’t do. Moderators get email with links to their session recordings. Blackboard guide to being a Moderator Presenter The presenter role is designed to allow students to present without giving them full moderator privileges. This is the role typically given for external/guest presenters to join in with a guest link. Presenters can upload, share, edit, and stop sharing content. They can also see hand raise notifications and can lower hands. Blackboard guide to being a Presenter Participant Participants are basically the viewers of the session, they can raise their hand and participate based on the Moderators choices. Blackboard guide to being a Participant More information for roles: What can each role do? Permissions An important permission Moderators have is that they can mute individual attendees or everyone in a session. Mute Individual Attendees From the ‘Attendee panel‘, select the ‘Attendee controls‘ of someone with their microphone on that you wish to turn off. Select ‘Mute‘ from the list of controls. This will turn off the attendee’s microphone but will not prevent the user from turning it back on. The attendee will be notified with a pop-up message, “The moderator muted your audio”. Mute All Attendees Select ‘More options‘ at the top of the ‘Attendee panel‘. Select ‘Mute All‘. Attendees will be notified that the moderator has muted their microphone; however this is not a permanent action. All attendees have the ability to turn their microphone back on. The only way to ultimately control attendees from using their audio is to remove the permission to use audio in the ‘Session Settings’. More permission management guides: Managing attendees How to promote participants to presenters Remove attendees Private and moderator only chat External guests Guest link The Guest link is a public weblink that can be used and shared by anyone who has it. By default guest access is turned off, if you clear the ‘Guest access’ tick box it will then turn it on. Once done you can copy and paste out the link to anyone. Important: Everyone who joins from the Guest link joins with the same guest role/permissions. It is important to consider if you need all guests to join as a Participant, Presenter, or Moderator. More information for guests: Invite guests 1st April 2020 The Collaborate User Interface Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate Main Page ↵ Check out the content being drafted below, this Blackboard web page and watch the video below. The Collaborate UI Session menu The Session menu opens a collection of high-level session actions and information. Tools and features you use only once or twice during a session (such as recording) are located here. From this menu, you can turn recordings on/off, access the use of your telephone to use as audio, report an issue, access tutorials, access help, and read the privacy policy. Open it using the Session menu button. Interaction bar The Interaction Bar displays at the bottom of the Media Space. These tools allow attendees to engage actively in the session Change view icon The Change View Mode icon allows you to toggle between view modes. We’ll discuss these modes a little later in the session when we explore video in more detail. Collaborate Panel The Collaborate panel controls all of the collaboration tools you will use to engage participants during a session. In the media space The media space displays users and their profile pictures, as well as other tools during a content share: Stop, View Controls, and Swap. The media space will dynamically display the content being shared to attendees along with controls for displaying it. Stop Once a Share Content has started, a Stop icon appears in the upper right-hand corner of the Media Space for all session attendees with a moderator or presenter role, allowing anyone with these roles to stop the share in progress. An arrow points toward the stop sharing icon. Swap Users can swap the primary display from the content to the speaker by hovering over the smaller frame to display the Swap icon located on the bottom right of the session and selecting it. The swap button appears at the bottom right of this screenshot. View Controls While content is being shared, resizing tools are available to all session attendees. These controls are user-specific. If a moderator chooses to resize their own view of the content share, this does not resize the content for other attendees. Show/Hide controls allow you to expand and minimize your content resizing tools to reduce clutter on your screen. Zoom In allows users to make the content bigger. When the content displayed is larger than the available space, users can click and drag to move the content around in order to see everything. Zoom Out can be used to make the content smaller, allowing users to see more of the content. Best Fit takes advantage of your screen real estate by adjusting content so that it is completely viewable in the available area. It maximizes the size of displayed content while keeping the aspect ratio intact. Actual Size returns the content share to the original size. Interaction Bar The Interaction bar is located at the bottom of the Media Space and provides a variety of features that session attendees can use to interact within the web conferencing session. Each icon in the Interaction Bar will change color when activated. The Interaction bar includes My Status and Settings, Transmit Audio, Transmit Video, and Raise Hand icons: Users can hover over their Profile Image to access the My Status and Settings panel, as well as to change their availability status when they need to step away from the session. The Step Away feature enables you to indicate to the others in the session that you are temporarily unavailable. You are still connected to the session; others just won’t expect you to be available for interaction. The Audio Indicator allows users to turn audio transmission on and off, as well as monitor their microphone levels. When broadcasting, the Audio Indicator will change colour and animate, to indicate live broadcast activity. The Video Indicator allows users to turn their video transmission on and off. When broadcasting, the Video Indicator will fill to indicate live broadcast activity. Participants can raise their hand at any time during the session by selecting the Raise Hand button. When active, the icon fills to remind users that they have engaged this tool. We’ll explore each of these tools in more detail later in the course. Select the Step Away icon in the Interaction bar, and the green check mark on your user profile changes to an Away mark to show that you have stepped away. Being away will mute your audio and video. Selecting the “I’m back!” button on the dialog box that displays will return your user profile back to “Present”. Collaborate Panel The Collaborate panel facilitates engagement with participants during the session. The Collaborate panel is where you will be able to chat with fellow participants, view a listing of all attendees, share content, share applications, annotate a blank whiteboard, initiate a poll, start/stop the timer, and divide the session attendees into small collaborative groups. When accessing the Collaborate panel, the default tool will be Chat. The active panel will be underlined (as shown below). When you select another panel, it will become active. The active panel will remain until you change it again, even if you close the Collaborate panel. Chat enables you to exchange text messages with others in the session and express yourself using emoticons. Attendees provides a list of all participants, presenters, captioners, and moderators in the session. Share content allows users with either the moderator or presenter role to share files, an application/screen, or the whiteboard. It also provides access to other collaboration tools like polling, timer and breakout groups. Attendees with the participant role will not be able to share content, but will be able to see the share content panel, which will display information about the content currently being shared. My Settings provides the ability to configure your personal and session settings. You can manage participant permissions and adjust your audio settings and notification pop-ups, in addition to other functionality that we will discuss in