The Virtual Classroom tool allows you to communicate in real-time with your class.  It gives you more tools than are found in a Lightweight Chat session—you can draw on a whiteboard, create slides, browse the web with your class, and field questions and answers.

As the Virtual Classroom is essentially an extension of the Lightweight Chat feature, in this document we point out only those features that differ from those listed in the Lightweight Chat document. You should refer to that document first, and then follow up with this one.

Directions for following sections are identical to those for Lightweight Chat:

• Entering a Collaboration Session
• Changing Your Viewing Options for Private Messages
• Sending and Receiving Messages (substitute "lower right pane" for "right pane")
• Sending Longer Messages
• Sending a Private Message (substitute "lower left pane" for "left pane")
• Clearing Your Display
• Managing Users
• Recording an Archive
• Ending a Collaboration Session

Configuring Access Rights for Active and Passive Users

You can determine what parts of the Virtual Classroom users have access to, and you can differentiate between Active and Passive users.

From the Virtual Classroom:

1. Click the Controls button.
2. The Session Controls window will appear.
3. Click the boxes next to each ability you want Active Users and Passive Users to have.  In the Virtual Classroom, you have the ability to set access to the following tools:
   1. Chat allows users to type messages that are sent to all users and stored in the archive.
   2. Private Messaging allows users to send private messages that are seen only by the recipient.  Users can receive private messages even if they can not send them--so as a moderator, you can send private messages even if your students can not.
   3. Course Map allows users to bring up parts of the classroom--e.g., bring up a document posted in the Course Documents area.
   4. Whiteboard allows users to draw, create equations, create slides, write on the board, and move objects on the board around.
   5. Group Browser lets users display web pages for all users.
   6. Ask Question lets users send questions to your Question Inbox (which only users with access to the Question Inbox can see).
   7. Question Inbox lets users see questions that have been submitted but not answered (and lets users answer them).
4. By default, Active Users have access to everything except the Question Inbox.  Passive Users have access only to the Ask Question area.
5. Click the OK button.

Note: Users can always see the other areas--even if a user does not have access to the Group Browser in the Session Controls, they can see the Group Browser.  They just can’t browse to a different page with it.

Using the Classroom Tools

The big difference between the Virtual Classroom and the Lightweight Chat Tool is that the Virtual Classroom gives you access to the Classroom Tools, which you can use to display web pages, draw on the board, display pages from your course, etc.  There are five Classroom Tools: Course Map, Whiteboard, Group Browser, Ask Question, and the Question Inbox.  You can tell which tool is currently being displayed to users by looking at the Classroom Tools pane; the tool with an arrow to the right of it is currently being seen by all users.

See the following pages for detailed information about using the Classroom Tools.

• Using the Course Map
• Using the Whiteboard
• Using the Group Browser
• Using the Ask Question Tool

Breakout Sessions

You can create a Breakout Session during a Collaboration Session.  This is a new Virtual Classroom window that can be used for a smaller group discussion.

From the Virtual Classroom:

1. Click the Breakouts button.
2. The Create Breakout Room window will appear.
3. Select the users you want in the breakout session from the list by checking their names.
4. Click the OK button.
5. A new Virtual Classroom window will appear with the selected users as members.  This window will be labeled with the name of the collaboration session plus the word "Breakout."
6. When you have finished the breakout session, end it as you would end any other collaboration session.