Participants Panel
How do I grant or revoke permissions to or from participants?
How do I grant and revoke Moderator Privileges?
Can you explain the Participant Panel and what permissions a Moderator or Particpant can have?
Can you explain, how to use and understand what each activity indicator is trying to tell me?
Can you explain status indicators and how I use them?
How do I use permissions?
How do I remove participants from a session?
How do I use the raised hand feature?
How do I enter feedback options from the feedback menu or via shortcut keys?
How do I set my status to "Away"?
How do I view all of my permissions?
How do I lock my web conferencing session?
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How do I grant or revoke permissions to or from participants?
As a Moderator, you are automatically given all permissions. The default global permissions given to Participants are established when the session is initially created and configured. Typically, sessions are configured so Participants can use all the Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing features except Application Sharing, Web Tour and Closed Captioning. If permissions are turned off during session configuration, Participants will only be able to use the buttons in the toolbar (emoticons, raise hand, etc.), view profiles and send Moderators private Chat messages.
You can grant additional permissions to all Participants at once using the Global options menu or to individual Participants using their Participant Options menus. You may also control Global permissions by selecting or deselecting the permissions icons located at the top of the Participants list. There also may be times you want to revoke the permissions of Participants, such as when you want to focus everyone's full attention on what you are presenting (eliminate distractions) or when Participants are abusing their privileges.
Global Permissions from the Global Options Menu:
Global permission icons from the Participants list:
Individual Permissions from the Participant Options Menu:
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How do I grant and revoke Moderator Privileges?
Grant Participants the Moderator Privilege:
You can give Moderator privileges to one or more Participants at any time during your session while still maintaining your own Moderator status. Once you give Participants Moderator privileges, they will have the same access to features that you do, including the ability to grant Moderator privileges to other Participants. The only thing they will not be able to do is remove the Moderator privilege from the Moderator of Record (the person who was given Moderator privileges in the session scheduling application).
1. Click on a single Participant’s name or highlight multiple Participants in the Participants list.
2. Right-click (Control-Click on Mac) on the selected Participants to open the Participants Option menu and select Give Moderator Privileges. Alternatively, from the Tools menu select Moderator followed by Give Moderator Privilege. The Give Moderator Privilege dialog box appears.
3. Click Yes to give the selected Participants the Moderator privilege.
The Participants receive a confirmation message indicating that they are now a Moderator and the Participants list is updated for everyone in the class to see the change in status.
If any Moderator exits or is disconnected from the session, the remaining Moderators can continue. The Moderator who was disconnected can rejoin the session at any time. If all the Moderators exit or are disconnected, leaving the session without a Moderator, all Participant permissions may be removed depending on your session configuration. To re-establish a Moderator, the original Moderator of Record must re-connect to the session.
Revoking Moderator Privilege
You can revoke Moderator privileges from a Participant you or another Moderator promoted earlier.
1. Click on a single Participant’s name or highlight multiple Participants in the Participants list.
2. Right-click (Control-Click on Mac) on the selected Participants to open their Participants Option menu and select Take Away Moderator Privileges. Alternatively, from the Tools menu select Moderator followed by Take Away Moderator Privileges.
The Moderator becomes a Participant and the Participants list updates to reflect.
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Can you explain the Participant Panel and what permissions a Moderator or Particpant can have?
You can think of the Participants panel as your "control center" for conducting a session. It is from here that you manage Participants by granting and revoking their permissions, inviting or removing Participants to or from the session, sending them to breakout rooms, and getting their input through polling. The Participants panel is also the place where you and other Participants can access user profiles and activity indicators. A complete list of Moderator and Participant capabilities is provided in the table at the end of this article.
Your name appears at the top of the Participants panel in the Status area as well as in the Participants list below it. In the Participants list, all the Moderators in the session are displayed in alphabetical order at the top of the list (above the horizontal rule), followed by all the Participants, who are also listed in alphabetical order.