detail in future modules. Understanding Video The video feature in Collaborate enables you to transmit video broadcasts to other users in a session. This is video you send live via a video camera (e.g., web cam), not to be confused with a pre-recorded video (movie). Just as with audio, the video permission must be enabled in order for participants to transmit their video. In order to begin transmitting, users must select the Video Indicator icon in the Interaction Bar located at the bottom of the Media Space. Before live transmission begins, a preview window appears, allowing you to see what will display to other attendees. From the Preview, select Share Video to begin transmitting. The Video Indicator will change, to indicate live broadcast activity. If no content is being shared, the Media Space displays the moderator and participant profiles or their video if they have activated it. You can toggle between a grid view and one that follows the speaker. In Follow the Speaker mode, the person speaking appears in the centre of the screen and other attendees appear below as the discussion unfolds. Depending on the browser you’re using Collaborate supports up to the display of five simultaneous video transmissions. The displays are prioritised using the voice detection algorithm, to determine who is assigned to one of the active slots. If more users are transmitting video than the browser allows, Collaborate automatically defaults to Follow the Speaker view. Grid View Mode Follow the Speaker Mode 1st April 2020 Setting Up Collaborate Sessions Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate For Staff Main Page ↵ Blackboard Collaborate has a 250 attendee limit. If you wish to use Blackboard Collaborate with more than 250 attendees view our guide. Content coming soon… for now check out this Blackboard web page and view the video below. 1st April 2020 Best Practice when using Blackboard Collaborate Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate For Staff Main Page ↵ Blackboard Collaborate has a 250 attendee limit. If you wish to use Blackboard Collaborate with more than 250 attendees view our guide. Here is an example two slide Powerpoint file that could be used as a holding slide for attendees to view whilst they wait for a session to begin. Here is an example animated gif you could load when a session opens to explain the Collaborate user interface to participants. Based on staff experiences and pedagogic good practice we are building a selection of “Lesson Recipes” to help to facilitate learning activities with your students. The content below is a slightly contextualised version of an excellent blog post by Lloyd Stock which on the Blackboard Community site. Since that site in not publicly accessible this very useful content is copied and slightly edited for context below. As we develop further experience at UoS we will provide relevant local examples of good practice. Blackboard Collaborate permits text chat, polling and many other levels of functionality that translate to a more engaging participant experience. Having set the expectation for increased engagement, it is important to know how to manage those expectations. This post provides best practice advice as it pertains to webinars. All the suggestions should be weighed based on the discrete nuances of your objectives for each and every webinar. This post focuses on best practice with a view to ensuring your webinars are engaging. It therefore mainly focuses on the ‘opportunity’ provided with Blackboard Collaborate. It is not designed to cover areas of ‘risk’ or bad practice, which are generally applicable to all use cases including webcasts, tutorials, office hours etc. As such the following are not dealt with in here or not in any detail: The learning that takes place before and after the webinar Technology problems and service outages Contingency planning for presenters who cannot attend for personal reasons Classroom management challenges Content Best Practices Webinar Models Webinar styles can vary hugely and therefore it is unwise to make sweeping generalisations about what is optimal or to say what are the limits. On the basis that ‘engagement’ is the overall objective of any webinar delivered through Blackboard Collaborate, the content below provides some guidelines for different sized webinars. It is essential to understand the differences in the various webinars that you deliver based on a range of factors in order to be able to effectively translate those differences into your planning activities; Factors include: Numbers of participants Style of webinar i.e. one presenter, multiple presenters or interview style Cultural nuances and expectations Length Learning/webinar objectives Planning and Preparation Preparation is king, as with anything else. Rushed and poorly planned sessions will not translate into engagement for participants. Based on the model of webinar, assess the need for allowing for pre-session submission of questions via a forum or by email; set clear ground rules and expectations. Have a clear communication plan which encompasses the following: Sets expectations on the level of engagement, what will and what wont be on offer For Global events, consider whether you will use a single time-zone from which participants should triangulate, or whether you commit to provide/rely on your scheduling tool to delineate each participants’ time Consider the use of a ‘diagnostic’ session before the webinars; use the diagnostic to help orient delegates to the software and experience, as well as inform your own best practices for that cohort. With multiple moderators, clearly delineate responsibilities for chairing, facilitation, and technical support. For large webinars, consider the use of dry-runs to expose and plan for unknown risks. Create scripts or outlines (whichever is appropriate) for your session; if you will not use a script, at least be clear with your opening and closing statements. Be sure to punctuate the script with frequent questions in which you poll the audience for either yes/no or multiple option answers; interaction will not just happen, it should be part of your plan; there should be at least 1 poll every 15 minutes. If you have more than one presenter, plan segues to provoke thoughtful reflection and continuity. Where appropriate, allow 10 minutes for Q&A. Keep content simple and remember that Blackboard Collaborate supports GIF animations from PowerPoint but not custom text animations or slide transitions. Make your first slide a welcome with cues slide (follow this link for our example). Think about the environment where you will be presenting from; is it quiet enough, will you be disturbed, will you disturb other people? Use a headset that you know works, to maximise the quality of your audio experience. Before the start Get a glass of water. Mute phones, close windows and doors. Close background applications including Skype, video streaming/download services and close any private work. If your session includes application sharing, open the application ahead of time, place the window on the primary monitor and resize the window so that you will have room to still see the sidebar panels of the Web Conferencing interface; close all other applications to protect your privacy. Join the session 15-10 minutes before the start time. Allow participants time to congregate and chat where possible; this builds momentum and the process of engagement. Where appropriate, maximise the Blackboard Collaborate window so it fills your screen. Conduct an audio check using the audio setup and make sure your microphone input is being registered; adjust as necessary. Test your video and make sure there are no distractions in frame. Encourage users to customise their profile image in order to establish their identity in the room and facilitate the feeling of community. Bring up the Page Explorer/Slide Navigator so you can see your content in order. If you are the facilitator, detach panels as necessary so you can maintain better visibility of the dialogue in chat and can avoid missing questions. Make other facilitators, ‘moderators’, where necessary. In Session Begin talking & welcoming to seed the engagement process 5 minutes before the session starts; this will also help identify any audio problems that