You can use this guide to get familiar with Virtual Classroom features, and to “rehearse” in the Virtual Classroom.

Watch this video for a guided tour of the main features of the Virtual Classroom environment. Get familiar with each feature before using it in a live activity.

Here's more information about each feature in the video:

Participant Panel

1. Select the participant icon at the upper left corner of the screen.



2. The Participant Panel displays at the left of the screen. During your test, you will be the only participant (unless you invite someone else to participate). But during the actual meeting you will see each participant listed here. You can click on a user to chat directly with them, make them a presenter, remove them from the meeting, or promote them to moderator. (NOTE: You can always make yourself the moderator or presenter later by clicking on your own name in the list.)

Live Chat Panel

1. Select the chat icon at the upper left corner of the screen.



2. The Live Chat Panel displays at the left of the screen. During your test, you will be the only participant (unless you invite someone else to participate). But you can tryout the various chat features to get familiar.



• Public Chat. Type in the text box and press the Enter or Return key to send your chat message.
• Upload File in Chat. In both public and private chat, you can upload files. Click Upload File in the top right corner of the chat box.

Presentations

1. Select the + icon at the lower left corner of the screen, then select the Upload a presentation option.



2. The upload Presentation panel opens. You can drag a file into the uploading window or browse for files. Allowed file types include: doc, docx, xls, xlsx, pdf, txt, rtf, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, html, htm, zip. The maximum file size is 30MB, and the maximum number of pages/slides that can be uploaded in a Virtual Classroom presentation is 200. If your presentation exceeds these limits, consider dividing your presentation into multiple files and uploading them one after the other. Click Start after your file is listed in the panel.



3. Your presentation appears in the Virtual Classroom. Test each slide/page of the presentation and practice your lecture/activity as desired.

Polling

1. Select the + icon at the lower left corner of the screen, then select the Initiate a Poll option.



2. Choose your preferred poll type from the menu. During the activity, you will ask the poll question and allow time for participants to respond. (The poll question can also be uploaded and displayed in the presentation window.)



3. If you select the “Create Custom” option you can write your own text for the question and answer options.



4. Once the poll is created, you will be given the option to Close the Poll or Close the Poll and Publish Results.
5. If you choose to Publish Results, the results will display on the whiteboard or the current slide.



6. To clear a published poll, click on the Clear All Annotations button within the annotation tools box.

Muting

1. You can use the Mute all/Unmute all button to mute or unmute all activity participants at once.

Breakout Rooms

1. Select the + icon at the lower left corner of the screen, then select the Breakout rooms option.



2. In Virtual Classroom, you can temporarily divide learners into 2-6 Breakout Rooms - small groups for discussion. Learners can upload presentations, annotate content, and share their desktop. (The work in this space will not be saved or recorded.) You can test this feature with help from other test users.

Create rooms



1. Select the number of breakout rooms you would like to create. (The maximum number of rooms you can create is 6.)
2. Indicate the time limit for the breakout.
3. Drag and drop names to assign them to the preferred Breakout Room.
4. When finished, click Create. Then, learners will receive an invitation to join their assigned Breakout Room. The first person to enter the breakout room will be assigned the Moderator role.
   
   NOTE: if a user joins late you will be able to add them to a breakout room by selecting invite to breakout rooms option in the + menu.

Monitor rooms
You can monitor Breakout Rooms by clicking the + button and selecting Show breakout rooms.



To join a Breakout Room, click Enter Room. The Breakout Room will open a new tab.



You can also join a Breakout Room by clicking on the caret icon next to the meeting name. If you would like to leave one room and join another, close the Breakout Room tab and repeat the process above.



Close rooms
There is a countdown timer in the Breakout Room. Learners will automatically rejoin the Virtual Classroom when the timer runs out. You can also end the Breakout Room session early by clicking the + button and selecting Close all breakout rooms.



Share Screen

1. Select the Share Screen icon at the lower center of the screen.



2. You can share Your Entire Screen (recommended*) or Application Window. Select your preferred option and Share.



3. The Virtual Classroom participants will see what you're sharing.



4. After uploading your presentation, you can share your desktop at the same time and switch between the two screens by clicking on the View Presentation/View Screenshare button.



5. When you’re done sharing, click the Exit desktop icon. You can also pause the screenshare at any time with the PAUSE SCREENSHARE button.




Annotation Tools
The Virtual Classroom has annotation tools you can use to support the activity.




1. With the Pointer tool, you can draw attention to specific areas in the presentation space. If you click the Pointer icon again, you’ll see additional Drawing and Text tools.
2. To clear your last annotation, click the Undo Annotation button.
3. If needed, you can clear all annotations. When you use this function, it will only clear the annotations of the current page, along with any polls created. This will not affect other pages of the whiteboard/presentation. (If multi-user mode is turned on, clearing all annotations will only clear your annotations.)
4. To allow other participants to draw on the presentation space, you can turn multi-user mode on.

Recording
You can record meetings in the Virtual Classroom, which can be useful for learners that are not able to attend or for later general reference. To test this feature, do the following.

1. Click the Record icon at the top of the screen.



2. “Recording” displays in red text to indicate the recording is in-progress. When you are finished, click the Recording icon again to stop. (The meeting recording will be listed on the Meetings page after it’s processed by the system.)




More Info

Click here for more information about using the Virtual Classroom.



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Watch this video for a quick example of how to rehearse for a Virtual Classroom synchronous learning activity. You can also follow the Step-by-Step instructions below.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Rehearse for Activity

1. At the scheduled meeting date and time, access the Collaboration Admin page for your practice lesson. (see previous section for instructions if needed)
2. Select the menu icon at the upper left corner of the Collaboration Admin Page. Then select the Meetings option.




3. The Meetings page opens. Select the context menu next to the date/time for the meeting and then select the Launch option.




4. The Meetings Lobby opens. Select Enter Meeting Room.



5. The Virtual Classroom opens and the “How would you like to join the audio?” message appears. Select Microphone.



6. An “echo test” message appears. Speak into your microphone and confirm that you can hear yourself, then select Yes. (If you can’t hear yourself, select No and follow the instructions to change your device’s audio settings.)




The main Virtual Classroom interface is displayed. Explore this synchronous learning environment to get familiar with the various features.

1. Participant and Chat panels.
2. Presentation, Polls, and Breakout rooms
3. Share Camera and Screen
4. Annotation tools

See “Virtual Classroom Features” section below for more information on how to use each of these features.

7. When you’re finished exploring and testing each feature, exit the meeting by clicking the context menu at the upper right corner of the screen and then selecting the End Meeting option.

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