Prepared for:
Faculty and Instructors at University of Arkansas – Fort Smith
Prepared by:
Instructional Support at UAFS
Date: 8/27/2025
Version: 1.0
Platform: Blackboard Ultra
Focus: Class Integration and Management
Introduction
Class is an integrated conferencing tool linked in Blackboard Ultra. It enables instructors to host live class sessions, share content, record lectures, and facilitate interactive learning.
1. Locate the link for Class in the Details & Actions menu.
2. Click Launch Class.
Adding a link to the Class tool in the Course Content
1. Click Add from the Course Content or from inside a folder or learning module Note that the add button is gray And It changes to pink when you hover over it.
2. Click Content Market from the add content menu.
3. Find Class for Teams tool in the Content Market, then click the Plus icon to create the link.
The new link to Class can be dragged into folders or learning modules. Repeat these steps to create new Class links.
Here you can:
Sync LMS data - Automatically synchronize learning management system (LMS) data to ensure all course materials, user progress, and records are up to date.
Manage session setup and scheduling - Easily configure and schedule sessions, including setting dates, times, presenters, and other session-specific details.
View lists of Upcoming and Previous sessions - Access organized lists of both upcoming sessions for planning and previous sessions for review and follow-up.
Access session Recordings and Attendance - Quickly retrieve recorded sessions and detailed attendance records for performance tracking and compliance.
Create scheduled sessions - Set up recurring or one-time sessions in advance, complete with all necessary settings and participant notifications.
Join unscheduled sessions - Enter spontaneous or ad-hoc sessions without prior scheduling, ideal for quick meetings or immediate collaboration.
Invite guests via an invite link - Generate and share unique session links to easily invite external participants or special guests.
Access technical support - Get help with technical issues or platform-related questions through a dedicated support channel.
Column headers for Upcoming and Previous tabs are
Time - Displays the scheduled date and start time of each upcoming session.
Topic - Shows the title or subject matter of the session to help identify its focus.
Label - Indicates any tags or custom labels assigned to the session, such as course codes or themes.
Sections - Lists the associated class sections or groups that are linked to the session.
Actions - Provides quick access buttons or options to perform tasks like editing, joining, rescheduling, or canceling the session.
1. Click Schedule Session.
2. Enter Class name, Class ID, and Description (Optional) for the first Class session.
3. Click Add Class Dates.
4. Set the Start time, End time, and verify the Timezone.
5. Choose the Start date, End date, and Days of the Week (the days on which the sessions will occur)
6. Enter a Section label (these are tags or custom labels assigned to the session).
7. Select Yes or Yes and push to LMS for attendance tracking.
8. Select the Section/Groups as audience for this session.
9. Click Add more dates if needed.
10. Repeat steps 4 to 8 for the new dates added.
11. Click Advanced settings.
12. Select Yes or No for Students can join before instructor and click Save.
All Class sessions are listed on the Class page under one or more of the four tabs
The Class session tabs are Upcoming, Previous, Recordings and Attendance:
o The Upcoming tab is used to list upcoming Class sessions.
o The Previous tab is used to list previous Class sessions.
Both Upcoming and Previous lists share the same four columns: Time, Topic, Label and Actions and share the same options to edit and view details of the class sessions listed.
1. To edit a class session, click Edit.
2. Type the new Topic for that Class session, and then click Save
3. To see more details about a Class session, click the Details button for that session.
In the Session Details page, the instructor may review the topic, start, and end times and dates and see details of Recordings and Attendance lists for that class session
o The Recordings tab lists recordings of sessions.
From the menu other options are available to refresh the list, edit settings, copy link, download, view analytics, and delete the recording.
• Refresh - Update the list to see the latest recordings.
• Edit settings - Modify recording details or permissions.
• Copy link - Get a shareable link to the recording.
• Download - Save the recording to your device.
• View analytics - Check viewer engagement and stats.
• Delete - Permanently remove the recording.
o The Attendance tab lists participants; from this tab you can add new class dates and download attendance.
Joining a Class Session (Unscheduled or scheduled)
1. Click Join Class room.
Click Join on the web.
1. Click Leave.
2. The choices are to end the class for all or leave and keep the class running. To end the session click End for all.
3. A notification is displayed to confirm that the class session has ended, and you may return to the Class homepage. Click Return home.
