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What is Blackboard Collaborate?

Nomenclature: Collaborate uses a neutral naming convention. A moderator a person in control of the virtual meeting. Typically the moderator is the instructor. A participant has fewer abilities in the meeting and are usually students.

It is a virtual classroom optimized for learning. Whether you have two learners, or two hundred, Blackboard Collaborate enables communication, collaboration, and education that transforms teaching and learning. Faculty and students can share a whiteboard space, chat, voice-over-IP, and even webcams.

For users of previous version (called Elluminate) the document linked on this support page provides a comparison of features. We no longer offer support for Elluminate.
Legacy Elluminate support still available at elluminate.uark.edu

How do I use Blackboard Collaborate?

Watch this 7 min corporate intro recording: Blackboard Collaborate Online Orientation.
Watch this 28 min Quick Start recording: U of A Collaborate Demonstration.
The system needs to download and run a little bit of Java, so when prompted say okay!
They’re recorded with Blackboard Collaborate, so you get to see what that looks like too!
 Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing Essentials for Participants (HTML)
Blackboard Collaborate Getting Started for Participants Quick Reference Guide (PDF)

Before Joining Your First Session:

You only have to do this once!
Make sure you have the correct version of java installed on your computer.
Visit Blackboard Collaborate’s Java Test page and follow the directions there.

Audio Tip:

After joining each session each Moderator and Participant should run the Audio Setup Wizard to make sure that the computer’s speakers and microphone are set up correctly.
It is located at: Tools > Audio > Audio Setup Wizard

Do You Need Moderator Training?

Blackboard Collaborate virtual classrooms are automatically available for every instructor using Blackboard and every U of A department with a trained Blackboard Collaborate administrator. If you have a course in Blackboard, see Scheduling a Session in Blackboard. If you are not using Blackboard, see the Departmental Use page for more information.

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