More and more people are resorting to web conferences as part of their tool kit, in organising teaching, research and project coordination activities. And there are more and more great web conferencing tools available nowadays so the technical barriers to using this kind of tool are not such a problem as they were in the past.

The most feature-rich platform for the UVic-UCC university community is BigBlueButton, which is currently available as a standard activity in all our Moodle courses. We have written before about the operation of BigBlueButton (BBB).

In today’s article we provide you with detailed instructions and advice for setting up BBB sessions.

We attach a pdf document with basic instructions (in Catalan) on connecting and operation of the platform for participants (without a microphone).

We also attach a much more detailed guide for setting up BBB sessions, from the point of view of the host, also in a pdf file in Catalan. This second document has been compiled by the UVic Library staff for their Càpsules de recerca training sessions.

As regards best practice, here are our recommendations:

  • Send detailed instructions beforehand, with an option for participants to test their set-up before the session.
  • Recommend that online participants use a headset with microphone, rather than the computer’s integrated microphone and speakers. This will improve sound quality and reduce the risk of annoying feedback noise.
  • If possible, participants should use a wired internet connection. This is generally faster and more stable than a wireless connection.
  • When people are not speaking, keep online participants’ microphones closed.
  • Join the session 15 minutes early if you are the host. Be prepared to start the session itself a couple of minutes late.
  • When you start the session itself, go through the main tools available to participants and check they know how to use them: the text chat, the “raise hand” and smiley icons.
  • If slides are going to be presented, these should be in pdf format, to upload onto the platform.
  • Make sure you pay attention to the chat channel during the session in order to answer questions as they arise.
  • In terms of meeting etiquette, speak slowly and clearly and repeat if necessary to make sure what is said is clear. Don’t have people speaking all at once!
  • If you want to record the session, remember to turn on the recording at the start. You should not publish a recording to third parties without the express permission of participants.