1. Click the Settings & Schedule button
2. On the Edit class screen, scroll down to view the list of class sessions.
3. Hover over the session you want to delete, and the X icon will appear next to the session
4. Click the X to delete the Class session
5. Click Save.
Under this area you will find two tabs one displays a list of course content tools and the other class management tools.
• Course Content: Under this tab are the functions to upload a syllabus, import or create new assignments, assessments or surveys, and link to LMS resources. You may also see links to specific content in your course.
Overview of the Course Content (Initial Screens)
The Syllabus tools includes options to upload, delete and launch the existing syllabus
The Assignment tool includes fields for the assignment name and description, a check box for only showing files during submission, options for grade settings, due date configuration, and submission type selection.
The Assessment tool provides options to enter a name, select the assessment type, add instructions, set due dates, and access advanced options such as setting questions per page, requiring questions to be answered in order, shuffling questions, controlling feedback display, and a tool to create questions.
The Survey tool includes fields to enter the survey name and description, set due date, enable auto question numbering, and to toggle visibility of participant names with their responses.
The Polls tool provides fields to enter the name and description, options to display and select choices, set a due date, and choose a result display mode.
• Class Management: Under this tab are the functions to view the Class Roster (send calendar invites, invite users), access and download attendance, and to manage and download the gradebook, dashboard, and instructor FAQs.
The Class Roster screen – provides a list of all participants in the class.
The Attendance screen – provides a list of participants, attendance status, lateness, time in, and time out records, edit option to edit attendance, and to download the report for a student.
The Gradebook screen – provides reporting and grading display options.
The Dashboard screen - provides information of the past sessions, session duration, talk times, student participation, attendees, and the option to download session reports, and view user details.
The Instructor FAQ page – is a support portal that provides tools to assist instructors with resources, featured articles, an Ask a question section, and live support chat related to Class for Teams topics.
This tool allows users to send messages, reset chat history and set participants’ chatting permissions.
1. Select one of the following from the chat permission menu:
a. No one – Keep the chat messages hidden from all class members.
b. Instructors – Messages are only visible to instructors.
c. Instructor & Everyone Publicly – Visible to everyone, but only instructors can reply.
d. Everyone – Visible to and open for replies from all class participants.
From this icon instructors have access to tools to maintain control and foster a more interactive and organized class environment.
All participants are separated into distinct categories based on their role or function.
1. Click the Category dropdown arrow to collapse or expand each category.
2. Click the More options button (…) for a specific user to open the available options for that user
Note: The More options menu has eleven options to interact and manage participants in the student role and nine options to manage participants in the instructor/assistant role (the options Restrict Chat and View engagement are not available to manage instructor/assistant roles).
The following options allow you to interact with and manage students:
a. Click Chat to chat directly with a participant.
b. Select Pin to add participants’ video/avatars to presentation panel. Once selected, there is an option to unselect to remove video/avatars from that view.
c. Click Unmute to turn on the mic for that participant or Mute to turn the mic off.
d. Click Stop video to turn participant camera off (this option displays the avatar) and Start video the show the camera video.
e. Click Give Stars (1- 3 stars rating) to rate the participant The stars will be displayed over the participant’s name in the video/avatar.
f. Click Move to Podium to move user’s video/avatar to podium (section on the top of the chat area).
g. Click Add to Presenting Group to make that participant a presenter.
h. Click Change Role to assign participant a new role as Instructor, Assistant, or Student.
i. Click Set Camera to change the camera the participant is viewing. The options are: None, Instructor Camera, Class Camera, and Sign Language Camera.
j. Click Restrict Chat to disallow participant from chatting.
k. Click View Engagement to view a student’s class engagement details.
Engagement scores are displayed in two places: as a bar in the right side of the participant video/avatar.
A score icon on the left side of the participant’s name in the People panel.
Observe that while in breakout room mode, the participation score provided is for the group in that breakout room.
This function works as a toggle switch to raise and lower the participant’s hand. Users use it to signal when they have a question or something to say.
1. When the user clicks Raise hand the button switches to the function Lower hand.
A hand icon is placed on the top right corner of the student’s box to signal the student’s hand is raised.
A hand icon is also placed to the right of the user’s name in the People panel.
As instructor you can lower all hands by clicking the little arrow on the top right corner of the button.