you or other participants might have. Avoid un-announced silence throughout, but especially at the beginning. It creates anxiety for everyone involved. Using a slide, conduct an audio check and indicate with graphics on the slide, the proper use of the polling feature; don’t expect people who are having problems hearing, to respond to the audible version of the question. Using a slide, explain the ground-rules for the session. Don’t forget where applicable, to start the recording, but don’t do so until after the audio check. If you do make a recording, ensure that participants are regularly reminded of this. Although a snackbar style message will pop up when you start recording, late arrivals will not have seen this and may not notice the recording icon. As you begin your introduction, you may wish to start your webcam video; this helps to humanise the interaction. Beyond the introduction, the session should focus on shared content and interaction with participants, so in most cases, video should be used sparingly and selectively. If you are of the view that video should always be on, be careful not to rely on it as a replacement for creating real interaction. Also, be mindful that in environments where bandwidth is limited, use of video whilst sharing content, may impact audio fidelity and therefore actually diminish the overall experience. If you are conducting introductions, consider use of the chat tool rather than audio. People can write their location and title/area of experience/area of interest more quickly than using audio (in a round of introductions) and it is less demanding for them and the facilitator. Remember that without the benefit of body language it is necessary to put a good amount of effort into your delivery style. This may include enunciating words, varying your tone and intonation, slowing down/speeding up, and other such techniques. However, try to relax as well and if you are overwhelmed, feel at liberty to admit that; people are then more likely to accommodate the occasional stumble. Some presenters even stand up and walk around to help energise their delivery. Use the pointer to direct attention to specific points/areas within your content. Bring the content alive by using the content editing tools. Mute participant microphones if they have left them open unnecessarily or are causing a disturbance. Call out comments/questions from the chat frame as appropriate and when doing so, refer to people by name in order to recognise their contribution. If you have planned a comfort break, stop the recording and set a timer to set clear expectations on when you will recommence; start the recording again after you recommence. As you transition between activities, bring people with you. Be sure to explain what will happen, what people should expect to see and hear and where appropriate, get consensus from participants, before making the transition. As you wrap up, communicate using a slide as to how people can ask questions after the session and get access to the recording if there will be one; where appropriate, do this before a Q&A session so that people who choose to leave will understand what is expected of them and/or how they can get in touch with you if necessary. Be sure to thank people for attending the webinar. Stop the recording. 1st April 2020 Blackboard Collaborate: Staff Frequently Asked Questions Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate For Staff Main Page ↵ Blackboard Collaborate has a 250 attendee limit. If you wish to use Blackboard Collaborate with more than 250 attendees view our guide. Want to test Collaborate? You can use this test room. Getting Started with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra What is Blackboard Collaborate Ultra and where do I start? Blackboard Collaborate is a real-time video conferencing tool like Zoom or MS Teams, that lets you to add files, share applications and use a virtual whiteboard to interact with students. Collaborate with the Ultra experience opens right in your browser, so you don’t have to install any additional software to join a session. What do I need to run a Collaborate Ultra session? A Blackboard course. A computer with the Google Chrome or Firefox browsers installed. An Internet connection. (Preferably not wireless, as reliability can vary.) A microphone to capture audio. A combined headset and microphone or an echo-canceling microphone works well to avoid echoing and feedback. A webcam if you plan to share video. How do I use Collaborate Ultra in my course? There are two ways you can use Collaborate Ultra in a Blackboard course. They both start from the Bb Collaborate menu item in your course. You can use the Course Room, which is an open Collaborate session dedicated to your course. Learn more about the Collaborate Ultra Course Room. You can schedule sessions for a specific date: Go to the Control Panel of your Blackboard course. Click Course Tools and select Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Click Create Session. Type a meaningful name for the session. Set the start and end date and times of the session. You can also choose to keep a session open or repeat it. Set an Early Entry point. This is the period of time before the start of the session that users can join. Optionally, open Session Settings and select what students can do in the session. Learn more about Collaborate Ultra Session Settings. By default, anyone with a participant role can share their audio and video, post chat messages, and draw on the whiteboard and any shared files. Select Save. Which browser should I use for my sessions? Google Chrome or Firefox are recommended. Google Chrome has best results. Any browser that supports WebRTC should be fine. How many participants can I have in a session? You can have up to 250 people in your session as standard. Should you need more than that then you need to activate a feature to your scheduled session in advance as shown in this guide. The absolute maximum is 500 in this mode. Should I add a picture to my profile? Yes. Having a picture helps participants to get a mental image of you are and can be used when webcam video is not being shown. If you do not want to share a picture of yourself, consider using a picture of a pet, hobby, or favourite travel destination. I want to remove the Collaborate menu item from my course! We have a quick guide on how to do this that can be found here: https://elearn.southampton.ac.uk/collaborate/staff/removefrommenu/ Minimum equipment needed To join a Collaborate session you will need the following A modern computer or laptop. You can also use a Android or iOS device. Access to your Blackboard course so you can get the link. Internet Access (Broadband connection highly recommended). Soundcard with microphone and headphones (A USB headset with microphone/headphones is highly recommended). If you have Bluetooth on your computer or device a set of Bluetooth headphones with a microphone should work as well. Webcam (optional). For the best experience, use the latest version of Google Chrome. The latest version of Firefox will work as well. The latest version of any browser that supports WebRTC should be ok, but Chrome is best. View the official browser support list. Using a headset is preferred, users without headsets should be sure to be in a quiet area to prevent background noise, and should turn off their microphone when not speaking. Be in a well lit area if transmitting video. Equipment suggestions from the community Here are some recommendations from Amy Eyre who runs the Blackboard Mobile / Collaborate User Group For webinars: Logitech 960 Wired Headset: Excellent microphone, simple to set up, can feel a bit warm after an hour of use. For small meetings with attendees in the same (small) room and others online: Plantronics Calisto 610 USB Standard Version Speakerphone: While we only have experience with an earlier version that is no longer available the reviews of this update make it sounds just as good as the earlier model we have been using for years. For hybrids: Samson UB1 USB Omnidirectional Microphone – USB boundary microphone that picks up all audio from a decent sized seminar room with little trouble, used for all hybrid sessions at the University of York. Logitech 960 Wired Headset: Excellent microphone, simple