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TEACHING IN REAL TIMEwith collaborate

What's inside?

hi

GETTING STARTEDWhy Collaborate? 4What can I do in Collaborate? 5Invite people to learn with you 6

designing your sessionHow do I design a Collaborate session? 7

Show, don't tell 8Make it active & interactive! 9Put the instructions on the screen 11Keep it simple, sweetie! 12

SETTING Up your sessionHow do I create a session? 14The settings are up to you! 15How do I book a session? 16

facilitating your session How do I help learners get ready? 17How do I manage my profile? 20How do I manage the whiteboard? 21How do I upload PowerPoints? 22How do I manage permissions? 24How do I manage polls? 25

facilitating your session How do I manage chat? 27How do I manage audio and video? 28How do I share my desktop? 30How do I record a session? 31

Using Breakout RoomsWhat's a breakout room? 32How do I create a breakout room? 33How do I move a slide into a breakout room? 34How do I Move learners automatically? 35How do I allow learners to move themselves? 36How do I turn on multiple talkers? 37How do I move whiteboards back to the main room? 38

archiving your session Where are my recordings? 39About those recordings ... 40How do I save chat and whiteboards? 41

Learn moreThe “No Excuses” List 42

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Why Collaborate?

Collaborate is an especially good tool for

• collaboration

• creating a sense of community (especially at the beginning of an online course)

• to create “anchor points”, or scheduled check-ins for online learners

• having learners demonstrate their understanding

• offering more guidance or checking for under-standing before moving to the next step

• adjusting information based on questions or feed-back from learners

• times when you can’t predict where online learners will have questions or problems

• providing information that changes quickly

• demonstrating a tool or a technique (or asking learners to demonstrate)

• ensuring participation

• hosting a guest speaker

• providing personal, real-time attention

THE SYNCHRONOUS COMPACT

“Learners agree to minimize the distractions they have

around them & to make every effort to contribute

meaningfully to the experimence. The instructor’s half of

this bargain is to remember at every moment of every

live session that there is a group of people assembled

in real time who have set aside the same precious hour

out of their day and to make every effort to use the time

together in a manner that takes advantage of the fact

that all are present in real time.”

~ Jonathan Finkelstein Learning in Real Time

What can I do in Collaborate?Once you have a session set up, log in and explore.

You can upload slides or picturesYou have more options (Look at your Tools menu)

You can show participants yourdesktop or tour a website.

You have a private moderators chat room

You can create new whiteboard pagesand navigate them

Don’t try everything at first. Explore. Exploring gives you an idea of the possibilities

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Invite people to learn with youIT FEELS MORE LIKE MODERATING IF YOU INVITE people TO JOIN YOU IN COLLABORATE

(maybe colleagues? Maybe learners? It's up to you.)

Click on “Tools” on the toolbar

Click “In-Session Invite” and then “Invite New Participant”

Click “Compose Email”. Your email program opens. Send the

email as you normally do.

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If you have some basic PowerPoint skills, designing a Collaborate session is as simple as designing PowerPoint slides. Just start with a blank slide & start designing!

You can design your activities right in PowerPoint

Here are four simple things that make a difference.

How do I design a Collaborate session?

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Show, don't tellCommunicate your message visually. The graphics don’t have to be fancy. They just have to help you explain your ideas.

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Make it active & interactive!If a session is well-designed, experts say that people should be interacting every 2-3 minutes. Yep. Every 2 - 3 minutes.

Polling activities

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Whiteboard & chat activities

Be creative!

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Put the instructions on the screenHelp learners manage

support people who are new to the technology

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Keep it simple, sweetie!One idea per screen. Lots of white space.

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show, don't tell

make it active & interactive

Put the instructions on the screen

keep it simple

4 handy tips

your handy checklist

To help get you started designing your own activities, email Carolyn Campbell (carolyn.campbell@nscc.ca) and she’d be

happy to send you some PowerPoint templates.

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How do I create a session?(in D2L)

In D2L, click on “Communication”, then “Online Rooms”

Click “New Room”

What about all those settings?

Choose “Collaborate” as your service provider

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What’s the name of your session?(I make it simple & descriptive in case

I record & want learners to be able to find it easily)

When does your session start & end? (I usually give myself a bit of wiggle room

on either side -- at least an hour)

Keep the Archive Mode on manual to give you control over the recording during your session

Which options? (I usually only check “moderator can see chats”. I like to control the others during the session)

Save!