Then click Lower all.
This is used to share reactions with the use of emoticons to express agreement, disagreement, and other reactions or emotions.
To Share a Reaction:
1. Click the Reaction.
2. Select a reaction to share it with all participants.
The Reaction is placed on the left top corner of the participant video/avatar view.
The reaction icon is also placed to the right of the user’s name.
To Clear the Chosen Reaction:
1. Click Reactions.
2. Click Clear reaction at the bottom of the list.
To Clear All Reactions:
1. Click the Dropdown menu (the Arrow located on the right side of the Reactions icon).
2. Click Clear all.
View From this menu, participants have options to customize the view.
1. Click Hide Self View/Show Self View to toggle/switch your own video/avatar view Off and On.
2. Click Privacy Mode.
a. Click Off for All Participants. Participants will be able to see videos from all participants
b. Click On for All Participants. Participant will no longer see videos of other students.
c. Click Let Participants Select. Participants decide what to see.
In case proctoring is needed, the instructor may use this tool to select participants to proctor.
Note that Proctor View is not supported on mobile devices. Mobile participants will not be able to share their screen.
This tool assists in creating and managing breakout rooms and participants.
To Create a Breakout Room:
1. Click Breakouts.
Note that the Breakout Room tool offers two tabs for the two ways to initiate breakout rooms. One is to Create new rooms from scratch and the other is to Use a template.
2. Click Create new rooms tab. To create new rooms.
3. Type the number of rooms to create.
4. Edit the room names to specify room names.
5. Use the Assignment options to select how you would like to assign users to the breakout rooms.
6. Choose whether or not to disable participants audio and video and allow participants to return to main room any time.
7. Click Create and Open Rooms. Instructors
1. Click Assign to assign participants to the breakout room.
2. Search for a user, click Select All, or Select users from the list by selecting their check boxes, and then click Assign to assign them to the room
The functions under the All Breakout Rooms tab are used to supervise activities in the breakout rooms during the class session.
1. Click the All Breakout Rooms tab
2. The instructors can turn the options for Content, Transcripts, and Engagements on or off for all rooms.
3. Hover the mouse over a room.
Note that hovering the mouse over the upper part of the room displays two new buttons.
4. Click the Maximize button to fully open that breakout room. Once maximized, hover over the room again to see the X icon. Click it to close and go back to all breakroom’s overviews.
5. Click the More options button.
6. From the more options menu you can select Open chat to chat with that room exclusively. Click Join room to enter the room and participate or View room info to see the information about that room.
When an instructor selects the View Room option for a breakout room, a comprehensive dashboard appears with the following key elements:
a. Engagement Score
This metric provides a summarized indicator of how actively students participated in the breakout room. It is calculated based on a variety of factors, such as frequency of interactions, verbal contributions, and use of features like chat, video, and reactions. A higher score typically reflects a more engaged group.
b. Focus
The focus metric helps instructors determine how attentive students were during the session. It may consider behaviors such as staying within the Teams window, avoiding distractions like multitasking, and consistent participation throughout the session.
c. Video
This section indicates how many students had their video cameras turned on during the breakout session. Video presence often correlates with higher engagement and accountability, making this an important data point for assessing participation levels.
d. Screen Share
Instructors can see whether any group members shared their screen, and for how long. This is particularly valuable in collaborative tasks where presentations, document reviews, or demonstrations are part of the learning activity.
e. Hand Raises
This feature tracks how many times students raised their hands virtually. It is an indicator of how interactive and participatory the group was, and it can also reflect students’ willingness to ask questions or contribute ideas.
f. Reactions
This part summarizes the use of emoticons or reaction features (like thumbs up, clapping, heart, etc.) within the breakout room. While subtle, these reactions add an extra layer of emotional engagement and can signify enthusiasm, agreement, or support within the group.
7. Use the navigational arrows to navigate the groups of breakout rooms. Usually for displaying purposes (depending on screen size and display settings), the best practice is to keep four breakout rooms on each page.
1. Click Join room for that specific room.
While in a breakout room the instructor can share and collaborate with that room exclusively. For example: Collect results from learning tools and see answers from each participant in that room. This is useful for assisting groups providing them with extra learning material and instructions.