to set up, can feel a bit warm after an hour of use. We really like the look of Catchbox microphones and have seen them used well at conferences in the past, but they are very expensive! Introductory video to catchbox mics here [YouTube]. The following have been mentioned by the user community: For Webinars: Jabra Headsets (nice and crisp sound, portable) Sennheiser Headsets – Reading Recommendation Summary Document inc. Audio/Visual Recommendations – Cardiff Gigaware USB Stereo Headset with Microphone – Cardiff Recommendation Plantronics USB Headsets – Cardiff Recommendation Any USB Headsets from Microsoft and Logitech (with noise-cancelling mics) – Cardiff Recommendation Sennheiser SC 60 USB Headset with Microphone – Cardiff Recommendation – Good clear microphone that doesn’t catch background noises Logitech C930e Webcams – Reading Recommendation – Used throughout campus For Hybrids: ClearOne Chat 150 USB Conference Mic – Good lack of feedback BOYA Dual-Channel Wireless Microphone System – Glasgow Caledonian Recommendation – Requires some AV knowledge to get going, but allows to wireless microphones to be used in the same room simultaneously Plantronics Calisto P620 Wireless Bluetooth UC Speakerphone – Edge Hill Recommendation – Good quality connection with Collab (no drop out) and is wireless, also has built in speaker Bandwidth requirements Collaborate uses dynamic bandwidth adjusting for Chrome and Firefox users. This allows Collaborate to actively monitor a user’s network connection and adjust the download speeds before a user should experience issues. The primary factors in bandwidth consumption for Collaborate Ultra are sharing webcam videos and sharing applications. Webcam video bandwidth uses ranges from 360kbps down to 20kbps per camera, up to 4 cameras Audio always uses 48kbps Ability to receive application sharing and audio as low as 88kbps Application sharing bandwidth uses ranges from 500kbps down to 70kbps It can show 4 cameras with audio as low as 128kbps and with a max of 1488kbps. A small amount of overhead is also required for chat, and so on. If network conditions falter and can’t sustain the minimum bandwidth needed, Collaborate will turn off cameras and application sharing. For 1 camera and audio the trigger will be 68 kbps and for application sharing and audio 118 kbps. When network conditions improve, the cameras and application sharing will turn back on automatically for Chrome and Firefox users. For sessions where bandwidth is a concern, we recommend that no attendees share their webcam video unless required for the instruction. We also recommend that the moderator or presenter use file sharing and whiteboard for content instead of application sharing. Use application sharing when it is required for the instruction. With no video and application sharing, a user with 128kbps connection will be able to participate fully in the session. Using Collaborate from an employer or institution that may have a stricter network By default Collaborate with the Ultra experience will be using UDP on the port range 49152 through 65535, if your organisation has a firewall in place that is not open to this range, we will next try UDP 50000 and if that fails we will allow traffic to connect via TCP on port 443. It should be noted that TCP is a slightly slower connection protocol than UDP, but the experience should still be acceptable. Additionally, Collaborate with the Ultra experience uses HTML5 Web Socket traffic to connect to session servers. Network traffic filters such as Cisco Firepower may have a filter added to prevent HTML5 and thus WebRTC from connecting. Furthermore, Proxy servers need to allow HTML5 Web Socket traffic in order for Collaborate to connect to the session servers through a proxy. Proxy servers may need to be specifically configured to handle this Web Socket traffic. Collaborate with the Ultra experience requires a HTML 5 Web Socket connection be allowed on browsers and networking appliances such as proxy servers. To test the Web Socket connection please use the same setup that is failing to connect to the Collaborate with the Ultra experience. For example if you are using a proxy server, please try this test from behind the proxy server. In a browser, go to the following link: https://www.websocket.org/echo.html Enter this text in the Location text box: wss://echo.websocket.org Click the Connect button. Once connected, press the Send button. The output will appear in the Log section. A successful Web Socket test will show a Response in the logs for “Rock it with HTML5 WebSocket”. Users trying to connect from networks that do not allow HTML 5 Web Socket connections will be unable to launch a Collaborate with the Ultra experience. Other things you may not considered The following section is an extract from a blog post on the Blackboard Community site by Lloyd Stock. Since the site is not publicly visible useful extracts follow: If running a session on multiple campuses across timezones, e.g. Dalian, USMC, and Southampton, use Every Time Zone to pick a date for your session and see at a glance the best time to meet across timezones. For live timings on our campuses check http://mytime.southampton.ac.uk/ Before your session, print this Door Hanger out on card and hang it to let people know you’re not to be disturbed. We’ve all seen the viral video of the expert who had his video link news interview interrupted by his toddler. Though in fairness, you’ll need more than a door hanger with toddlers! Moderators could pre-load an Orientation slide like these ones. If you’re going to run an Audio Check, don’t do it without using an Audio Check Slide. Preparing sessions What can I do to prepare sessions in advance? First you need to be able to get into the session. If it is not open ended you will not be able to get in until the start time (minus up to one hour early entry depending on how you set it up). To get around this edit the session start time to the present, and join in the session. Then when done leave and go back to the scheduler settings panel to change the start time back to a future date/time. Pre-loading files Files can be pre-uploaded and they will remain after you have left that session and go back to that specific session later. Polls and breakout areas Polls and breakout areas are created on-the-fly in a session. You can create one poll and launch it in the session. As long as you do NOT end the poll it will remain open when you return to the session. However anyone who joins the session can open it immediately. Therefore this approach is not very practical. You can only assign attendees to breakout groups when they are in the session. You cannot assign people who are not in the session currently to breakout groups. If you create and name breakout groups and then leave a session those settings do not remain when you rejoin. Better ways to pre-prepare polls The answers to poll questions tend to have numbers starting at 1 on the left. You could set the questions and answers in your PowerPoint file (along the top half so that the questions are not obscured by Collaborate’s controls) and advise your attendees to look at the slide and just pick the corresponding number in the pol. If possible, have a second person assisting in your session, have them prepping your polls in advance whilst you’re still presenting and then making them live when you’re reading. Create your poll questions and answers in advance in a word processor/digital notepad, then just copy and paste them into Collab when you need them. Share computer screen, use third party polling tool such as Vevox. Remember When you leave files in your Collaborate session any moderators and presenters can access them. This includes students you temporarily promote to the presenter role. Do not leave confidential files in a Collaborate session. Remove files when you have finished using them. Are students notified when a session is about to begin? There is no notification to students about upcoming Collaborate sessions. Therefore you may wish to create announcements letting students know about upcoming Collaborate sessions that week, and send emails to all students an hour before a session is due to start. Is there recommended technology/equipment for Blackboard Collaborate? Which technologies (such