Class Collaborate Recording Quick Guide
Launch Class Collaborate
1. Open Google Chrome, ideally, enter your Blackboard course, and click the Class Collaborate tool link in the left navigation. (If you had removed it, you will need to go to Course Tools in the Control panel to get to it.)
2. Click “Create Session” to create a virtual room - and name it based on the recording, lecture name, or content topic you are going to record about. For example, if you'll be recording a session on "Tree Frogs in Namibia" - name the session something like "TreeFrogsNamibia"
3. Open your PowerPoint, PDF or other presentation, or prepare the web sites you will show in your recording.
4. Go back to your web browser to your course in Blackboard and launch the Class Collaborate session: click the name of the session you created
5. Set up your microphone and camera and turn them on. There will be a notice at the top of your screen - click the grey Yes button on the right to set up your microphone and camera.
In the middle of the screen are basic icons for mute/unmute microphone, and start/stop webcam.
If you see a message (for example in Firefox) stating "it looks like we don't have permission to access your microphone and camera" click the camera icon in the upper left next to the URL address:
Click the purple arrows in lower right to open the functions in Class Collaborate.
Click the Share icon:
3. There are 2 main shares to record your slides/images, etc.:
Share Application - this is either 1 application (like Word, PPT, SPSS, etc.) or your entire screen and whatever is on it.
Share Files - this is for PDF, PPT and images only. These work a bit differently, as they are uploaded into Collaborate, and you have annotation tools to write/draw on the slides as you talk. (this option is covered at the bottom of this document)
4. Click Share Application
5. Choose between "Entire Screen" or "Just an Application"
6. Entire screen is probably easier, and necessary if you will be switching between more than one application (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, web browser, SPSS, etc...) But if you will ONLY be showing PowerPoint or web sites in a web browser, you could choose "Just an Application"
7. Choose 1 and then click "Share"
Share Entire Screen
Similarly, if you choose to share your entire screen, you will be presented your screen options (likely just 1) and you then click Share.
You may see a sort of infinite loop of screen feedback, that is kind of like a psychedelic journey into the digital void of your computer screen. Don't panic! Just click onto another tab, or open another application, and know that the participants are seeing EVERYTHING you do on your screen! You can open a new web browser or tab, open MS Word, PowerPoint, or any other application on your screen.
3. You should see a little message at the bottom of your screen that looks like this:
4. You can click "Stop sharing" at any time to stop sharing your screen. OR you will also see the "Stop" icon in the upper right in your Bb Collaborate session window, and you can click that to stop sharing.
5. Make sure when you speak you are seeing the audio indicator on your microphone move, and that it is hitting about 75-85% and not just a tiny bit.
6. Click the 3 line "hamburger" in the upper right and start recording
7. A message will be displayed at the top of the screen when recording is under way. There will also be a “stop recording” icon in the upper right of your screen.
8. Go back to your PowerPoint, PDF, website or other presentation. If you are using PowerPoint, present as you normally would: start the presentation, speak with each slide and advance the slides.
9. When finished, go back to Collaborate to the hamburger to stop the recording.
The recording will process and be available in your course Class Collaborate area under "Recordings" within a couple hours. Students will be able to access the recordings, but you can also grab a link to the recording and post it to students in the announcements or an email. To get that link, click the 3 dots to the right of the recording and select "Copy Link" - that link can be viewed by anyone who has the link. You can email it to students, post it as an announcement, or add a Web link to your Course Materials to the video.
We also recommend you rename the recordings to match what you'd like the recording to be called before recording. To do so, click the 3 dots to the right of the recording and go to "Edit Name"
Alternative Sharing method: Share Files: upload PPT slides, Word, PDF, etc.
This alternative lets you upload slides first to Collaborate, and then write or draw on them while you speak.
Click "Share Files"
Drag and drop the file(s) onto the "Add Files Here" box
3. Files will convert to slides in Collaborate. This may take some time, depending on how large the file is/how many slides.
4. To share, click once to select a file you have uploaded, and then click "Share Now" in the lower right.
5. Click a slide on the right to select it OR use the white arrows to move between slides, just below the slides.
6. You can annotate, drawing or typing on top of the slide content, using the tools in the upper right.
7. To stop sharing at any time, click the Stop icon in the upper right:
