Help Guides

Quercus

Quercus help guides and articles are available through the office of Academic and Collaborative Technologies (ACT)

BB Collaborate Ultra

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a web conferencing tool that can help you create a virtual, synchronous classroom.  Participants can engage in large group sessions and can also be moved into Breakout Rooms to engage and collaborate with peers in small groups.  Participants have the ability to share their screen during the session, use a Chat window, and visually engage in large group and small group discussions. Instructors and students can share files and PPTs, as they present information for further discussion.  Individuals can speak one at a time and there is an option to ‘raise your hand’ to ask questions during the session. Students also have the opportunity to use Notepads and Whiteboards to work collaboratively in problem-solving. Course instructors decide how they will deliver the course content and which features they wish to use.

Link to more information about BB Collaborate Ultra

Zoom & Wirecast

Both technologies are available within the facilities of the Education Commons and mobilized for use in your classroom or conference space at 252 Bloor St. West.

Link to more information on Zoom and webcasting at OISE

Zoom has all of the capabilities of Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, is much more user-friendly and operates on a lower bandwidth, making it more accessible on a wider variety of devices, including tablets and mobile phones.  However, to optimize the virtual learning environment, it is recommended that all participants use laptops. Both Zoom and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra can be set up to record lectures, while in the large group/Main Room sessions.  Zoom has a strong technical support team who are accessible via the Zoom support page.

Adding a link to Zoom in your Quercus  course

Zoom Best Practices Guide

PeppeR

PeppeR is the name for an online discussion tool developed by Jim Hewitt and Clare Brett of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).  The tool is a collaborative workspace where students can engage in in-depth inquiry supportive of their efforts to share information, identify key ideas, and progressively work to improve those ideas.  

Link to more PeppeR information 

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a chat-based collaborative workspace that brings together people, content and conversations. Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote are connected to Teams, similar to Slack. We have created our own CTAP Team and you can create your own Course Team and/or can introduce Teams as a way for students to collaborate further for pair or small group projects.

Link to more information on Teams

Requesting a new Team for your course – Faculty wishing to create their own Team within Microsoft Teams for a course they are teaching must send a request to the UofT Enterprise Service Centre.  Provide your course name and context, your role (& co-instructor, if applicable), your UTOR ID and UT email address.

Lecture Capture with Techsmith Snaggit

Lecture capture software allows instructors to record lecture audio and sync it with the on-screen display of their computer or laptop. Recording using a web camera is optional. Resulting videos are saved locally on the computer where they were recorded, and can be shared via a variety of applications such as U of T Libraries’ MyMedia service, Office 365’s OneDrive, or other streaming services.

Link to more information on Lecture Capture and TechSmith Snaggit