Your name appears at the top of the Participants panel in the Status area as well as in the Participants list below it. In both places you will see information about your permissions, your current activity and your profile.
The difference in the Moderator and Participant view is the Moderator has the ability to clear the Polling results. Additionally the Moderator has control over global and individual permissions and the ability to lower all raised hands. 
As a Moderator, you can use all the available Participant panel features. Participants can use only a subset of the features. In the table below, checkmarks indicate which functions can be used by Moderators and which can be used by Participants.
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Can you explain, how to use and understand what each activity indicator is trying to tell me?
The Participants list presents information about user activity through activity indicators. These indicators display information about what feature a user is currently using, show if a user is using the Audio Setup Wizard or indicate if a user has stepped away from the session.
For example in the image below:
Example of Participants Panel with Activity Indicators being used:
· Sophia’s video permission has been revoked
· Emma’s whiteboard permission has been revoked
· Dominic’s chat permission has been revoked
· Jacob’s audio permission has been revoked
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Can you explain status indicators and how I use them?
Status indicators appear in the Participants list when data is being sent and received. For Audio, Video and Application Sharing, the indicators signify a delay in the sending and/or receipt of data. An amber status indicator denotes a moderate delay whereas a red status indicator denotes a significant delay. For the Whiteboard, the indicators tell Moderators who is receiving content (amber status indicator) and who hasn't received all the content on the current page (red status indicator).
The status indicators are dynamic and are updated and visible throughout the session. By keeping an eye on these indicators, you can see when it might be appropriate to adjust your pace (e.g., temporarily stop talking, turn off your Video camera or pause your Application Sharing session) so others can catch up.
For example in the image below:
· Amanda, Dominic, Emma and Sophia have not received all of the Whiteboard content.
· Emma is having a significant delay in receiving audio.
· Sophia is having a moderate delay in receiving audio.
· Sophia is having a moderate delay in receiving the Application Sharing content.
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How do I use permissions?
As a Moderator, you are automatically given all permissions. The global permissions given to Participants are established when the session is initially created and configured. If permissions are turned on during session configuration, Participants can use all the Web Conferencing features except Application Sharing, Web Tour and Closed Captioning. If permissions are turned off during session configuration, Participants will only be able to use the buttons in the toolbar (emoticons, raise hand, etc.), view profiles and send Moderators private Chat messages.
You can grant additional permissions to all Participants at once using the Global options menu or to individual Participants using their Participant Options menus, see image below.
There also may be times you want to revoke the permissions of Participants, such as when you want to focus everyone's full attention on what you are presenting or when Participants are abusing their privileges, click here for more details.
Only those individual permissions (granted or revoked) that represent exceptions to the global permissions are displayed in the Participants list. When you revoke a Participant or Moderator's permission to use a globally permitted feature, the icon representing that feature (shown in the table above) stamped with a red X appears next to their name in the Participants list.
For example in the image below:
· Sophia’s video permission has been revoked
· Emma’s whiteboard permission has been revoked
· Dominic’s chat permission has been revoked
· Jacob’s audio permission has been revoked
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How do I remove participants from a session?
To remove one or more Participants from the session, do the following:
1. Click on a single Participant’s name or highlight multiple Participants in the Participants list.
2. Right-click (Control-Click on Mac) on the selected Participants to open the Participants Option menu and select Remove Participant. Alternatively, from the Tools menu, select Moderator followed by Remove Participant. The Remove Participant dialog appears.
3. Click Yes to remove the Participant(s) from the Web Conferencing session.
The Participant is disconnected from the session immediately.
Participants can still save or print the Whiteboard after being disconnected, unless you have protected the Whiteboard content. If you have locked the room, then the Participant will not be able to reconnect. If the room has been left open, then the Participant may reconnect.
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How do I use the raised hand feature?
Moderators and Participants can raise their hands at any time during the session. The Participants list will indicate who has raised their hand and in what order.
