Collaboration Tools

Using Blackboard Virtual Classroom/Chat Tools
The Collaboration Tools (Virtual Classroom and Chat) allow Instructors and Students to participate in real-time discussions. Archives of previous sessions are also available, provided the instructor has recorded the session.

Not all instructors utilize chats in their courses, however if a chat session is scheduled in your course, your instructor should indicate via announcement or email when it will be held and which tool and/or session they will use:

The Virtual Classroom, which offers Chat, Question and Answer sessions, Whiteboard Drawing tools, Breakout Sessions and Group Browser. The Instructor establishes which tools in the Virtual Classroom students can access.
The Chat Tool contains only the text-based chat, without the extra features found in the Virtual Classroom.
Important Tip: Make sure to test your access early so any you can resolve any problems well before the time of your scheduled chat session. (See the Troubleshooting section below for more information.)

Accessing Virtual Classroom and/or the Chat Tool
Click the Communication button and select Collaboration. The Collaboration Session page will appear. It is used to organize and access sessions. Keep in mind your particular screen may look different than the screen shown below. From this page users can join a collaboration session and also view any available archives (recorded sessions).

Click the Join button next to the desired tool and/or session.
The first time you attempt to join a session, (using Internet Explorer), the required Sun Java 1.4.1 browser plug-in should automatically install itself. Once this one-time only install is complete, the chat window itself should appear. (Screenshots of both Virtual Classroom and Chat Tool shown below)

VIRTUAL CLASSROOM SCREENSHOT

CHAT TOOL SCREENSHOT

Chatting with Other Users
Anyone currently in the room, and participating in the chat will be listed in the "Participant" section. Click in the text area (at the bottom of the screen) just to the right of the Compose button. Type in your message and click the Send button (or press the Enter key). Your message will appear in the window above, preceded by your name.

Note: To post longer messages, click on the Compose button to bring up a separate window where you can type in your message. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts (CTRL+C and CTRL+V) to copy and paste existing text from another program into the Compose window.

About the Macintosh and Accessible Collaboration Tools
An accessible version of the Collaboration Tool is also available. Students using Macintosh Operating System 8 or 9 should use this version. On the launch page, a link to the accessible version appears. This link will open the Accessible version / Macintosh OS 8 and 9 version of the Collaboration Tool, which resembles the Chat tool. Links to items that appear in the Virtual Classroom, such as items in the Course Map and Group Browser, will appear in this version. Documents created on the Whiteboard may be viewed if the Instructor takes a snapshot of them, using the Snapshot button on the Whiteboard action bar. A link will be created to the snapshot for users to view it.

When a user, using the Accessible Collaboration Tool, enters or exits the room the sound of a door opening or closing will be audible to all participants in the Collaboration Session.