Live and asynchronous Lectures, Seminars and Small Group Teaching (Tutorials) via Blackboard Collaborate

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is an inbuilt tool of our Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment that enables you to:

  • run live online lectures and seminars
  • record lectures and seminars (live or recording on your own for later)
  • run synchronous help sessions
  • run small group teaching online such as tutorials
  • enable students to talk to one another with no staff interference

Blackboard Collaborate vs Zoom

Blackboard Collaborate and Zoom have been being used interchangeably recently; this is because both have unique selling points when used for meetings, teaching or online get-togethers.

Blackboard Collaborate is preferable when:

  • You want your attendees to enter the room from your Blackboard course
  • You want to ensure that the attendees are only from your Blackboard course.
  • You wish to allow students on your course to talk to each other without your interference.
  • You have up to 500 students attending (note: student numbers exceeding 250 need an additional setting added).

Zoom is preferable when you:

  • Know that at least one of your attendees may have limited internet speeds

At the moment, there is a limit on these systems as to the number of users who can enter a session at the same time: 300 users for Zoom and 250 for regular Blackboard Collaborate sessions, with an optional increase to 500 for large sessions.

Information on Blackboard Collaborate is available on Blackboard’s own support site here.