Blackboard Collaborate allows you to exchange information and ideas with session participants. Three features exist on the collaboration toolbar to help you do this.

Each represents a mode in the content area. You can see the content of only one mode at a time. On the collaboration toolbar, the currently selected mode's icon appears in color.

  1. Whiteboard: Share presentations and drawings.
  2. Application Sharing: Share individual applications or your entire desktop.
  3. Web Tour: Share web pages.

Share Applications

Application Sharing allows a Moderator or Participant to share applications or their entire desktop with other attendees.

Load Content

Various formats of content load into a web conferencing session. Learn more about how to upload a PowerPoint file to the Blackboard Collaborate Whiteboard:

Take Users on a Web Tour

Web Tour allows Moderators to take Participants to a series of websites via an embedded browser window within the Blackboard Collaborate content window.

Switch Modes

Click on the appropriate icon to switch modes.

  • The whiteboard content is persistent. The content remains when you move to another mode and then return to the whiteboard.
  • Application sharing content is also persistent. However, when you return, you need to click Resume Sharing so that you can see what you were sharing.
  • If you leave a web tour, you need to type or paste the URL again to return to the web tour.

Roles and Permissions

  • Moderators can switch to all modes.
  • Participants with application sharing permission can switch to application sharing mode and back to whiteboard mode.
  • Participants with web tour permission can switch to web tour mode and back to whiteboard mode.

Participants who have whiteboard permission, but not application sharing or web tour permission cannot switch to whiteboard mode from either of the other two modes. This safeguards against participants switching modes during someone else's web tour or application sharing presentation.

When you have permission to switch modes, be careful not to switch modes when someone else is presenting content. Everyone in the session will follow you to the new mode.