How to use myUSF's communication tools
From Academic Computing
Purpose: The purpose of this document is to introduce instructors to the communication aspects of the BlackBoard 6.1 Learning System™
Prerequisites: The document was designed for instructors who are first time users of BlackBoard. This document assumes the instructor has basic computer knowledge and internet skills (IE 6.1, Netscape 7, Mozilla FireFox).
[edit] Interactive Communication
The following section will introduce the Discussion Board and Collaboration (virtual chat) tools. These tools allow interactive communication between students and instructors. The first tool, Discussion board, is an area which contains forums for students to post and reply to topics. The second tool, Collaboration, is a live chat room which offers a whiteboard and a group web browser. Both the discussion board and Collaboration are located in the Course tools section of your course control panel.
[edit] Discussion Boards
View the updated Discussion Board guide.
[edit] Collaboration
The collaboration toolset is designed to let instructors communicate real-time with students in a virtual chat room. The collaboration tool can be accessed either through the student view or through the collaboration link in course tools area of the control panel.
There are two types of chat rooms available, the full Virtual Class room, and a Lightweight chat. To add more sessions click on the Create Collaboration Session button at the top of the screen. This will take you to a new screen were you can set the start and end dates of the chat, as well as the type of chat room (either Virtual Class room, or Lightweight Chat).
[edit] Basic chatting
The Lightweight chat offers a basic chat room, private messaging, and text logging features. The left panel shows the users logged into the chat. The right panel is for chatting.
To chat with all users simply type in the text line next to the compose button.
If you want to copy & paste text, click on the 
button. This will open a compose window for you to type, or copy & paste text.
[edit] Private Messaging
To send a private message double-click on a user’s name from the left panel, or single-click on a user and then click on the 
button to compose a private message.
By default private messages will appear in the main chat window as blue text. You can make private messages appear in a separate frame by clicking on the 
button at the top of the window. When the private messaging window appears, select “show in a separate frame” and click the ok button.
[edit] Moderating the Basic Chat
When a student joins the chat they are considered active users. An active user will have a colorful face icon 
next to their name. A user set to passive will have a colorless face icon 
next to their name. Instructors and Teaching Assistants will a globe 
next to their name to represent their status as a Moderator. To switch a user from active to passive click on the user’s name, and then click on the colorless face icon at the bottom of the user panel.
When you set a user to passive they will not be able to chat nor will they be able to use the private message feature until you set them back to active mode. However, you can change these active rights by clicking on the 
button.
To clear all users' displays click on the 
button, to end a session click on the 
button.
[edit] Advanced Virtual Chat
The Virtual Classroom is an augmented version of the lightweight chat. The Virtual Classroom adds a whiteboard for drawing, a group browser for displaying websites to users, a question/answer box, breakout feature, and a course map to display course lessons inside the viewer.
The Virtual Classroom is divided into 3 parts:
- 1) Classroom Tool - The Classroom Tool menu contains tools for drawing, asking/answering questions, and a group browser for displaying sites within the viewer.
- 2) Viewer – The viewer displays websites, course material, and vector graphics when the whiteboard is in use.
- 3) Chat – This area uses the same text messaging system as the lightweight chat, please see the above section for details.
[edit] Displaying Course Material in the Virtual Classroom Viewer
To display course material in the virtual classroom, choose the Course Map option from the Classroom Tools menu. You will see a descending tree view of your course. Click on the area you want to display, and then click the GO button to display in the Viewer.
[edit] Displaying Websites in the Virtual Classroom Viewer
To display a website in the virtual classroom, choose the Group Browser option from the Classroom Tools menu. Enter the URL of the website you want to display in the Address box, and then click the GO button to display in the Viewer.
[edit] Using the Ask Question Tool
The virtual classroom has an Ask Question tool which allows students to queue their questions. To use this feature, click on the Ask Question option from the Classroom tool menu. You can type directly into the text box provided or you can click the compose button if you want to Cut & Past your text. After a question has been submitted it will appear in the question inbox.
OR
[edit] Responding to Questions in the Inbox
To respond to questions in the Question Inbox, select the student you want to reply to by clicking on their name. You will see the question they wrote in the Question Box. To send a response, click on the 
icon. To delete a question from the Inbox, click on the 
icon.
[edit] Using the Virtual Classroom Whiteboard
The Virtual Classroom offers a whiteboard for displaying vector based graphics, equations, and text.
When you first select the whiteboard option from the classroom tools menu, you will see two tabs in the whiteboard dialogue area: Controls for creating multiple whiteboard pages and Tools for creating vector graphics and text.
To create multiple pages click on the Controls Tab on whiteboard menu. To add a page click on the Plus shaped icon, to delete a page click on the Cross shaped icon. To switch views select the page you want to display and click the Display button.
Clicking on the Tools tab will show the following options for drawing vector graphics and text.
Selector – This allows you to select and move objects within the whiteboard
Line tool – This tool allows you to draw straight lines
Freehand Pen – This tool lets you draw freehand shapes
Equation editor – This tool lets you create equations on screen
Square shape tool – This tool lets you draw rectangular objects on screen
Oval shape Tool – This tool lets you draw oval shaped objects on screen
Text Type Tool – This tool lets you draw text on the whiteboard
[edit] Whiteboard drawing tools
The following tools are used for drawing vector graphics:
Line tool , Freehand pen , Square tool , and Oval tool .
