Welcome! Run the Audio Wizard Your Moderator: (your name) Run the Audio Wizard Tools Menu > Audio > Audio Setup Wizard If you do not have a headset: Use a microphone and headphones/ear buds 3. If no headphone or ear buds: Go to Tools > Audio > Speaker Settings > Check box “Mute speakers when Talk is pressed” If no microphone (or audio problems) dial: 866-718-7314 enter PIN 91920045 then press # INCLUDE THIS SLIDE IN YOUR MEETING AS YOUR WELCOME SCREEN You can put your name, even your picture, on the Welcome slide since your name will not be listed as the moderator. Greet each person using both voice and chat.

Recommended Devices Audio headsets Headphones/earbuds elminates echos and background noise By using either a headset or a microphone along with earbuds, noise is reduced and others can hear you easily. Webcams are optional but will enhance the presence of the moderator and can help committee members remember each other. Headphones/earbuds with USB microphones reduce echos but may still pick up background noise.

Test Your Audio “Talk” turns your microphone on and off. Sound levels may need adjusting Prompt each person to click TALK to activate their microphone and introduce themselves, “Hello, this is ….” in order to test the audio. This will determine if there is an echo or background noise for a participant. Ask attendees to turn off their microphones after speaking by clicking TALK. The microphone disappears from their name when the microphone is muted. Keeping microphones on mute eliminate background noise. DO NOT WASTE MORE THAN 5 MINUTES ON AUDIO ISSUES! HAVE FOLKS USE THE PHONE! We can set up time with them later to troubleshoot.

Audio Workarounds Go to Tools > Audio > Speaker Settings > Check Box Mute speakers when “Talk” is pressed” Use the phone and participate via teleconference 866-714-1983 then enter PIN: 77282864 and press # Use CHAT whenever possible to ask questions Getting Audio to work is the major obstacle to a successful meeting. Encourage participants to use CHAT in addition to TALK whenever possible. If muting the microphone does not work, attendees can mute speakers. FOLKS USE THE TELECONFERENCE PHONE! We can set up time with them later to troubleshoot.

Page Layout Here is an overview of the layout in Blackboard Collaborate. There are communication panals, a content area in the middle, collaborations tools along the top (9). It’s important to become familiar with icons and the Option Menus—those are boxes with 4-5 lines with a down arrow. This is where many of the functions are found. For example, click on the Options Menu to the right of Chat and detach this panal. The chat panal can be stretched and resized for meetings where participants have a lot of written discussion. Click on the Review the Tools on the Menu Bar (2) to repeat the Audio Wizard if needed or to “mute speakers when Talk is pressed” for participants that begin to experience audio problems. The panal called Audio and Video (3) controls the microphone and sound volume. The Participants Panals (4) displays their names permissions and microphone connection. The middle sections (10) is where content is displayed using one of three features in the Collaboration Toolbar (9).

Moderator Setup Run Audio Wizard Activate Teleconference Customize the A/V Options Assign Participant Permissions Load Content Have your web page workaround ready Start recording We may need to add a step regarding teleconferencing. We are still working out details.

Start Teleconference Moderators activate the phone before the session Teleconference will display as a single participant for all phone users The teleconference is basically a conference call. Moderators witll initiate the teleconference phone line from the “Options Menu” on the Audio & Video.

Teleconferencing Participants DO NOT click TALK, their voice is always active and they may need to mute their phones when not speaking The teleconference line is shared among attendees Moderator can mute the audio for teleconference but this is not recommended. No loss of functionality since participants also logon and appear in the Participants Panel The audio for teleconferencing is very good. Whenever a participant or even a moderator begins to experience problems, this is a good way to keep the audio going. Even though sessions are recorded, a transcript of the chat can also be generated. Chat transcripts are good ways to capture comments and suggestions.

Audio Visual Options and Participant Permissions

Help Your Attendees Email them ahead of time with some introductory slides and logon information Let them know the logon url and teleconference phone number are permanent and do not change Tell participants the session will be recorded and any slides will be available for review after the session Create a welcome slide to run the audio setup wizard and test as quickly as possible. Avoid spending too much time on technical problems. Give a brief overview of Collaborate and focus on the features you want to use for your meetings Many successful meetings are run just using the audio, chat and displaying some documents.

Record Your Session Prompt when starting Collaborate--ignore When ready, click Record in upper right Click again to pause Recording ends program is exited but will continue if moderator logs back in within 5 minutes Recordings available at http://tinyurl.com/rusa-room-2-record

Participant Panel Feedback Tools Raise your hand when you wish to speak If you leave, click “Step away…” Moderator may need polling responses Use chat to ask questions The moderator sees a different version of the participants panal than attendees. Both see icons in the feedback menu. Since the microphones are kept on mute, when you wish to speak, please raise your hand—go ahead and try it. Another useful indicator is “Step Away from Session” when you need to leave briefly—try this one. Emoticons can also be fun to use during chat—go ahead and try. “Respond to Poll” is an easy to way to respond to questions from the moderator both verbally or from a structured written polling feature. For example, how many of you are going to Midwinter this year?

Keep an Eye on Indicators Watch the Participants Panal for different activity. For example, when you see 3 red dots, it means that attendee is experiencing trouble with audio. The audio will speed up to try to catch them up, so they might hear a “chipmunk” voice. There are a lot of indicators

Moderator Permissions You can change all participants permissions by clicking on the icons in the Main Room (audio; camera; chat; whiteboard; etc.) You can change permissions for each participant by hovering over their name and clicking on menu option NOTE: A maximum of 6 people can TALK via microphones at ONCE. Participants will have more control over collaborative tools if they are made moderators. For smaller committee work, granting moderator privileges.

