ITL Links • Getting Started With Blackboard • Designing Your Blackboard Site • Adding Users to Blackboard • Adding Content to Blackboard • The Gradebook • Using Quizzes • Online Discussions • Collaboration • Blackboard Tools
The Virtual Classroom is a "real-time" collaboration environment that allows for chats, collaborative webbrowsing, breakout groups, private chat, question/answer interfaces, and a host of other collaborative exercises to be conducted on-line via the Blackboard learning management system.
In order to conduct an ad-hoc (unscheduled) Virtual Classroom session all users need to be logged on simultaneously. To begin participating in a Virtual Classroom session login to your site and click on "Control Panel>Collaboration".
You will see an option labeled "Virtual Classroom" along with a button labeled "Join". Click join to begin participating.
**Please note, you may need to download a newer version of java in order for this utility to function. You will be prompted if this is necessary. An accessible version of this tool is available for use with screen readers.
To Create a Series of Collaboration Sessions browse back to the "Control Panel>Collaboration" index and click on the button labeled 'Create Collaboration Session'.
Specify a name for this session and assign a date and time for the session to begin and end, set the collaboration session availability, and then choose the tool that you wish to use (Virtual Classroom or Lightweight Chat). For more information on Lightweight Chat please review the Lightweight Chat pages.
When you have finished click on the button labeled "Submit" and you will receive a receipt confirming that you have created a collaboration session successfully.
Several tools have been built into the Virtual Classroom interface. Read on for an overview and description of the tools and how they can be used.
Interface Overview/Collaboration Controls
The interface itself is fairly easy to understand. In the lower right hand quadrant is the chat window. Messages typed here are broadcast to everyone logged in to the session when you press send or the enter button. Clicking on the buttons labeled View, Clear, and End affect the rudimentary control items of the collaboration interface such as how the session displays, clearing the session display, and ending the session.
The button labeled "Controls" allows the instructor to give access to certain tools to certain user types - passive and active. Passive and active settings apply to the list of users that appear in the lower left hand corner of the screen. To set a user to active click on their username and then select the icon that looks like a persons head. That will convert the user to "active". They will then be able to access any tools that you have assigned "Active" access rights to (via the button labeled "Controls".) The same steps apply for adjusting a user from an "active" to a "passive" state.
You have the ability to record collaboration sessions. To record sessions you can use the buttons in the middle right part of the screen:
To begin recording of a session press the button that appears to be a circle. You will be prompted to provide a name for the archive. The pause button will temporarily pause recording, while the stop button (square) will stop recording entirely. The button with the file folder icon can be used to create a "bookmark" in the archived session. This will provide future users with a way to navigate to certain points in the archive when they are viewing it. When you are done archiving press the "stop" button.
Archives will be created on a session by session basis. After you have created an archive for a specific session you will see a new button appear next to the "join" button - the button will be labeled "Archive".
Clicking on the archive button will open a text transcript of everything that occurred in the session.
VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TOOLS
Course Map
The Course Map feature will open a link to the content areas of your course site
in the main "whiteboard/browser" portion of the Virtual Classroom. This
tool can be used to walk students through a guided tour of your Blackboard site
and browse the content areas. To begin using the Course Map click on the text
lableled "Course Map" in the upper left hand corner of the Virtual Classroom
interface. Once you have found an item you'd like to broadcast to the class click
on the "Display to Class>Go" button.
There are other functions in the Diplay to Class dropdown box - Preview in New Window, and Refresh Tree. Preview allows you to take a look at the content in a new browser window before displaying it to the class, while Refresh will refresh the Course Map content window.
Whiteboard
The Whiteboard tool allows you to post a series of "slides" that you
can illustrate in realtime using drawing tools, text, and mathematical "WebEQ"
formulas. To begin using the Whiteboard click on the text lableled "Whiteboard"
in the upper left hand corner of the Virtual Classroom interface.
This will open a blank screen in the main window and a new interface in the middle left portion of the screen.
The first step here is to begin "adding pages" to the whiteboard interface. Once you have added pages you can toggle between each page by clicking on the small page icon and then clicking the button labeled "Display". To begin adding content to these pages click on the tab labeled "Tools" at the top of this menu.
