One great feature of Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is the ability to share content such as documents and files, your computer screen or an application on your computer, web pages, or a blank “whiteboard.” You can also conduct polling of participants and place them into breakout groups.  Read here for details on how to share a Blank Whiteboard and the features of whiteboard.

Sharing a Whiteboard in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra

To share content in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra you should have already inserted the tool link in the content area and created a session.  Once you have done that you can join a session.  In the session, you can share content.

Opening a Blank Whiteboard

1. Click on the purple tab at the bottom right of the session screen to open the “Collaborate Menu.”

   

2. At the bottom of the Collaborate Menu, click the third icon from the left to open the Share Content page.

   

3. Click Share Blank Whiteboard.

   

4. You should now have a blank whiteboard that is visible to all of the participants in the session.

   

Features of the Whiteboard

1. There is a row of icons at the top of the page that allows you to do various things with the whiteboard. The first icon on the left allows you to Select things. The second icon is the Pointer tool which allows you to point to objects with a finger tool. The third icon is a Pencil which allows you to draw on the whiteboard. The fourth icon is the Shape tool which allows you to select a shape (rectangle, ellipse, or line) to insert on the whiteboard. The fifth icon is the Text tool which allows you to type on the screen. The sixth icon is a Clear tool which clears the entire screen.

   

2. Note: a color selection icon appears to the left of the Clear icon when you click the Pencil icon, the Shape icon, or the Text icon which allows you to change the color when inserting these features

   

Viewing the Whiteboard Controls and Stopping the Whiteboard Sharing

1. To view the Whiteboard controls click the second icon down from the top left of the page.  It looks like a page with a magnifying glass.

   

2. The four controls are the Zoom In and Zoom out icons, the “Fit Screen” icon, and the “actual size” icon. These allow you to adjust the way that the whiteboard appears to users.

   

3. To stop sharing the whiteboard, click the button next to “Share Blank Whiteboard” in the Collaborate Menu.