as browsers and operating systems) and what equipment (such as microphones and headsets) here is what works best with Blackboard Collaborate: https://elearn.southampton.ac.uk/collaborate/tech/ International Usage How does Collaborate work when users are in different time zones? When you set the time for a session to start and a user in a different time zone views the details of that session the start time will be translated into their computer’s local time zone. For example if an instructor in the UK set a session to begin at 09:00 BST, it will be open to a user in China at 16:00 China Standard Time. How well does Collaborate work in China? Please review this section of our Collaborate technology page where we are updating information based on feedback on usage in China. What else can be done with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Can I have a meeting that anyone can enter at any time for the whole semester? Yes. You may create a session with no end date. You can make this choice when you are creating a session. There is also a standard open session created automatically for all courses that can be used for this purpose. Can people use their phone to attend a session? If the moderator allows it when they set up the session, people will be able to call in with their phone. They can also do this after opening collaborate and then get a number to dial in and speak over the phone but use the chat and view the screen as normal. Is there an app for users who wish to attend using a device other than their computer? Android and iOS users can just use Chrome and Safari respectively without needing an app. Can participants send private messages to each other using the Chat tool? Yes, but it should be remembered that moderators can see the content of private chats sent between attendees. I see that there is a closed captioning feature. Does that mean that sessions are captioned automatically? No. To use the closed captioning feature, you will need to appoint someone on the session with the role of Captioner and then they would be able to create Captions by typing it out themselves. Can I use this to have my students give their presentations? Yes. You can promote one or more students to the role of Presenter, which would allow them to upload files and show them to everyone in the session. You can also demote them back to the Participant role when they are finished. If I have a session and want participants to work in small groups for a few minutes, is there a way to do that? Yes, you can use the Breakout Groups feature to divide participants into small groups. When participants are placed in breakout groups, the session audio will split automatically so they only hear the audio of the other participants in their breakout group. If a participant leaves their microphone open after speaking, can I turn it off? Yes. You can mute the microphone of one participant or all participants. This will “mute” their microphones, but will not prevent them from reopening their microphones. What should I do if I don't want participants to be able to use their microphones at all? In this case, you would go to your session settings and uncheck the box that enables them to share their audio. You can also turn off the ability for them to share their video, use the text chat tool, and to mark on whiteboard slides and shared files. How many participants can share their video at the same time? Everyone in your session can share their video at the same time, but only the five most active participants will be shown at any given time. If I have a PowerPoint with animations in it, will they show when I share them? If you share your PowerPoint slides using “Share Files” the animations will not show. If you share them using “Share Application” the animations will show. The animations may appear slow or jerky. If you are using animated gifs, you can upload these as files and share them, this has a better effect. Which participants should I promote to the moderator role? You should only give the moderator role to people who are actually helping you moderate the session. The participant and presenter roles are sufficient for those participants who are not actively moderating the session. When I'm using the break out groups, can I move from group to group? Yes. As the moderator, you can easily move from group to group. You can also allow participants to move to different groups, if you wish to. Recording options with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Can I record the sessions I hold in Collaborate Ultra? Yes, if you are a session moderator, you can record your session by opening the Session Menu in the upper left-hand corner of the interface and clicking on the Start Recording button. See our web page Recording your Blackboard Collaborate Session for more information. Please note: There is limited capacity to hold recordings for everyone. We recommend if you wish the whole cohort to see it, download it, upload to Panopto, and delete it from Collaborate. Can participants and presenters record Collaborate Ultra sessions? No, only moderators can record sessions. If a session has been recorded, participants and presenters can view the recordings after they are available. We have made a web page for students that explains how to watch Blackboard Collaborate Recordings. Can participants download a recording? It is only possible for anyone (staff or student) to download a recording if you enable it. Therefore it is important to enable video recording downloads when creating sessions. See our web page Recording your Blackboard Collaborate Session for more information. If I'm recording a session and then use the breakout groups, will it record what happens in the breakout groups? No. Actions and audio from within the breakout groups are not recorded. How soon can I review my recordings after my session? The time it takes for your recordings to appear varies based on the length of the recording and the traffic on the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra servers. Recordings usually appear within 48 hours or less. If your recording has not appeared after 72 hours, please raise a ticket with ServiceLine. Can I post a recording into my Blackboard course? Yes. Please download the recording, upload it to Panopto, and then delete it from Collaborate. See our web page Recording your Blackboard Collaborate Session for more information. What different formats can I choose when downloading a recording? Recordings only download in the MP4 format. If you need to have the recording in a different format, you will need to convert it after downloading. See our web page Recording your Blackboard Collaborate Session for more information. I can't find the download link for my recording you will need to enable downloads in the session settings, see https://elearn.southampton.ac.uk/collaborate/staff/recordings/#nodl The reason we are recommending downloading the videos and putting them on panopto is because 1) we have less space for videos on Collaborate than Panopto and getting more space on Collaborate is more expensive than getting more space on Panopto. 