Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Campus Update Fall 2017

1. Blackboard Collaborate
Ultra
Dan Hahn
hahn23@Illinois.edu
Join a demo room: http://go.illinois.edu/bbcollabdemo

2. What is Collaborate?
• Product of Blackboard (Illinois Compass)
• “Classic” or “Legacy” was once Elluminate
• Java based & requires a Collaborate Launcher
• On campus since about 2009
• Few/no updates
• Ultra
• HTML 5 based
• Been on campus since about 2016
• Monthly updates

3. Capabilities
• Application/Screen share
• Whiteboard
• Group work via "Breakout
Rooms"
• Recording
• Webcams
• Large Events
• Live captioning
• Guest links
• Polling
• Phone/Teleconferencing
option
• Chat/Private Chat
• Raise Hand
• Live feedback
• Connection indicator

4. Available via LMS
• Illinois Compass
• Free to use as of Fall 2015 (previously administered by CITL)
• ATLAS Moodle
• School of Information Science Moodle
• Off campus guests can be brought in via Guest Link

5. Both Collaborates are still available
• Don’t Use Classic
because:
• Java requirements
and the Blackboard
Collaborate Launcher
• Outdated audio/video
• Students say they
prefer Ultra

6. Go ahead and use Classic because:
• It supports your
curriculum/program
• Unique use cases and
powerful tools
• White board
manipulation
• group work
• adaptively release
groups to sessions

7. Blackboard Collaborate
Ultra
Everything you need to know

8. Bb Collaborate Ultra Ideal for
• Advising, Guest Speaking, Office hours
• Lectures or classes that would otherwise be canceled
• Online programs
• Large webinars (500 participant limit)
• HD Document webcams
• Impromptu Meetings

9. Supported Browsers
• Firefox and Chrome
• Application sharing
• All other browsers require a flash plug-in
• Join via mobile app
• Blackboard
• Blackboard Instructor

10. User Permissions
• Moderator
• start/stop recording, start polling, setup breakout groups, elevate privileges of
other users
• Presenter
• Share an Application or File Sharing, progress slides
• Participant
• Can share audio/video, draw on whiteboard, post to chat

11. Presenting
• Application Sharing
• Done via browser plugin for Chrome or Firefox
• Share entire desktop or just an application
• File sharing
• Powerpoint, PDF, or image files. 50 MB limit

12. Participating
• Chat and private chat
• Whiteboard
• Toggle yourself as away
• Share video and audio
• Raise hand
• Participate in polling

13. Top Feature Requests
• (Many) More simultaneous webcams
• Automatically start recording when someone joins a session
• Assign permissions to users prior to joining a session
• Moderator and Participant Guest Links
• Better whiteboard and breakout group tools
• Timer
• Adaptive Release (Groups)

14. Collaborate Ultra Roadmap
• Deeper LMS integration (Groups in Compass will have
dedicated Ultra rooms for collaboration)
• Auto-captioning after recordings (we can do this already
w/Kaltura)
• Student engagement analytics
• Timer
• Enhanced whiteboard tools

15. Known Issue with Moodle

16. Ultra Campus Adoption Data
Classic Ultra Total Classic Ultra
2016 Unique Attendees 15670 412 16082 97.44% 2.56%
2016 Unique Rooms 1572 63 1635 96.15% 3.85%
2017 Unique Attendees (through Aug 21) 8256 4161 12417 66.49% 33.51%
2017 Unique Rooms (through Aug 21) 712 576 1288 55.28% 44.72%

17. Thank you / Demo / Questions?
• Dan Hahn hahn23@illinois.edu
• Download these slides: https://uofi.box.com/v/bbcollabdemo
• Join the demo: http://go.illinois.edu/bbcollabdemo
• Intro video: http://go.illinois.edu/collabultraintro
• We have an email list: blackboardcollaborate@lists.illinois.edu