Conferences
The Conferences page allows you to view all the conferences within a course. As a student, you can join conferences where you have been invited to participate.
In student groups, you can create new conferences, start conferences, and manage concluded conferences.
Note: Creating a conference is a course permission. If you cannot create a conference, your institution has restricted this feature.
Open Conferences
In Course Navigation, click the Conferences link.
View Conferences
You can view conferences where you have been invited to participate.
Conferences are grouped in two parts: New Conferences [1] and Concluded Conferences [2]. Both always display the conference name [3] and description [4].
View In Progress Conference
New conferences will be listed in the index, but they cannot be accessed until the host has started the conference. When the conference is available, click the Join button [1]. Once the conference has started, the conference status shows as in progress [2].
You can join the conference for as long as the Join button is available. Some conferences only allow you to join the conference for a specific amount of time.
View Concluded Conferences
Concluded conferences display in the Concluded Conferences section. Each concluded conference shows the title, date, and description of the conference.
View Recorded Conference
When your conference has concluded, click the name of the recorded conference [1]. To replay the conference, click the recording format link [2]. The recording format displays as either a presentation or a video.
The recording format link does not appear until the conference has been rendered for playback. The rendering process may take some time to complete. The length of the conference is indicated in hours:minutes (e.g. 0:18 is 18 minutes).
If your conference included closed captioning, the playback bar for the video displays a CC button to view the available captions.
Note: For all basic Conference accounts, recordings are automatically deleted 7 days after the conference ends.
View Statistics and Notes
If you created a conference in a group, you may be able to view statistics and notes for your conference.
If your conference included shared notes, you can view the notes by clicking the Notes link [2]. The shared notes will display in a new browser tab, where they can be viewed and copied.
Note: Notes are only available for recorded conferences.
Create New Conference
Click the Add Conference button.
Add Conference Details
To create a new conference, type a name for the conference in the name field [1].
If you want to set a time limit on how long invited members are able to join the conference, enter the number of minutes in the duration field [2]. The time limit will begin when the presenter starts the conference. Once the duration has expired, new participants will be unable to join and the conference will continue until the last person leaves the conference room or the conference organizer concludes the conference.
If you want to enable recording options for this conference, select the Enable recording for this conference checkbox [3].
If you don't want to set a time limit for the conference, you can create a long-running conference by selecting the No time limit (for long-running conferences) checkbox [4].
To create a description of your conference, type a description in the description field [5].
Invite Course Members
You can add any user in your group to your conference. However, once a user has been invited, the user cannot be removed from the conference.
By default, all members in the group will be invited to the conference [1].
To remove all group observer members from the conference invitation, select the Remove All Group Observer Members checkbox [2]. When this checkbox is selected all course members except observers are invited to the conference.
Notes:
- Conferences can accommodate as many users as needed, though the recommended guideline is a limit of 100 users. If your group contains more than 50 people, you will have to invite group members individually.
- If the Remove All Group Observer Members checkbox does not display, observers are unable to access groups in the course.
Select Individual Members
If you want to select specific members of your group, deselect the Invite All Group Members checkbox [1]. Select the checkbox(es) for the individual member(s) you would like to invite [2].
Delete Conference
Click the settings icon [1] and click the Delete link [2].
Edit Conference Details
Edit the fields you'd like to change.
Update Conference
Click the Update button.
Enable Recording
While completing the details for the conference, click the Enable recording for this conference checkbox.
Update Conference
Click the Update button.
Once you start your conference, you can start and stop the recording as necessary in the Conferences interface.
Once you have joined a conference as a participant, the Conferences interface contains multiple tools to help you participate in the conference. Any student who joins a conference that ws started by someone else will be considered a participant.
You may also start a conference or be given the role of presenter or moderator. Learn more about using the Conferences interface as a moderator or presenter.
The Conferences interface is displayed using BigBlueButton's HTML5 conferencing system. This guide provides a basic overview of the Conferences interface. To learn more about specific features, view BigBlueButton's HTML5 user documentation.
It is recommended to use Chrome or Firefox browsers to access the Conferences interface. Screen sharing is not supported on Safari browsers.
View Conferences Interface
The Conferences interface contains a variety of tools to help you moderate and participate in your presentation. The interface consists of the following areas:
- User Menu [1]
- Presentation Window [2]
- Conference Tools [3]
- Options Menu [4]
View User Menu
From the User Menu, you can view all the users in the conference [1]. Each user is represented by their display name in Canvas.
You can also chat with conference participants and contribute to shared notes. To open the conference chat, click the Public Chat link [2]. To open the Shared Notes, click the Shared Notes link [3].
The User Menu is open by default. To close the User Menu, click the User Menu icon [4].
View Presentation Window
The Presentation Window displays the presentation that has been uploaded by the moderator or presenter [1]. If the conference is being recorded, the recording time will display at the top of the screen [2].
The Presentation Window also includes several tools that control how you can participate in the conference. To mute or unmute your microphone, click the Microphone button [3]. To leave or join the conference audio, click the Audio button [4].
To enable your webcam, click the Webcam button [5]. If webcams are enabled, you can hide the presentation window and display only webcams by clicking the Hide icon [6].
View Annotation Tools
If the moderator allows, participants can use tools to annotate the presentation window. To use a pencil to draw in the presentation window, click the Pencil icon [1].
To view all annotation tools, click and the hold the Pencil icon. In addition to the pencil tool, you can also create text annotations [2], line annotations [3], or shape annotations [4].
To pan a document that has been zoomed in, click the Pan icon [5].
To adjust the thickness of an annotation, click the Thickness icon [6]. To adjust the color of the annotation, click the Color icon [7].
To undo the most recent annotation, click the Undo icon [8]. To delete all annotations that you have created, click the Delete icon [9].
Note: If you cannot view the annotation tools, they are not enabled for participants in your conference.
Open Options Menu
To open the Options menu, click the Options icon [1].
To view the conference in fullscreen mode, click the Make fullscreen option [2].
To view information about the interface, click the About option [3]. To view help tutorials, click the Help option [4]. To view hotkeys, click the Hotkeys option [5].
To logout of the conference, click the Logout option [6].
View Settings Menu
To open the Settings menu, click the Settings link.
Manage Application Settings
To manage applications settings, click the Application link [1].
To enable or disable animations that display when a user is speaking, click the Animations button [2].
To enable or disable chat alerts, click the Audio Alerts for Chat or Popup Alerts for Chat buttons [3].
To select a language for the interface, click the Application Language drop-down menu [4] and select the language. To adjust the font size, click the Decrease or Increase buttons [5].
Note: Chat alerts only function within the same browser in which the Conferences interface is open.
Manage Data Savings Settings
To manage data saving settings, click the Data savings link [1].
To enable or disable webcams, click the Enable webcams button [2]. To enable or disable desktop sharing, click the Enable desktop sharing button [3].