Blackboard Collaborate can be used for library instruction in online courses, recording sessions for later viewing, and facilitating online meetings. It has an audio/video panel, participant panel to monitor users and assign permissions, a chat function, screen sharing tools, and a content area that can display a whiteboard, shared applications, or web links. Sessions can be requested independently or set up within a Blackboard course, and last 365 days. The tool allows interactive collaboration and content sharing between instructors and remote students or groups.

1. Blackboard Collaborate™ for
Frostburg State University
Faculty Librarians
Dr. Seán Henry, Aug. 20, 2014

2. What Collaborate™ can do for us:
 Empower library instruction for online
courses
 Record instruction & training sessions for
on-demand viewing
 Facilitate webconferencing, online
consortial meetings, or even search
committee interviews

3. Covered in this presentation:
 Collaborate screen layout
 Functionalities (described by screen
layout feature)
 Participant permissions
 Setting up a Collaborate Session

4. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Audio/Video Panel
• Press “Talk” to use mic (USB
headset recommended)
• Additionally press “Video” if using
webcam
• Video box can be minimized

5. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Participants Panel
• See who is in the session
• Grant permissions to
participants
• Elicit participant
responses (raise hand,
polling, emoticons, etc.)

6. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Chat Panel
Real time chat, Q & A
among participants, plus a
private channel between
multiple moderators

7. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Tools Menu
• Application Sharing: share screen from
specific application or share entire
desktop
• Audio : adjust microphone and speaker
settings
• Moderator : grant or take away
moderator privileges (easier to do from
participant panel)
• Recorder (appears with moderator
permissions): Stop/start recording of
session
• Telephony – access telephone number of
session to distribute to participants who
need to call in
• Video – adjust your video settings

8. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Content Area
The main screen for sharing and
displaying content via three modes
(toggled between three buttons circled
above):
• Whiteboard
• Application Sharing
• Web Tour

9. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Whiteboard
Whiteboard (default): A
nice area to load
PowerPoints, and you can
even doodle on them in
real time on the screen
using the circled tools!

10. Collaborate Screen Layout: Application Sharing
Application Sharing permits on-screen sharing of one
particular app (MS Word, Firefox browser, etc.) or your
entire computer desktop for full functionality
(recommended for library instruction)
Application Sharing may require resizing screens for best
visibility by participants, especially if the Collaborate side
panels are not minimized

11. Collaborate™ Screen Layout: Web Tour
Web Tour fills the Content Area nicely,
but is not recommended for library
instruction … Web Tour allows
participants to interactively share their
own webpages and follow the
moderator’s links, but not if any links
open in new browser windows or tabs!

12. Participant Permissions
As Moderator, it’s easy to grant permissions to
participants by right-clicking their names on
the participants panel and bringing up the
menu! You can:
• Give full moderator privileges, or
• permissions to specific features like
whiteboard or application sharing
• Mute participants whose microphones are
creating fuzzy feedback, etc.

13. Two ways to set up a Collaborate™ session:
 Request a session from the FSU website:
http://www.frostburg.edu/bbcollab/requestfor
m/
 Create a session inside your Blackboard Learn
classroom
Pros and Cons of both discussed on the
upcoming final slides! BTW, did I mention that
a Collaborate Session lasts 365 days?

14. Request a Collaborate™ session via Online Form
 Pros for requesting a Collaborate session via
http://www.frostburg.edu/bbcollab/requestform/:
 Ideal for one-shot library instruction for online
classes, flexible Web conferencing, or recording
training sessions for on-demand viewing
 No need to have a Blackboard Learn classroom
 Con:
 Open to anybody with link access (less secure)

15. Request a Collaborate™ session via Blackboard
Learn:
 Pros:
 Collaborate sessions can be set up autonomously
 Moderator permissions for participants can be set up in advance
 Session more secure
 Cons:
 Must have a Blackboard Learn Classroom
 Collaborate participants restricted only to
students/instructors/teaching assistants enrolled in the
Blackboard Learn classroom or guests invited privately by email

16. Questions?
 Contact Seán at shenry@frostburg.edu
 Consult campus Collaborate support at
http://www.frostburg.edu/bbcollab/