Using the Chat

This guide will demonstrate how to use the chat tool to interact with participants.

Accessing the Collaborate Panel

Image of the Blackboard Collaborate interface with an arrow pointing to the Collaborate Panel button.

To chat with session participants, you would need to open the Collaborate Panel. To open the Collaborate Panel, click on the purple button in the bottom right corner, and then click on the Chat button (indicated by the chat bubble icon) to initiate a chat.

Using the Chat

Image of the Chat window with the following annotations: 1.After opening the Collaborate Panel, click on the Chat button to open the Chat window.2.Use the Chat With dropdown menu to switch between chatting with all participants and chatting with moderators only.3.Chat messages will appear here.4.Type your message in the field here and use the Enter key on your keyboard to send the message.5.Click on the smiley face button to send an emoticom.

After opening the Chat window, you will now see a screen similar to the one above, with a search bar and available chat rooms:

  1. Find someone to chat with: Type a name in the search box to search for participants to send private chats.
  2. Everyone: Select this option to open a chat room in which messages are visible to all participants in the current session.
  3. Moderators: Select this option to open a chat room with other moderator users.
  4. Users: Individual users who have sent private chat messages will appear here.

You will also see a preview of the last message sent here.

Sending a Chat Message

After opening a chat room, you will see a screen similar to the one above. Previous messages will appear on the top, while messages can be composed using the text entry field at the bottom.