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The most useful tips on microphones and cameras:
Setting your microphone and camera – connecting and reconnecting —
You can get to the settings for your microphone and camera in most browsers as shown in this image:
You should see a small image of a lock in the URL bar at the top of your browser. Click on the lock and you should see seetings to block or allow your microphone.
Your camera will be active/on when you choose to use it in the room by selecting the little icon/image of the camera below the presentation window. If your camera does not appear, look for another small camera icon in the top left of the URL bar.
If you are using a mac there are several permissions you can change to allow your mic and camera to work in BBB:
Change camera settings: Preferences > Privacy & Security > Permissions > Camera > Settings … > Block new requests asking to access your camera > UNCHECK
Change microphone settings: Preferences > Privacy & Security > Permissions > Microphone > Settings … > Block new requests asking to access your microphone > UNCHECK
To encourage engagement in BigBlueButton, you can let attendees know that they can set their own status and raise their hand by clicking on their own name in the list of participants on the left and selecting “Set Status”.
The moderator can see in the list of people on the left, any participants that have set their own status to happy or confused or if they have a hand raised.
A moderator can click on their own name in the list on the left and see “Options” to ‘reset’ or clear statuses of all participants, and then ask people to raise their hand to interact with you on the next topic.
Moderators can also click on the three dots on the top right-hand of the screen and choose ‘settings’ for more room options. When there is no presentation open, everyone should be able to see all webcams on the screen. When the presentation is open, the webcams appear at the top of the chat window, and you can resize them or move them by dragging them to the position or size that you prefer. Participants have control of their own screen.
Everyone should be able to resize the presentation or a webcam independently by dragging it larger or smaller.
Recording a Conference:
When you start a Conference, if the record option is available in your room, you can start recording and it will continue until everyone leaves the room, or until you pause it. There is no Stop button, just Pause.
The recordings will be saved and will appear in a list of Presentations on the entry page of the chatroom.
The text in the Public chat will be displayed as part of the recorded presentation, the shared notes will not.
It is best to have uploaded a presentation as part of your session if you are going to record.
A presentation can be a slide deck or an image or a .PDF file. If you do not upload a presentation, there will be a blank area in the recording. Do a few tests to see how a recording looks before your event.
Ending a Conference:
If you are the Administrator, and you exit the room by clicking on “Logout”, the recording will be paused and the notes and public chat will remain until you enter the room again. You can click on “End Conference” to end the meeting for everyone. At this time, the recording will be processed and posted. The processing time is relative to the length of the meeting, and longer meetings will take longer for processing the video.
Here are some short videos that give a really good overview of how to use the tools available in BigBlueButton.
Feature overview for moderators, presenters and viewers: https://bigbluebutton.org/html5/
Overview for Moderators: https://youtu.be/Q2tG2SS4gXA
Overview for Viewers: https://youtu.be/GeJbK1lvl2I
Ending a Conference vs Logout or Leave Room::
When you exit the room and click on “End Conference” instead of “Logout”, the recording will be paused until you enter the room again. The first recording will be saved and a new recording will start.
When you exit the room and click on “Logout” instead of “End Conference”, all of your notes will remain in the Shared Notes tab and Public Messages will remain visible to people that enter the room.
Official BigBlueButton Documentation
These links will take you to the BigBlueButton support website provided by BlindsideNetworks.
Moderator
- As a moderator, how do I use closed captions?
- As a moderator, how do I start and stop recording?
- As a moderator, how do I give/take presenter role?
- As a moderator, how do I manage viewers?
- As a moderator, how do I lock a viewer’s ability to use their mic/webcam/chat/shared notes?
- As a moderator, how do I promote/demote/remove a user?
- As a moderator, how do I clear the public chat?
- As a moderator, how do I create and manage breakout rooms?
- As a moderator, how do I end meeting on logout?
Presenter
- As a presenter, how do I use the presentation controls?
- As a presenter, how do I upload a presentation and enable for download?
- As a presenter, how do I share an external video link?
- As a presenter, how do I share my screen?
- As a presenter, how do I use polling?
User
- As a user, how do I view closed captions?
- As a user, how do I move webcam(s) in a live session?
- As a user, how do I join the audio?
- As a user, how do I share a webcam?
- As a user, how do I send public and private chat messages?
- As a user, how do I set a status?
- As a user, how do I use shared notes?
- As a user, how do I join the multi-user whiteboard?
- As a user, how do I join breakout rooms?
- As a user, how do I respond to polls?
- As a user, how do I close the presentation/enlarge the webcams?
- As a user, how do I access the Options Menu?
More Tips:
Everyone can set their own status and raise their hand by clicking on their own name in the list of people on the left and selecting “Set Status”.
Everyone can see in the list of people, any participants that have set their own status to happy, sad or confused or if they have a hand raised etc.
Likewise, everyone should be able to resize the presentation or a webcam independently by dragging it larger or smaller.
Get involved with the development of BigBlueButton – ask for new features and report any issues you may find.