These tools can be used to draw, select drawn items, insert shapes and text, and insert formulas. Once you have marked up an individual page click back to the "Controls" tab and use the "Display" button to toggle between the marked up slides that you have created.
Group Browser
To begin using the Group Browser tool click on the text lableled "Group Browser
" in the upper left hand corner of the Virtual Classroom interface. You will
see a text box appear in the middle left section of the Virtual Classroom interface
where you can type in the URL that you'd like to browse to. After you have type
in the URL be sure to click on the button labeled "Display to Class".
It is important to click on this button each time you browse to a new page that
you'd like students to view.
Ask Question/Question InBox
The Ask Question/Question InBox interface allows students to ask questions on
an individual basis and have that question be separated from the group chat. To
ask a question a student would click on the text lableled "Ask Question"
in the upper left hand corner of the Virtual Classroom interface. A small text
box will open in the middle left hand corner of the screen where they will be
able to type in their question, and then send it to the instructor's "Question
InBox"
In order to view and answer questions that have been submitted by students an instructor would click the text lableled "Question InBox" in the upper left hand corner of the Virtual Classroom interface. This will open up a text box in the middle left hand portion of the interface that will allow you to scroll through and answer individual questions.
Chat Window
The main chat window will appear along the bottom right hand side of the interface.
This is where general class chat will occur. The chat window has two main function
buttons, compose and send. When users click "compose" they will have
a new window open that will allow them to compose longer messages in a large text
box. The "send" button is used to broadcast the message to attendees.
Two additional buttons related to the chat sessions are "Breakouts"
and "Private Message". These buttons can be used to either send a private
message or WebEQ equation to an individual, or conduct a breakout chat session
amongst a small subset of users.
The Lightweight Chat tool is the chat portion of the Virtual Classroom only. This tool can be used in "low bandwidth" situations when real-time collaboration is required. The Lightweight Chat supports all of the same features of the Virtual Classroom chat.
The Lightweight chat window is where general class chat will occur. The chat window has two main function buttons, compose and send. When users click "compose" they will have a new window open that will allow them to compose longer messages in a large text box. The "send" button is used to broadcast the message to attendees. Two additional buttons related to the chat sessions are "Breakouts" and "Private Message". These buttons can be used to either send a private message or WebEQ equation to an individual, or conduct a breakout chat session amongst a small subset of users.
Clicking on the buttons labeled View, Clear, and End affect the rudimentary control items of the chat interface such as how the session displays, clearing the session display, and ending the session.
The button labeled "Controls" allows the instructor to give access to chat and private messaging to certain user types - passive and active. Passive and active settings apply to the list of users that appear in the left hand corner of the screen. To set a user to active click on their username and then select the icon that looks like a persons head. That will convert the user to "active". They will then be able to access any tools that you have assigned "Active" access rights to (via the button labeled "Controls".) The same steps apply for adjusting a user from an "active" to a "passive" state.
You have the ability to record collaboration sessions. To record sessions you can use the buttons on the top right part of the screen:
To begin recording of a session press the button that appears to be a circle. You will be prompted to provide a name for the archive. The pause button will temporarily pause recording, while the stop button (square) will stop recording entirely. The button with the file folder icon can be used to create a "bookmark" in the archived session. This will provide future users with a way to navigate to certain points in the archive when they are viewing it. When you are done archiving press the "stop" button.
Archives will be created on a session by session basis. After you have created an archive for a specific session you will see a new button appear next to the "join" button - the button will be labeled "Archive".
Clicking on the archive button will open a text transcript of everything that occurred in the session.
The Virtual Classroom collaboration interface lends itself better to certain applications. For example, it would be a bit difficult to manage a chat and collaboration session for 400 students; on the other hand this tool may work well for smaller class sizes, or for external education programs that lack a face-to-face component.
VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS
At UIC instructors have been using the Virtual Classroom tool to make themselves
more available during office hours. These "Virtual Office Hours" allow
you to ineract with students while not on campus - in addition, the recorded sessions
can be posted and are often very valuable to students that may not have been able
to make the actual session itself.
If you are planning on incorporating the Virtual Classroom into your curriculum here are a few tips that may help you make the most out of the tool:
We have heard that instructors of blended (face-to-face and on-line) courses are using this tool for "virtual office hours".
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Last Modified: July 8, 2005 - Instructional Technology Lab