2) it makes it easier for students to have one place to view videos, e.g. recorded sessions. We hope to find a way to automate this if possible in the future. Dealing with technical issues and problems Connecting from outside the UK. If you are connecting to Collaborate from outside the UK, follow this link to How to get the best experience when attending a Blackboard Collaborate session from outside the UK Restart and re-join If you cannot connect, have a poor connection, or make any changes suggested below : Leave the Collaborate session. Close the browser you were using to connect to Collaborate (the entire browser and not just the browser tab). Wait a couple of minutes and re-open the browser and re-join Collaborate. Are you using the right web browser? We recommend using Google Chrome* in the first instance and then Firefox. Visit the Browser Checker to make sure your browser is supported A full list of supported browsers and operating systems is available here: Browser Support *If you are connecting from China see the section above on connecting from outside the UK. Make sure the browser is up to date. How to update Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95414 How to update Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-release Try the other browser If you experience problems with Collaborate whilst using Chrome, try Firefox. If you experience problems with Firefox, try Chrome. Enable third party cookies Ensure that your web browser is allowing third-party cookies, these guides explain how: Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647 Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/content-blocking#w_turn-content-blocking-off-on-individual-sites Try an incognito window The next step is to try using the session in a private or incognito window. This resets certain settings and can be an effective way to work around some configuration issues. How to open an incognito window in Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464 How to open a private browsing window in Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history Clear the browsers cache If that does not help the next step is to try clearing your browser cache. This guide explains how: http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser’s-Cache Try the WebRTC troubleshooter Collaborate uses a technology called WebRTC. The WebRTC Troubleshooter website tests that this is working for you and can pick up issues and help you to fix them. Best practice for a good connection Close all programs & browser tabs you are not using while in Collaborate. Use a hard-wired (Ethernet) connection, if available. If you are using Wifi , sit as close to the router as possible Use only supported up to date web browsers (see sections below) Use video during the session only when necessary. If your connection is poor, a connection status indicator appears over your Collaborate profile picture. Move your pointer over it for the connection details. See the Connection status guide. This publicly available knowledge base article discusses the most common issues when connecting from a domestic connection. Using an Apple Mac? The latest versions of OS X have extra security settings you need to make for devices to use the camera and microphone. If you use a Mac / OS X please read through this guide on how to set the correct permissions. Experiencing issues connecting from within an institution or business? Some corporate and institutional networks may block the HTML5 Web Socket traffic upon which Collaborate relies. Try on a domestic connection to see if you get the same issues. If you do not, it could be an issue with the network in the institution or business you are connecting from. Ask the network administrator to review the relevant information here. Give Permissions It is vital that you all Collaborate to use your microphone and camera. You are likely to ask to approve permissions that look like this: If you did not give permission We can be so used to clicking “no” that we may accidentally prevent Collaborate from having permission to use our microphone and web cam. If you find that people cannot hear you or see you, check that you have given permission for Collaborate to use your camera and microphone. How to review permissions in Chrome: Review the guide at https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/114662 Having reached the Site Settings page, choose “View permissions and data stored across sites” and search for bbcollab. Open all that appear one after the other and choose to allow Camera and Microphone. How to review permissions in Firefox: The process is fairly similar in Firefox, see: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-page-info-window Sound output Blackboard Collaborate allows you to alter the microphone input and webcam settings, but not the audio output. Blackboard Collaborate will use the system default audio output / playback device, so ensure this is set correctly before opening Blackboard Collaborate. This is particularly important if you have multiple devices connected to your computer, such as speakers, headsets and external monitors. Change the default audio playback on Windows 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWX4WxMkDxk Change the default audio output on OSX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lf03JGcS00 No sound (you can’t hear other attendees) Ensure that the correct audio device (speakers) is selected. Windows 10 users, select your audio device by selecting the Speaker button near the clock as shown below: Mac users please refer to the following article: Change the sound output settings on Mac Ensure that sound volume on the computer is not muted or set really low. Ensure that sound volume on the desired audio output device (e.g., speakers or headset) is not muted or set really low. Some headsets have a mute or volume knob on them. Ensure that cables going to speakers or headset are all firmly plugged in. If the above do not work, try rebooting the computer and/or try another web browser. Try playing a YouTube video to see if there is sound. Collaborate will produce sound using the same audio device (e.g., speakers or headset) as other websites such as YouTube. Windows 10 Sound Windows 10 allows users to set audio preferences for individual apps. Some apps listen, others don’t. Because Collaborate runs entirely in your browser, you have to check settings for your browser. 1. Right-click the speaker icon in your system tray. This is usually at the lower right of your computer monitor. 2. Select Open Sound Settings. 3. Check your default Output device. Normally this will be the speakers or headphones you regularly use, but not always. You can use the dropdown menu to change your default for the system. But some apps will save their own preferences. So we will need to check those as well. 4. Scroll down until you see the Advanced sound options section. 5. Click on the App volume and device preferences link. 6. Find your browser that you use for Collaborate in the list and check if you have options in the dropdown to select the sound source you expect to hear it from. Notice that there is also an Input option if you are having problems selecting the correct microphone. Go through Blackboard’s own browser support pages Read through and try everything suggested in Blackboard’s support page for Chrome: https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Participant/Support/Chrome_Support Firefox: https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Participant/Support/Firefox_WebRTC_Support Select the right audio and video device When you use Collaborate for the first time a wizard will guide you through the setup. It is important to pay attention to the device you choose to use with Collaborate if you have a choice. The recommendation is to use a headset with microphone. Run through the wizard again No luck? Please try going through the wizard again and double check that you have selected the right devices. Open the Collaborate Panel. Click on the Cog. Choose Set up Camera and Microphone. Go through Blackboard’s support page about audio and video set up Still not working? Read through the page linked below and check through everything it recommends. https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Participant/Participate_in_Sessions/Audio_and_Video Getting help Let your lecturer know if you are having issues with connecting or participating in a Collaborate session. Use the Chat Support in Collaborate to access Blackboard technical support. Contact the University IT help – ServiceLine Collect some useful information that will help us, and add it to the ticket you will raise. Within the Collaborate session you can capture some date which will be very useful for us to check. Open the session menu (the hamburger button at the top right). Click on Report an issue. The collaborate panel on the right will open, scroll down this section. At the bottom will be a box of diagnostic text, select this text, right click on it, and choose copy. Then raise a ticket via ServiceLine describing the problem you are experiencing and paste in this diagnostic text so we can take a look. 1st April 2020 Which tool is best for which purpose? (Scenarios) Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate For Staff Main Page ↵ Blackboard Collaborate has a 250 attendee limit. If you wish to use Blackboard Collaborate with more than 250 attendees view our guide. An