If you have been paying attention to the workshop announcements for May/June, you may have noticed the following:
BlackBoard Collaborate Ultra: Information sessions
- Lansdowne: Wednesday, June 5, 10:00-11:00am, LLC151
- Interurban: Friday, May 17, 10:30-11:30am, LACC235
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a synchronous classroom tool that is coming to Camosun. This means that faculty now have an online tool with audio, video, chat, polling, and whiteboard/desktop sharing capabilities to support their teaching in real-time. Kaltura can be used as a stand-alone teaching tool, or can be integrated into a D2L course, and it works on computers and mobile devices (yes, even phones!)
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra rooms include a collaborative whiteboard tool that allows you to interact with students in real time, breakout rooms for smaller group discussions, and the ability to display desktop applications and web resources such as multimedia. In addition, an interactive recording can be created for each session allowing students the opportunity to review material at a later date.
Some specific activities which work well in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra are:
- Facilitating live, online discussions around specific topics using video and audio, which can then be recorded so students can go back and review at any time
- Showing students how to use different kinds of technologies through desktop sharing, and presenting polls at intervals to check comprehension
- Breaking your class into smaller groups for discussions, then bringing them back to the main room for a debrief
- Giving students space to do online class presentations using PowerPoint or a virtual whiteboard
- Providing online office hours, or online space for student group work
More information about how you will be able to access Blackboard Collaborate Ultra will be coming in late April, and hands-on sessions will be offered in the spring. Go to https://decamosun.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/elearning-spring-workshops-open-for-registration/ to find out more.
If you have any questions about how and when you can have access to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, or if you would like a demo or to talk to someone about how you might use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, contact desupport@camosun.ca to arrange for a meeting with Bob Preston, or one of our instructional designers.