CEE TEL Design Collaboration Collaborate FAQs

Collaborate FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

From our recent webinar and online open hours we have collated the most frequently asked questions relating to using Collaborate Subject Rooms.

General

Students can join sessions without a Moderator, however, to share content a Moderator must give them Presenter access. Lecturers can do this when setting up a session by using a guest link and allowing all guests to join as a Presenter or during a session Moderators can promote an attendee to Presenter.

Recording

Yes, you can if you are the Moderator. Ensure you inform students that you will be recording the session.

Yes, however, rather than pre-recording in Collaborate, use video capture with the Panopto. You can record slides and audio and share the video in your subject site.

To rename recordings, click the three-dots-icon (…) next to 'Subject room' in your subject site. Choose view all recordings.

View all recordings

Filter to the recording required and click the more options three-dots-icon (…) to the far right of the recording.  Select edit name.

Edit name

Enter new name, scroll down and click the Save button.

Enter name and save

Sharing

As a Moderator you can go to the attendee panel and click on attendee options to promote the attendee to presenter which will give them share screen/application permissions.

You could link to a video or share an application. It depends on the complexity of the maths equation as to what program/tool you use.  You could also use a stylus and whiteboard tools.  NB. This would need to be tested in each individual application by the Moderator to confirm.

Annotation while sharing files/whiteboard is automatically on. You can turn off the annotation tool for students in case they don't want them to use the feature. This setting can be changed during a session.

When sharing a file or whiteboard, the pointer, pencil, shape, text and eraser tools are available to annotate.

No, Collaborate does not currently have a highlighter.

We do not recommend sharing videos via Collaborate application share but it is possible. You can use Chrome to share audio and video however the frame-rate may become distorted due to bandwidth. Video links can be provided in the chat for students to watch. You also need to be mindful of copyright implications.

Audio/Video

You must give the browser permission to use audio and video to participate in a session. This step is necessary so that you are seen and heard.

Browser specific help on allowing your microphone to be used:

Operating system specific help for microphone and webcam permissions:

Headsets are still preferred as they do the best job of making sure the microphone is optimally placed for you to be heard, as well as blocking out background noises.

Yes, participants are able to unmute themselves.

No, the student will need to be asked to turn off their video.

Both moderators and participants can use the telephony feature to communicate with other users.

No, apps such as WhatsApp are not compatible.

No, participants cannot join via Zoom.

iOS users may use Safari 11+. Android users can use Google Chrome.

Setup

The number of sessions within a subject site is unlimited and the system is presently quite stable.

Participants have access to the chat so there is no need to change the tutor’s status to allow them to moderate the chat. However, if the tutor is required to monitor private chats, their status will need to be promoted to ‘Moderator’.

You can advise students to raise their hand and nominate who goes first. Ensure you advise students of how the session will run before you get started.

The students from one site would need to be provided with the guest link to the session in the other site.

Yes there are a couple to choose from.

Yes you can. Also, if you have switched the Attendance Roll on in your subject site this report will automatically populate through.

Polling

Use polls to give your attendees opportunities to participate and provide feedback.

We recommend preparing poll information on a slide prior to the session and then using a number or letter to represent the choices. This will make it quicker to create the poll.

No, polls can only be saved in screen recordings or by taking a screenshot on your PC at the time.

Chat

No, chats cannot be run by thread.

Yes you will lose chat history as it only shows you the chat messages from the time you join.

By default yes, however you can adjust the settings when you create a session. When you create a session, open Session Settings and under Private Chat check 'Participants can only chat privately with moderators'.

Private chat settings

Technical

If students are having trouble with Collaborate during your session you can direct them to Collaborate Troubleshooting and announce recording of the session so they do not miss out. Remember to let everyone know before recording, go over the Collaborate Protocols for advice on what to say when recording.

You can also 'Report an Issue' while in your Collaborate session.Report an issue

Yes, as long as you set it up in the session settings before it has been recorded.

In settings, recorded Collaborate sessions can be shared to the public or subject/course members only.

Breakout Groups

To facilitate small group collaboration, you can create breakout groups that are separate from the main room and assign attendees to the groups.

After breakout groups are started you can move between groups to monitor the students. If you assign yourself to a group, you see and hear what they are doing in their group. This includes any shared content, audio, video, and chat.

Yes all members of the group can see who the other group participants are while in the group.

No they can't. What is said or viewed in a breakout room isn't captured in recordings. Also, Collaborate recordings stop in the main session if all attendees leave the main room to join breakout groups.

Yes, you can share files with one or more breakout group.

No, the main screen is not visible in a breakout group.

Not currently, as the timer feature has been removed.

Yes, breakout groups are designed for group collaboration. Every attendee in the group is a Presenter. This means that all attendees can share the whiteboard, files, and applications with the rest of their group.

You can create up to 20 groups. Breakout groups are only available in sessions with 250 or fewer attendees. There is no limit to the number of attendees you can put in each group. However, we recommend spreading attendees evenly over your groups.

Creating Sessions

Click the three-dots-icon (…) next to Subject Room and go to View all sessions, select Create sessions to create new sessions and set up accordingly.

Go to view all sessions

There are different ways you can set up group sessions, including breakout groups, multiple sessions and with the course group tool.

You can place the guest link into content area in LearnJCU for students to access. Please note that in this case the name of the participant is not passed through from the subject, therefore compromising attendance reporting.

Maximum participants is usually 250, however, there is a setting that can be ticked to allow for a large scale session over 250.

screenshot of collaborate session settings.

Video Capture (Panopto)

Virtual Classrooms (Collaborate)

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