info-graphic on this topic is available on the CHEP SharePoint site. 1st April 2020 Recommended Technology and Equipment for Blackboard Collaborate Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborate Return to Blackboard Collaborate Main Page ↵ Blackboard Collaborate has a 250 attendee limit. If you wish to use Blackboard Collaborate with more than 250 attendees view our guide. Index Keeping it simple. Connection tips. Equipment you may not consider. Equipment suggestions from the community. Some technical detail about bandwidth requirements. Framerate. The technical bit if you are using Collaborate from an employer or institution that may have a stricter network. Trouble from home? What about in China? Keeping it simple To join a Collaborate session you will need the following A modern computer or laptop. You can also use a Android or iOS device. Access to your Blackboard course so you can get the link. Internet Access (Broadband connection highly recommended). Soundcard with microphone and headphones (A USB headset with microphone/headphones is highly recommended). If you have Bluetooth on your computer or device a set of Bluetooth headphones with a microphone should work as well. Webcam (optional). For the best experience, use the latest version of Google Chrome. The latest version of Firefox will work as well. The latest version of any browser that supports WebRTC should be ok, but Chrome is best. View the official browser support list. Using a headset is preferred, users without headsets should be sure to be in a quiet area to prevent background noise, and should turn off their microphone when not speaking. Be in a well lit area if transmitting video. Back to index. Connection tips Make sure Audio and Video are setup correctly. Go to Settings (Gear icon) > Audio and Video Settings > Setup your Camera and Microphone. Click here for a step by step guide to setting up Audio and Video. If using WiFi, try to be as close to the router as possible. Close streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, P2P, Spotify, or Pandora before accessing the session. Back to index. Equipment you may not consider The following section is an extract from a blog post on the Blackboard Community site by Lloyd Stock. Since the site is not publicly visible useful extracts follow: If running a session on multiple campuses across timezones, e.g. Dalian, USMC, and Southampton, use Every Time Zone to pick a date for your session and see at a glance the best time to meet across timezones. For live timings on our campuses check http://mytime.southampton.ac.uk/ Before your session, print this Door Hanger out on card and hang it to let people know you’re not to be disturbed. We’ve all seen the viral video of the expert who had his video link news interview interrupted by his toddler. Though in fairness, you’ll need more than a door hanger with toddlers! Moderators could pre-load an Orientation slide like these ones. If you’re going to run an Audio Check, don’t do it without using an Audio Check Slide. Back to index. Equipment suggestions from the community Here are some recommendations from Amy Eyre who runs the Blackboard Mobile / Collaborate User Group For webinars: Logitech 960 Wired Headset: Excellent microphone, simple to set up, can feel a bit warm after an hour of use. For small meetings with attendees in the same (small) room and others online: Plantronics Calisto 610 USB Standard Version Speakerphone: While we only have experience with an earlier version that is no longer available the reviews of this update make it sounds just as good as the earlier model we have been using for years. For hybrids: Samson UB1 USB Omnidirectional Microphone – USB boundary microphone that picks up all audio from a decent sized seminar room with little trouble, used for all hybrid sessions at the University of York. Logitech 960 Wired Headset: Excellent microphone, simple to set up, can feel a bit warm after an hour of use. We really like the look of Catchbox microphones and have seen them used well at conferences in the past, but they are very expensive! Introductory video to catchbox mics here [YouTube]. The following have been mentioned by the user community: For Webinars: Jabra Headsets (nice and crisp sound, portable) Sennheiser Headsets – Reading Recommendation Summary Document inc. Audio/Visual Recommendations – Cardiff Gigaware USB Stereo Headset with Microphone – Cardiff Recommendation Plantronics USB Headsets – Cardiff Recommendation Any USB Headsets from Microsoft and Logitech (with noise-cancelling mics) – Cardiff Recommendation Sennheiser SC 60 USB Headset with Microphone – Cardiff Recommendation – Good clear microphone that doesn’t catch background noises Logitech C930e Webcams – Reading Recommendation – Used throughout campus For Hybrids: ClearOne Chat 150 USB Conference Mic – Good lack of feedback BOYA Dual-Channel Wireless Microphone System – Glasgow Caledonian Recommendation – Requires some AV knowledge to get going, but allows to wireless microphones to be used in the same room simultaneously Plantronics Calisto P620 Wireless Bluetooth UC Speakerphone – Edge Hill Recommendation – Good quality connection with Collab (no drop out) and is wireless, also has built in speaker Back to index. Some technical detail about bandwidth requirements Collaborate uses dynamic bandwidth adjusting for Chrome and Firefox users. This allows Collaborate to actively monitor a user’s network connection and adjust the download speeds before a user should experience issues. The primary factors in bandwidth consumption for Collaborate Ultra are sharing webcam videos and sharing applications. Webcam video bandwidth uses ranges from 360kbps down to 20kbps per camera, up to 4 cameras Audio always uses 48kbps Ability to receive application sharing and audio as low as 88kbps Application sharing bandwidth uses ranges from 500kbps down to 70kbps It can show 4 cameras with audio as low as 128kbps and with a max of 1488kbps. A small amount of overhead is also required for chat, and so on. If network conditions falter and can’t sustain the minimum bandwidth needed, Collaborate will turn off cameras and application sharing. For 1 camera and audio the trigger will be 68 kbps and for application sharing and audio 118 kbps. When network conditions improve, the cameras and application sharing will turn back on automatically for Chrome and Firefox users. For sessions where bandwidth is a concern, we recommend that no attendees share their webcam video unless required for the instruction. We also recommend that the moderator or presenter use file sharing and whiteboard for content instead of application sharing. Use application sharing when it is required for the instruction. With no video and application sharing, a user with 128kbps connection will be able to participate fully in the session. Back to index. Framerate Application sharing: The framerate when sharing an application depends on the bandwidth available to both the presenter and the recipient. With a reliable broadband network, and still content, attendees may see around 25 to 30 frames per second (fps). If the content is video, the frame rate is also dependent on how big the video frame is and what is happening in the video. Frame rates can fall sharply for big and busy videos on even a reliable network. Video: The framerate for video has a 40 fps cap. However, video framerate depends on user bandwidth and camera limitations. On a reliable network, 30 fps is realistic. Back to index. The technical bit if you are using Collaborate from an employer or institution that may have a stricter network By default Collaborate with the Ultra experience will be using UDP on the port range 49152 through 65535, if your organisation has a firewall in place that is not open to this range, we will next try UDP 50000 and if that fails we will allow traffic to connect via TCP on port 443. It should be noted that TCP is a slightly slower connection protocol than UDP, but the experience should still be acceptable. Additionally, Collaborate with the Ultra experience uses HTML5 Web Socket traffic to connect to session servers. Network traffic filters such as Cisco Firepower may have a filter added to prevent HTML5 and thus WebRTC from connecting. Furthermore, Proxy servers need to allow HTML5 Web