Whiteboard Tools for collaborative notes, pointing and other effects. …then click arrow to reset cursor and be able to edit the text box Tools for collaborative notes, pointing and other effects.

Polling Set the polling type Lock Responses: If you don't want to accept any more responses or don't wish them changed Visible/Not visible Publish to whiteboard Take polls to add interaction. Note that this is where you can also LOWER ALL HANDS.

Web Tour Has most potential for sharing websites View ALA Connect documents (that are public) Share Google docs (best when made public) Useful for showing URLs from a PowerPoint

Web Tour * Any participant can check “Follow Me” Open URL in Browser is a web push Web page opens in each attendee’s default browser and is not shared in the whiteboard Again, make sure you “Follow Me” is selected if you want your participants to follow along. Even if it’s clicked, participants can still independently navigate. But as soon as you click on a link, they will “follow you”.

Loading Content Powerpoint slides are flattened and the links to web content will not work Multimedia (.mp3, .wmv, .mpeg, .mpeg4, QuickTime and Flash) but these files must first be uploaded into their multimedia library No Word documents (but there are workarounds)

Loading a PowerPoint PowerPoint program will need to be closed Click Load Content button at upper right When you select the file to be opened, PowerPoint will open and it will appear as if your content is disappearing. Don’t worry. It’s not. It’s a nifty spectacle, though. When file is loaded, it has been flattened into an image, so no links will be active. Workaround will be presented! You can close the Page Explorer that opens.

Links to Webpages in PPT Both Blackboard Collaborate AND Adobe Connect flatten PPTs, so links are not active Workarounds: Have a Word document open with URLs, paste in Web Tour when needed Use Application Sharing – Share Desktop instead of loading PPT NOTE: Participants will have less interactive capability With Web Tour, they can independently tour webpages, until you bring them back (“Follow Me”)

Navigating Power Point Check “Follow Me” to have participants always see the slides in the order you wish Content from Powerpoint is shared in the Whiteboard space. Embedded links in Powerpoints are not active in Collaborate. When a Powerpoint is loaded, a flattened image of the slides is created. Moderators will need to load their powerpoint well ahead of the meeting schedule.

After you load a PPT to the whiteboard, the Page Explorer appears After you load a PPT to the whiteboard, the Page Explorer appears. You can use this to re-order, delete slides, or select slides to view. You can close it and re-open it at any time. Once you close it, it will appear in the upper left. To re-order, click and drag the slide to where you want it.

Multimedia (. mp3,. wmv,. mpeg, Multimedia (.mp3, .wmv, .mpeg, .mpeg4, QuickTime and Flash) files will be loaded into the Multimedia Library.

Application Sharing Participants see the contents of your computer View and edit restricted content (ALA Connect, Google Docs) Display your Powerpoint and links to web content within the presentation Co-edit Word documents

Do not use Sharing when… You want to view an online video. Too much lag when trying to broadcast a video on your computer via application sharing. Use Web Tour instead.

Begin Application Sharing Click on the icon to “Begin Sharing” Select “Share Desktop Yellow frame appears—minimize your programs until this displays—anything within yellow frame is shared Resize yellow frame to focus on content to be shared and move the Audio Visual panal outside of frame While there are options to only share specific applications you have open, select Share Desktop to avoid problems

Move your yellow frame around by using the BLACK DOTS at the center of each side. When you want to stop, look for the stop button over a corner of your yellow frame. Recommended: Move the LEFT SIDE OVER so that the Blackboard Collaborate window is OUTSIDE of the frame.

Uhoh. This is what happens when you share an application Uhoh! This is what happens when you share an application. In this case, Firefox was shared only. That means the Collaborate window shows up as a grey bar to attendees.

Uhoh, can’t see chat! When you have an application maximized, you can’t see the chat. That may be important. Click on Collaborate to open, so that it can be seen.

Take the time to arrange your screen (MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE THE CHAT Take the time to arrange your screen (MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE THE CHAT!) and ask participants if it looks right! Always check in with your participants, to make sure they can see what you want them to see! You may need to make your text larger on your screen!

Application Sharing to Co-Edit 2 You may have a need to co-edit a document with another participant. FIRST: Share the application in Application Sharing. THEN: Access Collaborate Participants panel. Click on participant. Go to Tools > Application Sharing > Give Control of Shared Applications 1

Co-Edit Word Docs

Stop Application Sharing Click “Stop Sharing” on menu Use button in yellow frame Or from menu bar: Tools > Application Sharing > Stop Sharing

Ending the Session End recording Save chat Save whiteboard as PDF if desired; selected or all

Schedule Your Session During this transition, Liane Taylor is scheduler Email ltaylor@txstate.edu if you want to schedule a session Availability is posted on a Google calendar, Liane will send you a link so you can see what’s available https://sites.google.com/site/asclarusa/ In the fall, we will move to a scheduling team and will have supporting resources on the RUSA site…stay tuned!

Confirming a Session After meeting is confirmed, session information sent via email Moderator URL (for session moderator) Attendees URL (send prior to the meeting) Teleconference number and PIN URL to access recording Available about 10 minutes after session Click on that URL to access a list of recordings for that room Find your date/time Copy the URL for your particular recording to send to your attendees

Ready to Practice? ROOM 3 reserved for Practice Moderator: http://tinyurl.com/rusa-room-3-mod Attendee: http://tinyurl.com/rusa-room-3 Teleconference: 1-866-714-1983 PIN: 77282864# Recordings URL: http://tinyurl.com/rusa-room-3-record