[edit] The line tool
To use the line tool select the Line icon from the Tools tab and position the mouse on the viewer. Click the left mouse button to set the initial point, with the left-mouse button still held drag your mouse until you see a line project out from the cross. Once you are satisfied with its position you can release the mouse button.
[edit] Freehand pen
To draw freehand select the freehand pen icon from the whiteboard tools tab and position the mouse on the viewer. Click the left mouse button to set the initial point, with the left-mouse button still held drag your mouse until you see a trace of your path. Once you are satisfied with the shape you can release the mouse button.
[edit] Square Shape tool
To draw rectangles select the Square Shape icon from the whiteboard tools tab and position the mouse on the viewer. Click the left mouse button to set the initial point, with the left-mouse button still held drag your mouse until you see a rectangle form. Once you are satisfied with the shape of the rectangle you can release the mouse button.
[edit] Oval Shape tool
To draw ovals select the Oval Shape icon from the whiteboard tools tab and position the mouse on the viewer. Click the left mouse button to set the initial point, with the left-mouse button still held drag your mouse until you see an oval form. Once you are satisfied with the shape of the oval you can release the mouse button.
[edit] Whiteboard Text Tool
To enter text, select the text type tool from the tools tab on the Whiteboard’s menu. The Whiteboard’s text input box will appear. Type your message in the text box and click the Insert button to display the text on screen. Font size and font style can be changed using the color, line width, and font properties.
[edit] Whiteboard Equation Editor
To enter an equation on the Whiteboard, click on the sigma icon on the tools menu. An equation editor will appear, use the tools provided in the editor to create an equation. Afterwards click the insert Equation button to display your equation.
[edit] The Whiteboard Selection Tool
The selection tool lets you select, move, and resize objects drawn on the whiteboard. Selecting this tool also activates the selection tools at the top of the whiteboard viewer.
Scissors – Used to cut objects from the screen and stores it to the clip board
Copy – Copies an object to the clip board but does not remove it from the screen
Clipboard – Paste previously cut or copied objects to the screen
Delete – Remove selected objects
Group – Group selected objects together
Ungroup – Ungroup objects that were previously grouped
Move to back – Move a selected foreground object to the background
Move to front – Move a selected background object to the foreground
Select all – Select all objects on screen
Not used
Clear Screen – Clears all users’ screens
[edit] Basic Selection
The selection tool’s most basic feature is the ability to select objects on screen. To select an object simply move the pointer over the object and click the left mouse button.
[edit] Moving Objects
To move an object first select it by clicking anywhere on the object. With the object selected hold down the left mouse button dragging the object to the desired location.
[edit] Resizing Objects
In addition to moving, objects can also be resized. Whenever an object is selected it will have 8 nodes surrounding the object. These nodes allow you to stretch and resize the object. To resize click on one of the 8 nodes surrounding the object, and drag your mouse until you are satisfied with the new size.
[edit] Grouping Objects
Selecting and moving an object is a fairly basic task. However, it can be time consuming if you have to repeat this process several times to move multiple objects on screen. Fortunately, moving multiple objects can be expedited by grouping objects together. To group multiple objects together, first select the objects you want to group. To select multiple objects, hold down the <Shift> key when selecting each object.
To group the selected objects together click the icon. To ungroup click the icon.
[edit] Cut, Copy, Paste
Objects on the whiteboard can be cut, copied, and pasted. Please note objects cut or copied from the whiteboard are not exportable to other applications. If you want to save a screen shot we recommend you press the Print Screen button on your keyboard (windows users) or use a screen capture program. The copy & paste feature of the whiteboard works similar to that of a word processor. To copy an object to the clipboard select the object and click the cut icon or copy icon , and paste with the clipboard icon .
[edit] Moving Objects to the Foreground/Background
To move a foreground object to the background select the object you want to move to the background, and click on the move to background icon . To move the object from the background to the foreground click on the move to foreground icon .
[edit] Deleting Objects
To delete an object first select it by clicking on the object. Then click the delete icon to remove the object.
[edit] Select All
To select all objects on screen click the select all icon .
[edit] Clear All
To completely erase the white board click the eraser icon .
[edit] Virtual Classroom Breakout Feature
The breakout feature lets you create multiple instances of the virtual classroom. You can use the breakout to conduct side-chats with teaching assistants or with groups of students while the main chat is still conducted. To use this feature, click on the Breakout button at the top of the screen and select the users for the breakout session.
[edit] Archiving a Virtual Chat
The following buttons lets you archive virtual chat conversation.
These buttons are located at the top right and corner of both the Lightweight chat and Virtual Classroom. To log chat room conversation (text) press the record 
icon. To pause text logging, press the pause 
icon. To stop text logging, press 
to stop. The 
lets you set bookmarks in your chat logs.
Once a session has been archived, it can be accessed by clicking on the Archives button on the collaboration screen.
This will take you to the Session Archive screen; you can view the archived chat by clicking on the name of the archive, or you can set viewing permissions by clicking on the Manage button.
RESOURCES
Online tutorials http://www.acomp.usf.edu/videos
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
• Creation Date: June 2004 • Creator: Robert Oates