To Leave a Breakout Room
1. Click Leave on the toolbar.
2. Click Leave Breakout Room
Note that selecting End for All and then clicking Leave will end the class session.
To Broadcast Message to all breakout rooms
1. Click Breakouts.
2. Click Broadcast Message.
3. Type the message and click Send message.
Close All Breakout Rooms
1. Click Breakouts.
2. Click Close Rooms if they are not needed anymore.
To create a Breakout room template
You can create a template to facilitate reusing same settings on later breakout rooms.
1. Click Breakouts.
2. Click Manage Templates.
3. Click the Plus button to create a new template.
4. Enter the template name.
Note: For the creation of a template, you need to choose the settings as if you were creating breakout rooms. See “To create a breakout room” in this document for assistance.
5. Click Next.
6. Click the Trash can icon to delete a room.
7. Click the Pencil icon to edit the name of the room.
8. Click the Avatar icon to select users to assign to the room.
9. Click Save to save the template to use later or click Save and Open Rooms to save and open the rooms immediately.
More Options in the Class Toolbar
The Activity Feed lists activities in the current Class session.
The Activity Feed is the first item under the More (…) options menu in the Class toolbar.
3. Click the participant’s name to read messages and see activities from that participant.
4. Hover the mouse over the participant’s name to display if the message was a Direct Message or a message for everyone and to access the options to Go to Channel and to Hide this message from students
5. Click Go back to go back to the Activity Feed.
6. Click Filter activities to filter activities by chat, reactions, and hand raises.
7. Click More options, and then click Reset activity feed to clear the feed from all activities. Note that once reset there will be no more activities to show.
The Record function creates a recording for the Class session. The recording is accessible from the Recordings tab in the initial Class homepage.
The Record function is on the More options (…) menu in the Class toolbar.
1. Click More.
2. Click Record.
3. Click Start recording
4. When you're finished recording, click More options (…) to access the options to pause or stop the recording.
5. Click Pause recording if you want to resume the recording later (for example, during session breaks), or click Stop recording to end the recording.
This feature allows for the selection of the speaking language, the size of the font type for the captions, and to toggle captions on and off
The Closed Captioning feature is on the More options (…) menu in the Class toolbar.
1. Click More
2. Click Closed Captioning: Off. This will open the captioning options.
3. Click Show captions to turn them on. Click Speaking language and select a language on that menu. Slide the Font size slide to change the closed captions’ font size.
The last section shows how the closed captioning will appear with the current settings.
The Share function allows the presenter to choose what to share and with whom to share.
2. Select what to share from the tabs on the top: Chrome tab, Window, or Entire Screen. Audio can only be shared using Chrome tabs and the Entire Screen.
3. Select an item and click Share.
Note that while sharing there are options to adjust the viewing of the shared screen.
4. Click View Options and select the desired screen sharing size.
If the shared screen is larger than the displaying area, the pointer will change to a drag icon allowing you to click and drag to view various parts of the shared screen during the presentation.
5. Click the Arrow on the top right corner of the Share icon to select whether you want to share with Instructors and Assistants or with All Participants
6. Click Advanced Sharing Options from the Share menu to select who can also have permission to share.
7. Select the option button for Instructors, Assistants and Presenters, or All Participants to set who has sharing permissions, and then click Confirm.
This function is used to share files, web pages, whiteboards, videos, presentations, and quick polls.
1. Click Collaborate.
2. Click Files to share files.
3. Select the file and click Launch.
This sample shows an Excel file opened in a new browser window. Click X to close this window when it is no longer needed.
1. Click Collaborate.
2. Click Web Pages.
3. Select the Web page to share and click Launch.
In case a saved Web page entry needs to be edited, click the Pencil icon . If the Web page entry needs to be deleted click the Trash can icon . The green checkmark means that Web page is in the Learner Resource list.
4. Click New Web Page to share a new web page and add the title and URL for it. Select List in Learner Resource to easily use it without having to add title and URL again.
Using the Whiteboard
1. Click Collaborate.
2. Click Whiteboards.
3. Click a Whiteboard from the list or click Create whiteboard.
4. Type the Whiteboard Name, select the Whiteboard type (Group or Individual), choose student permissions for Pages (add or remove, and lock or unlock pages), select the Presenter mode (Everyone or Only Instructor and assistants), and then click Save and Launch.
Sample of a whiteboard.
