Sakai: Meetings

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Meetings (Web Conferencing, BigBlueButton tool)

Meetings (BigBlueButton) is an open source webinar tool available in Sakai that allows you to communicate with your students remotely. You can display presentations, use a white board, use audio and/or a webcam, chat with your students, and share your desktop. Meetings is a synchronous tool, which means users have to be online at the same time to interact. You can also add polls to your Meeting and record your Meetings, too.

Meetings overview for Instructors

  • Here is the latest video Tutorial for Instructors (Moderators/Presenters), of BigBlueButton 0.90:

Creating and Running a Meeting plus Student Handouts *

What can you do with the latest Meetings Release?

We have the latest version, released Fall, 2017, BigBlueButton 2.0

  • BigBlueButton/Meetings 2.0 new features:
    • Allow participants to share updating a notes file (in layout manager: select "Shared Notes" layout)
    • Allow participants to download a presentation file
    • Allow participants to write on the whiteboard
    • Public chat messages can be copied and downloaded
  • BigBlueButton's (Blindside Networks) User Guide

Meetings Computer / Audio Requirements

Meetings Basic Features

For most of your meetings, you'll want to see who has arrived at the meeting, by viewing the User area; and you'll want to upload and display your presentation. If any of your students wants to "Listen only" or does not have a headset or speakers, you can communicate with each other by using the Chat box. If you want to record and share your Meeting, you have many options, provided you set up your meeting with the "Recording" feature.

Meetings Intermediate Features

Sometimes, you may want to use the whiteboard features, to draw on your presentation. Also, it can be helpful to use a different layout to emphasize different Meetings features. Some instructors like to share their webcam with their students, and/or want their students to share their webcams, too.

Meetings Advanced Interactive Features

We strongly suggest that you practice these features before your meeting. You can provide ad-hoc polls, or update your presentation, to generate polls during your presentation. If you need to demonstrate an application, such as Word, Excel, or review content on a web site, you can share your desktop with your students. But to share your desktop, you must install Java on your desktop. If you want to divide your students into separate groups during your Meeting, you can use the Breakout Rooms feature.

Accessibility

  • Are Meetings/Chat/Recordings Accessible to those using screen readers? Yes, since release 0.8+.

What features will be added in the future?

BigBlueButton has a feature roadmap that you can check out at any time