Choose “restricted” if it’s a private meeting with just a student or two. Choose “public” if it’s a session for your whole class

The settings are up to you!

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Send

To ...

Cc ...

Subject

How do I book a session?(through NSCC ONLINE LEARNING)

email Leah or your instructional designer

CC your Chair or Manager as well as the instructional designer for your

school (if you’re faculty)

leah.sameoto@nscc.camy.chair@nscc.caCollaborate booking

SESSION BOOKING COLLABORATE

Could you book this session for me? Thanks!

INSTRUCTOR: Carolyn CampbellCHAIR or MANAGER: Mike KidneyEMAIL: carolyn.campbell@nscc.caNAME OF SESSION: Wellness CommitteeCOURSE OR MEETING: MeetingNUMBER OF SITES: 25DATE: September 1 - December 31, 2012

how many participants?

I want my room available for the whole semester

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How do I help learners get ready?

Before our first session, I post a news item in D2L to remind learners:

• when we’re meeting • what to bring (i.e. their headset!)• how to prepare (i.e. is there homework?)• where to find “Online Rooms”• how to log on• encourage them to log in to a practice room• what they can expect (i.e. it takes time for Collabo-

rate to start)• what to do if they have problems (email me or con-

tact Online Learning)

The first news item looks something like this ...

Take a look at a sample

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More

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How do I manage my profile?

When you work or learn at a distance, you need to work harder at giving people a sense of yourself. It makes working at a distance feel less distant. Make sense? One of the ways to do this is to upload a profile picture. Here’s how ...

Hover your mouse over your name & click on the drop-down menu

Choose “Edit Profile”

You can encourage participants to upload a profile picture, too!

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Upload pictures or PowerPoint slides to the whiteboard

Explore your slides(i.e. move, rename or delete them)Navigate

whiteboard web tourapplication sharing

Create or delete pages

How do I manage the whiteboard?

The whiteboard is one of the most useful tools in Collaborate. Explore it!

It’s worth learning more about it by looking at the Blackboard Collaborate Moderators Guide at bit.do/collaborate_moderators_guide.

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How do I upload PowerPoints?

PowerPoints can help you plan and organize your session.

Before you start, close PowerPoint!

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Once you’ve closed PowerPoint, click “Load content” in Collaborate

Browse your computer & find your PowerPoint

You’re done! Just click the arrows to view your slides

Click “Open” and your PowerPoints will load into Collaborate

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How do I manage permissions?

As a moderator, you’re in control! You decide what people can do by granting or taking away permissions.

talkvideo chat

whiteboard

web tour

share applications

these permissions are turned offYou can see the permissions in the participants panel. See the little icons? Some have Xs.

These permissions are turned off.

Moderators give participants permission to use certain

features or not. Here are all the permissions you can give.

Keep going

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How do I manage polls?

Most polls are just PowerPoint slides. Upload your slides & change your polling options. Ask learners to respond to your poll, and then clear the responses.

Click the drop-down menu

example of a poll on a PowerPoint slide

What type of poll?

Should participants see each other’s responses? Can they change their responses? Explore your options. Is your poll multiple-choice?

Yes/no? Explore your options!

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As people respond, you’ll see their choices

You can publish the results to the whiteboard for everyone to see. Try it.

ResponsesClick to clear the responses

while you’re polling

AFter you’re done the poll

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How do I manage chat?Participants use chat to send messages -- publically to the group, or privately to each other. And remember, in a supervised chat, moderators see all the messages that participants send -- even the private ones. When you moderate, be sure to let your participants know. Try it out. Don’t worry. All your messages will disappear once you log out.

Notice the blue icon?It tells you when someone’s typing.

private messages

public messages

click this tab for a private chat with moderators

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How do I manage audio and video?

Hearing people’s voices and (sometimes!) seeing faces can help you feel a sense of connection, too. Video is also great when you need to demonstrate. However, if you’re teaching with Collaborate, video can distract from the learning. A good rule of thumb -- if you’re only watching people’s lips move, you probably don’t need video.

Transmit video(you’ll need a webcam)

TalkPreview

If you see yellor or red bars, these people have a slower connection. In

this case, the video is delayed.

When you use audio or video, keep an eye on the participants panel ...

