Using Canvas Conferences (BigBlueButton)

Canvas Conferences (BigBlueButton™) is an online conferencing tool accessed through the

Conferences tab in your Canvas course. With Conferences you can

• Connect with students by video and audio for live online classes
• Share your screen, PowerPoint slides, whiteboard, etc.
• Record sessions for later viewing (up to 14 days)
• Permit live, online small group collaboration
• Conduct a live poll of students

Note: If the Conferences menu link is displayed as hidden from students, go to Settings. In the
Navigation tab, enable the Conferences link by dragging it up from the bottom into the course
navigation list. Click Save

Contents
Other Resources............................................................................................................................................ 1
Setting up your Conference .......................................................................................................................... 1
Conducting a Conference.............................................................................................................................. 3
Sharing your Webcam ............................................................................................................................... 6
Taking Attendance .................................................................................................................................... 7
Using the Whiteboard ............................................................................................................................... 7
Uploading a Presentation ......................................................................................................................... 7
Sharing Your Screen .................................................................................................................................. 9
Conducting a Poll .................................................................................................................................... 10
Concluding a Session ................................................................................................................................... 10

Other Resources
• For a video overview of BigBlueButton for instructors, click here.
• For more tutorials and resources for BigBlueButton, click here.

Setting up your Conference

1. Go to Canvas and select the course from which you will host the class conference. Use the
Chrome browser for best results when hosting a conference.
2. In the course navigation, click the Conferences link.

1
IT Technology Resources--03112020
3. In the Conferences page, select the + Conference button.
4. In the New Conference window:
a. Name your session
b. Type will be preset to “BigBlueButton.”
c. Set the Duration to slightly
longer than the time you will
require.
d. Select “Enable recording for
this conference” so that
absent student can view it
later. Recordings are deleted
after 14 days.
e. Description is optional
f. Under Members, “Invite All
Course Members” is selected
by default. If you want to
select specific students,
deselect “Invite All Course
Members” and choose
students from the list.
g. Click Update. Once you click
“Update” you will not be able
to remove or add selected
members.

Note: Conferences can accommodate as many participants as needed, though the

recommended limit is 100 users.

Once “Update” is clicked, an email will be sent to the students, inviting them to the web
conference. The “Click here to see the details” link will take them to Conferences in the course

2
IT Technology Resources--03112020
 where they can join the session.
This is an example of what a student will see in their email:

5. To start your conference, click Start to the right of the conference name.

What students see when joining the conference:

a. If you have not started the conference, the student will only see the name of the
conference.
b. If you have started the conference, the student will see the green “In Progress”
notification beside the name of the conference, and the Join button on the right.

Conducting a Conference

Once you have started the conference, a new browser tab will open with Big Blue Button’s interface.
The first thing you will see is a popup that asks how you would like to join the conference.

3
IT Technology Resources--03112020
1. Choose Microphone. This will allow all students to hear you.

2. A popup will appear asking if you would like to allow access to your microphone. Click Allow.

3. A popup will then appear for testing the

microphone. Speak a few test words to ensure
everything is working properly. If so, select the
green thumbs up. Note: You can mute your audio
at any time by clicking the microphone icon at the
bottom of the screen.

You are now in the Conference Room. On the left you will see a square icon for you, the host.
You will also see any students who have joined the conference, identified by round icons. You
can click on user names to mute specific users when necessary.

4
IT Technology Resources--03112020
4. You can click the settings icon (gear) just to the left of the word “USERS” to mute all users at
once and to set what users can and cannot do in the session.

Professor

5. In the user setting menu, click “Lock viewers” and lock any action you want to prohibit. For
example, you may not want viewers to send private chat messages to each other. (Locking the
setting for sending private chat message will still permit the instructor to chat privately with
individual students.) Click Apply. Users can be unlocked individually by clicking their name and
selecting unlock, but all locks will be removed.

