2. Virtual Classroom

In Bb 6 there are two chat environments, the Lightweight Chat and the Virtual Classroom. The VC is completely new, replacing Tutornet in Blackboard 5. The Lightweight Chat lets you use "just" the chat area of the VC. You reach these tools through the Communication menu—-Collaboration. It is also very easy to place buttons into these areas directly on the Course Menu.

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· Instructors must revise student directions to reflect the new situation.

· Special note for beginning your classes: Use the "Lightweight Chat" for your first session with students. It is very easy to use! Tell your students to open the Communication menu and select "Collaboration." Look for the line that says Lightweight Chat and click the "Join" button at the right end.

· SEE THE "NEWS" SECTION BELOW for important information to help you get connected. You MUST get your students to test their connectivity BEFORE they try to join a scheduled session.

· You and your students MUST have the current version of Java installed on your computers, in order to get connected. Note: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO USE THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM OR LIGHTWEIGHT CHAT unless you have the current version of Java. See the “NEWS” section below for details.

· (Repeating this again to emphasize its importance) You and your students absolutely MUST test your connections to the collaboration tools, well in advance of any planned session. Schedule a required “office hour” meeting with each student, to make sure each one can get connected and is comfortable with the chat feature, BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO HOLD A GROUP SESSION. If you or your students change to different computers during the semester, be sure to test the connectivity of the new systems BEFORE trying to join a group session!

Additional notes about the Bb 6 virtual classroom/chat:

• Recording—archiving—a chat session is NOT automatic. When using the general class tools, instructors control the on/off recording feature with small tape-deck-like buttons at the top right of the classroom or chat window. Archives are NOT available to students by default. Instructors make archives available to students, on a session-by-session basis (see next item).
• Archives from your general class sessions are NOT automatically available for students. NOTE! Archives are NOT automatically available for students. Instructors now must identify which archives students may see, and this can be done only from within the Control Panel—Collaboration. In this location, click the Archives button, and then click Manage for the archive you want to make available.
• Inside a Group, all users have access to the recording features and can manage the archives.
• How a user’s name is displayed in the chat area—as the username or the “real name”—is controlled through the “Privacy Options” area inside Tools—Personal Information. The “real name” will be displayed in the chat only when the Privacy Options box is checked to “List my information in the user directory.” In other words, if you want your students’ names to show up nicely, tell them to go into Tools—Personal Information—Privacy Options and check the necessary box, then click Submit. This must be done by the individual user; you cannot do it for your students.
• You may create many different "sessions" (labels for activities) within the VC.
• The Whiteboard in the (full) VC displays Web pages well but does not yet fulfill the need for a PowerPoint player. If you convert your PowerPoint file into a set of Web Pages they can be displayed through the Virtual Classroom (duh).

The Whiteboard allows you to DISPLAY any Web page to the whole class. On each machine the displayed page functions normally, but you cannot actually "lead" people through a set of Web pages directly; you have to browse where you want to go first, then drag that URL into the "location" bar in the Group Browser, then click Go. This is clunky but workable (with practice).

NEWS ABOUT THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM! HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR.

Blackboard 6 provides two "Collaboration" tools for synchronous (real-time) communication.

• The Lightweight Chat is a text-typing environment, useful for "office hours" or any sessions where other display options are not needed.
• The Virtual Classroom provides a chat space along with a whiteboard for drawing, for displaying Web pages, or for displaying materials elsewhere in your course.

PLEASE test—that is, practice—making your connection to the Lightweight Chat or Virtual Classroom well in advance of any scheduled activity, to be sure you have resolved any compatibility problems. You can connect to these tools whether or not anyone else is currently using them in your class, so "practicing" your connection is possible at any time.

Compatibility issues:

• Windows systems:
• These tools function well under all operating systems except Windows 95, but you must be running a current browser (Internet Explorer at version 5 or above, preferring version 6, or Netscape 4.76 or 7) and you must have "Java" software installed. You can obtain the correct Java software (at no charge) from Sun by visiting http://java.sun.com/getjava and following the "Download" link.
• Note: The Java download will require up to 30 minutes over a standard modem connection, so you must plan to practice your connection to the virtual classroom or lightweight chat well in advance of any scheduled session.
• There are some links provided within Blackboard to obtain the Java software but we have had better success using the direct link to Sun.
  
  
• Macintosh systems:
• The Lightweight Chat and the Virtual Classroom function well under Mac OS X (X.1, X.2). You must be running a current browser such as Netscape 7 or Internet Explorer 5.2. We also recommend Safari, the new browser from Apple.
• The full Virtual Classroom is not compatible with Macintosh systems earlier than OS X. The Lightweight Chat is compatible with OS 8.6-9.2, when used with a suitable current browser (see note 2). You must also have the correct "Java" software installed, which you can obtain (at no charge) from Apple at the following link: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75097
• Note 1: There are some links provided within Blackboard to obtain the Java software but we have had better success using the direct link to Apple.
• Note 2: For Mac OS 9.2, use either Internet Explorer 5.1 or Netscape 7. Blackboard 6 is supposed to work with Netscape Communicator 4.7 as well, but we have not been able to succeed with that configuration for the Lightweight Chat.
• Although Macintosh users with systems earlier than OS X cannot use the full Virtual Classroom, they can still enter a Virtual Classroom session through a special link that gives them the "Lightweight Chat" interface. Instructors using the full Virtual Classroom need to be aware that some Macintosh users will not be able to see the whiteboard.

We will be producing more help documentation soon. Here is Blackboard’s own documentation, from the Instructor’s Manual.

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