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Permissions are like a light switch ... moderators can turn them on & off

You manage permissions in the drop-down menu in the participants panel.

Click on the drop-down menu

Click the permission to turn it on & off for the group If participants tell you their

talk button isn’t working, or they can’t send a chat mes-sage, chances are you need to

turn on their permissions.

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How do I share my desktop?

For keeners only! Sharing your desktop can take a lot of bandwidth so use with discretion.

Click “application sharing”.

Click the program you want to share. It has to be open on your desktop.

Share

Sometimes application sharing is slow & jittery on the other side. Check in with learners frequently to ask them what they’re seeing.

Sometimes dialog boxes, menus or parts of applications appear greyed out. Ask someone in your office to log in to

your session as a learner so you can see what learners see.

Don’t leave anything confidential open on

your desktop!

Just click the whiteboard button when you want to

go back

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How do I record a session?

Do some people in your group have scheduling conflicts? No problem. You can record your sessions. However, remember that you can record what happens in the main room only, not in breakout rooms.

Click again to stop. You can start and stop recording throughout your session.Just click the “Record” button to start recording.

There are two ways that Collaborate lets people know the session

is being recorded.

“recordingstarted”

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What's a breakout room?

Breakout rooms are private Collaborate rooms. Facilitators and learners often use them for group work.

Breakout roomslook like folders

Only participants in the room can see the chat and whiteboard for that room

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How do I create a breakout room?Most facilitators create and set up breakout rooms before learners arrive. But you can do it on the fly, too.

Click the drop down menu

Choose “Create Breakout Rooms”

Select your options

Create!

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How do I move a slide into a breakout room?You can move any slide from the main whiteboard to the whiteboard in a breakout room. (Make sure you check that it’s moved!)

Right-click on the slide.Choose “Current Page, then “Copy Page ...”

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How do I Move learners automatically?

Moving learners automatically can be confusing for learners!! Use with caution and be sure to let people know what you’re doing and what they’ll experience.

Just click this option when you create your breakout rooms

Don’t throw me into a breakout room without warning!

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How do I allow learners to move themselves?

It takes practice for learners to learn how to move themselves but it can offer a better experience for learners.

Click this option

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How do I turn on multiple talkers?In breakout rooms, turning on more than one mic makes the conversation flow more naturally.

Choose “Tools”, then “Audio”, then “Maximum Simultaneous Talkers”)

how many?

ok!

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How do I move whiteboards back to the main room?

Once an activity is done, you can move whiteboard slides from the breakout rooms back to the main room.

Click this option

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Where are my recordings?

A few minutes after everyone has left your session, Collaborate archives it in Desire2Learn.

Go to “Online Rooms”

Click on your session

Click “Archive” and there are the links to

your recording(s)

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Your recordings are deleted at the end of the term. If you need to save one (for example, you have a guest speaker you won’t be able to invite for a future course), let your in-structional designer know!!

about those recordings ...

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How do I save chat and whiteboards?

During your session, did you collect some great ideas on the whiteboard? Did people share great links in the chat? You might want to save all that great work. Here’s how ...

Click “File” on your menu bar

What do you want to save?

Save whiteboards as a “PDF” or “PNG” if you’re posting them to the WebBoard or TLM.

Save it as a “WBD” if you want to upload them to Collaborate again.

“Save”

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learn

WHERE DO i GET TECH HELP?

Need to learn more? Need to get someone who can help with the technology during your first few sessions? Talk to us!

Phone: 491-6774Toll-free: 1-877-491-6774 Email: online.learning@nscc.caWeb: http://onlinelearning.nscc.ca/support/

LEARN MORE

Blackboard Collaborate Moderators & Participants Guideshttp://bit.do/collaborate_learning_center

Blackboard & Elluminate Recorded sessionshttps://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/playback

Jonathan Finklestein | Real Time Minutehttp://www.learninginrealtime.com/minute/

Play! explore! practice!

We have two rooms set up where you can login and explore Col-laborate. If you’d like to see what a learner experiences in Col-laborate, log in to the Participants Practice Room. If you’d like to try practicing as a moderator -- uploading slides, using the white-board or sharing applications -- try the Moderators Practice Room.

Participants Practice Roomhttp://bit.do/participants_practice_room

Practice room for moderatorshttp://bit.do/moderators_practice_room

The "No excuses" list