There are two ways to raise your hand:
· Participants panel
Click the 
button.
· Keyboard Shortcut
Enter Ctrl+R (Command-R on Mac).
There are three ways to lower your hand:
· Participants panel
Click the 
button.
· Participant Options menu
Select Lower Hand.
· Keyboard Shortcut
Enter Ctrl+R (Command-R on Mac).
Lowering Other Participants' Hands
As a Moderator, you can lower other people's hands. To lower an individual's hand, open that user's Participant's Options menu and select Lower Hand. To lower everyone's hands at once, open the Global Participants Options menu and select Lower All Hands.
Raised Hand Notification
Each time someone raises their hand, you may be notified in one or both of the following ways:
· A red hand icon will appear over the profile picture (or avatar) of the person who raised their hand. A number will appear under their name indicating where they are in the queue of those who have raised their hands (the order in which hands were raised).
· An Audible Notification may be played. You can configure your Audible Notification preferences to play one sound when you raise your own hand and another when someone else raises theirs – or you can turn the sound of altogether.
Automatically Raise Hand upon Entering a Session
As the Moderator, you may wish to be notified when anyone enters the session. The Auto Raise Hand feature is used for this purpose: when anyone joins the session his or her hand will automatically be raised.
You can turn this feature on by opening the Tools menu followed by the Interaction menu and checking the option Raise Hand upon Entering. To turn the feature off, uncheck the same option.
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How do I enter feedback options from the feedback menu or via shortcut keys?
Moderators and Participants can select feedback options from the Feedback menu or via keyboard shortcuts. These options express common reactions to a presentation. An indicator associated with each option appears for a short time to the right of the name of the person who selected it.
There are three ways to select one of the feedback options:
· Participants panel Feedback menu
Select the desired option.
· Tools > Interaction menu
Open the Tools menu and select Interaction followed by Show Emotion and select
the desired option from the submenu. This menu is identical to the menu in the Participants panel.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Enter the appropriate keyboard shortcut for the desired option.
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How do I set my status to "Away"?
The Step Away feature allows you to indicate to the others in the session that you are temporarily unavailable. You are still connected to the session and can see and hear everything that is going on – others just won't expect you to be available for interaction.
There are three ways to show that you have stepped away:
· Click on the 
button in the Participants panel.
· From the Toolsmenu, open the Interaction menu and select Step Away.
· Enter Ctrl+Shift+A (Shift-Command-A on Mac).
The Step Away indicator (clock icon and the word "Away") will appear next to your name in the Participants list for everyone to see. You will also see the indicator next to your name in the Status area (top) of the Participants panel.
Stepping Back
There are three ways to show that you have stepped back into the session:
· Click on the button in the Participants panel.
· From the Toolsmenu, open the Interaction menu and unselect Step Away
· Press Ctrl+Shift+A (Shift-Command-A on Mac).
The Step Away indicator will be removed from the Participants list so others will know you are back in the session.
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How do I view all of my permissions?
If you would like to see a complete list of all your permissions, not just the exceptions to the global persmissions, select Show My Permissions from the Global Options menu of the Participants panel.
Note - All the individual permissions (granted or revoked) that represent exceptions to the global permissions are still displayed in the Participants list.
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How do I lock my web conferencing session?
Locking the Session
During your session, you are able to lock the room to prevent any new Participants from joining. If any of the Participants that were in the session at the time you locked it are disconnected, they will still be permitted to re-enter.
Please Note - Once you have locked the session, any new Participants that try to join the session will receive the"Connection Failed: Conference is Locked" dialog.
By default the session will remain open for Participants to join at any time.
To lock the session, do the following:
From the Tools menu, select Moderator.
De-select Allow New Participants to Enter Session.
To unlock the session, re-select Allow New Participants to Enter Session.
Note: If you locked the session and then removed a Participant from the session, the banished Participant will not be able to join the session with the same username and password until the session is unlocked.
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