Socket traffic in order for Collaborate to connect to the session servers through a proxy. Proxy servers may need to be specifically configured to handle this Web Socket traffic. Collaborate with the Ultra experience requires a HTML 5 Web Socket connection be allowed on browsers and networking appliances such as proxy servers. To test the Web Socket connection please use the same setup that is failing to connect to the Collaborate with the Ultra experience. For example if you are using a proxy server, please try this test from behind the proxy server. In a browser, go to the following link: https://www.websocket.org/echo.html Enter this text in the Location text box: wss://echo.websocket.org Click the Connect button. Once connected, press the Send button. The output will appear in the Log section. A successful Web Socket test will show a Response in the logs for “Rock it with HTML5 WebSocket”. Users trying to connect from networks that do not allow HTML 5 Web Socket connections will be unable to launch a Collaborate with the Ultra experience. Back to index. Trouble from home? This publicly available knowledge base article discusses the most common issues when connecting from a domestic connection. Back to index. Trouble from outside of the UK? The performance of Blackboard Collaborate will be affected by a number of factors including personal Internet connection, bandwidth, network connectivity and firewall settings. You may not have control over all of these factors, but the following guidance will help to improve your session experience: How to get the best experience when attending a Blackboard Collaborate session from outside the UK Back to index. What about in China? Blackboard Collaborate is not blocked by the Great Firewall (at least not at this time). However, using Collaborate between China and the EU has generally had results with varying degrees of success, ranging from a completely acceptable experience to calls dropping video and audio quality or frequently dropping and reconnecting, to not being able to connect at all. The biggest issue with regards to using Collaborate between China and the EU has been the historically poor / inconsistent quality (high latency & lack of bandwidth) internet connection in China. Please be sure students and instructors in China are using a hardwired Ethernet LAN connection. Using WiFi will only contribute to the latency/bandwidth issues. Generally, we always recommend a hardwired connection over WiFi just due to the nature of WiFi. For more information and suggestions about bandwidth read the some technical detail about bandwidth requirements section found above. Blackboard has tested using the top three telecommunication carriers in China, namely China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom. In their experience, both China Unicom and China Mobile performed well, with only some users occasionally being disconnected/reconnected from the session. China Telecom did not perform well, as multiple users encountered session connectivity issues throughout the session. Common issues we have heard of so far are that when changing from sharing a file to screen-sharing students in China may lose connection, or not see the video. Screen-sharing requires greater bandwidth which may be the cause for this. These testing results are not exhaustive and should not be interpreted as guaranteed compatibility of Collaborate Ultra in China. Experiences will vary depending on a number of factors, including personal Internet connection, bandwidth, network connectivity and firewall settings. Browsers may also be a factor, Chrome is not downloadable in China (at least not easily) and not all Chinese browsers support WebRTC nor is Bb testing any Chinese browsers with Collaborate Ultra at this time. Popular web browsers in China such as QQ, Sigou and 2345 do not support WebRTC (the technology that Collaborate and many other webinar platforms leverage to facilitate the video and audio elements of their sessions), and so they cannot be used with Collaborate currently. Firefox seems to be downloadable at this time and supports WebRTC. The main stable channel release of Firefox is tested and certified by Bb. Please see https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Participant/Get_Started/Browser_Support for more info. Due to the above, it is recommended that attendees in China use Mozilla Firefox web browser instead of any other. Large Class sizes are considered to be over 25 participants when using Collaborate within China. Blackboard states: Large sessions are generally not recommended when a high volume of users are located within China. We recommend that you have small sessions ( less than 25 users) with your students in China. For larger sessions, we recommend adopting the following strategies similar to large sessions Disable video for participants. Ensure the session is recorded as to provide any participants with connection issues the ability to review the content afterwards. Refer users to the Dial-in capability as applicable. Amy Eyre from the University of York has a very useful shared document with further information. Back to index. 8th June 2017 Using Instructor Quick Tools Matthew Deeprose Bb Communication, Bb Course availability, Blackboard Using the Instructor Quick Tools link you can send emails and announcements to multiple courses at once. Accessing Instructor Quick Tools From the Blackboard Home page go to the all Courses view. From the navigation options to the right of your profile picture, select Tools. From the Tools box, select Instructor Quick Tools. Using the Quick Tools to make the same announcement to multiple courses at once. Select Post announcement. Select to which courses you wish to make the announcement by ticking the box beside each required course. Enter a subject and a message If you wish for an email to be sent to users tick the Email announcement tick box. If you do not tick the box no announcement email will be sent. Click Submit to finish. Using the Quick Tools to make send an email to users on multiple courses at once. Select Send Email. Select to which course’s users you wish to send email by ticking the box beside each required course. Note that the email will be sent to all course users, not just students. Enter a subject and a message Select whether you wish to receive a copy of the email once, or once per course by choosing the relevant option under “Send this Email to Myself”. Click Submit to finish. The instructor quick tools are a freeware plugin for Blackboard. 26th May 2017 Sending reminders to students who have not yet submitted ‘Bb assignments’, tests or surveys Matthew Deeprose Bb Assessment, Bb Communication, Bb Grade Centre, Blackboard If you have a Blackboard Assignment, Test, or Survey, you can send reminders to students who have not yet completed the assessment. Note this does not apply for Assessed blogs, journals, discussion boards, nor TurnItIn assignments. To do that you could use the email button above the Grade Centre instead. 1. Access the Grade Centre 2. Find the column for the Blackboard Assignment, Test, or Survey about which you wish to remind students who have not yet submitted. 3. Hover your mouse over the column name and click on the action button. 4. Choose Send Reminder. 5. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to send the reminder and be told how many students will receive the email. 6. You will receive confirmation that the email will be sent. 7. The students will receive the email which will be in the format shown below. 1 2 3 4 Blackboard (392) TurnItIn (78) Panopto (78) Bb Assessment (75) Bb Content (46) Blackboard Collaborate (38) How to… Bb Guides for students (38) Bb Communication (37) Collaborate (36) Bb Tests and Surveys (36) Bb assignments (29) Bb User admin (21) Your Bb course (21) My Southampton (20) Office 365 (20) Bb Groups (19) Bb Question Types (19) Bb Grade Centre (15) Bb Grade Centre (14) Teams (13) Bb Course Design (12) TurnItIn Assignment Handling (11) Bb Blogs (11) GradeMark for Computer (11) Bb Content tools (11) ↑ Found a mistake? Have a question? Need some help? Email serviceline@soton.ac.uk or beat the email queue through http://www.southampton.ac.uk/ithelp's self service page. 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