6. If you have enabled the conference to be recorded, a “Start Recording”

button will appear at the top of the screen. Click Start Recording when
you are ready to record.

5
IT Technology Resources--03112020
 7. A popup will appear confirming you want to begin the recording. Select Yes.

The session will now begin recording.

You can pause your recording at any time by clicking the blue
button. Click “Resume recording” to continue capturing the session.

Sharing your Webcam

1. At the bottom of the screen, click on the video camera icon with a
slash through it.

2. When the popup appears for permitting use of your camera, click Allow.

3. When the camera preview appears, click Start Sharing.

Your webcam preview should appear above the presentation screen.

6
IT Technology Resources--03112020
 4. To turn off the webcam, click the camera icon at the bottom of
the screen.

Taking Attendance
If you want a list of everyone who joined your session, click the Users
settings icon (gear) and choose “Save user names.” Download the list
when prompted. You must do this before users leave the session.

Using the Whiteboard

Use the controls at the bottom of the Welcome slide to move to the built-in whiteboard (Slide 2).

Using the annotation tools at the left side of the screen, you can mark on the whiteboard slide. The
bottom button in the toolbar turns on annotation tools for viewers and permits them to also mark
on the whiteboard. To preserve what you have written and open a clean whiteboard, use the
arrows to move to the next slide.

Uploading a Presentation

While you may show a presentation by sharing your screen, uploading a

presentation is useful if you do not have a secondary monitor.

1. Click the blue, plus button on the bottom left, taskbar and select
Upload a Presentation. A popup will appear with a drop box.

7
IT Technology Resources--03112020
2. Find the document on your computer and drag it into the box (or browse for the file). You can
only upload PDFs (recommended) or an Microsoft Office file (pptx, docx, xlsx).
3. Select Upload. Big Blue Button will upload your PowerPoint.
4. If want students to be able to download your file, click the download icon to the right of the file
name (see image below).

Your slides should now appear on your screen. You can click through them at the bottom of the
presentation.

After you upload the presentation, the annotation bar appears on the right side of the
PowerPoint.

8
IT Technology Resources--03112020
 With these tools you and/or students can write on your PowerPoint
slides.

• The pencil tool: Text, shapes or to pan your PowerPoint.

• The dot: Choose writing thickness.
• The colored square: Select color to use.
• The curved arrow: Undo annotations.
• The trash bin: Clear all annotations.
• The bottom, square icon: Turn the whiteboard on for all
users. Students can write on the whiteboard
simultaneously. You will be able to see their names as they
write. Click the bottom, square icon again to turn off the multi-
user whiteboard.

5. To return to the default presentation, click the add button again and select “Upload a
presentation.” Choose the default presentation and click Confirm.

Sharing Your Screen

You can share your screen with your students.

Click the “Share your screen” icon at the bottom of your screen.

The Your Entire Screen tab displays the

screens available for sharing.

The Application Window tab displays any

applications you have open such as Word.

The Chrome Tab tab displays any tabs you

have open in Chrome.

Click the thumbnail of the item you wish to

share and click the Share button.

To stop sharing, click the “Share your screen”

button again.

9
IT Technology Resources--03112020
Conducting a Poll
Click the add button (+) at the lower left corner of the screen and choose Start a poll

You can either verbally ask the question or present it in your slides.Then choose how you want students
to answer: Yes/No, True/False, A/B/C, etc. You can also click “Custom poll” to customize possible
answers. As soon as you click a predefined answer set, the poll will begin and viewers will be prompted
to answer. For custom polls, click “Start custom poll” to begin the poll. After the poll is finished, you can
publish the results.

The results will appear on all student screens. To remove the results, click the whiteboard trashcan at
the right side of the screen.

Concluding a Session
1. Click the action menu (three vertical dots) at the top right corner of the
screen and choose “End meeting.”

2. In Canvas, go to Conferences and click the “End” button for the

conference.

10
IT Technology Resources--03112020