• Add Page - Create a new blank whiteboard page to continue working or to separate content into sections.
• Import PDF to Pages - Upload a PDF document, with each page automatically added as a separate whiteboard slide for easy annotation and presentation.
• New Page - Every new page added is listed in order.
• Rename - Give the page a custom title or label to make it easier to organize and navigate through multiple pages.
• Lock Page - Prevent any edits or annotations on the selected page, useful for preserving finalized content or reference material.
• Next and Previous navigation arrows - Navigate between different whiteboard pages or slides to move forward or backward in your session.
• Zoom In and Out - Adjust the view of the whiteboard to zoom in for details or zoom out for a broader overview.
• Drag board and elements - Move the whiteboard canvas or individual elements freely to reposition content as needed.
• Select and Rotate - Choose objects on the board to move, resize, or rotate them for precise layout adjustments.
• Shapes, color, and pattern - Add geometric elements to the whiteboard and by changing the colors and pattern styles.
• Line and Arrow - Draw straight lines or directional arrows to connect ideas or emphasize key points.
• Freehand Drawing - Use the pen tool to sketch or draw freely on the board for visual explanations.
• Text - Add text boxes to type out notes, labels, or instructions directly on the whiteboard.
• Math Symbols - Insert commonly used mathematical symbols and notation from the left menu to support equations and technical content.
• Present - Enter presentation mode to focus attention and guide viewers through your whiteboard content in a clean, distraction-free layout.
Tools under the More Options Menu in the Toolbar
• Disable student annotation for this page - Restrict participants from drawing or editing on the current page, useful for lectures or guided walkthroughs.
• Keyboard shortcut list - Access a list of keyboard shortcuts to speed up navigation and actions on the whiteboard.
• Settings - Modify whiteboard settings such as tool behavior, default styles, or collaboration preferences.
• Clear All - Erase all content from the current whiteboard page, resetting it to a blank state.
3. Select the video to share, and then click Launch.
1. In the Collaborate window, click Presentations.
2. Select a presentation from My Presentations and click the Launch icon .
3. Other options available are to create a presentation or select from saved files. a. Select Create Presentation to convert an existing presentation from your device
b. Select a presentation from the Save Files list.
Sharing a Poll
1. In the Collaborate window, click Quick Polls
2. Select New Poll
3. Select the Poll type: available options are Multiple Choice or Yes or No.
4. Type the Poll question and Options for answers, add additional answers by clicking Add option (if needed), and click Save to use the poll later or click Launch.
Note that when sharing through the Collaboration tool, the shared content opens a new tab. Each tab offers the options to lock/unlock or to close that tab.
a. Hover over the tabs to see the lock/unlock icon and the X icon. With unlocked tabs – Participants will be able to switch between tabs.
With locked tabs – Participants will be only able to view this tab.
These features give you flexibility on what to share and when to share or close the tool.
Some websites will open as new windows for security purposes, but tabs representing them will display the same lock, unlock, and close features.
Other elements that appear in the screen are the collapse/expand icons; they appear on the bottom right side of the Class session panels and their arrows point to the direction they will collapse or expand.
Click to collapse/expand a panel window. Note that they do not close the windows, only collapse them.
One option available while sharing is the Follow me toggle switch used to control whether the participants can see other items during the presentation or only can follow what the presenter is presenting.
The Follow me toggle is located on the on the top left side of the shared window.
When the Follow me option is active, two other settings are presented. One is to allow the presenter to share tab audio and the other is the annotations tool.
When the Annotations tool is enabled, the presenter can choose who can use the tool.
The Annotations toolbar will be presented to that selected group.
• Camera: Manage video options such as to select to blur background, to use a virtual background, and to select the active camera. Note that the Advanced option will take you to the general settings (gear icon) for the class session. These settings are explained in detail in the following sections of this document.
• Mic: Manage audio options such as to choose noise suppression, select active speakers, and select the microphone.
The leave function is used to end the class for all or leave the session while keeping the class running.
The main Class settings have three major areas: Seating Chart, General Setting, and Popout Gallery.
Seating Chart
The Seating Chart is a dropdown menu offering options to sort participants alphabetically by name (First or Last), hand-raise status, recent speakers, or participation.
From this menu presenters can set Sync Settings to On or Off. When On, the seating chart follows instructors and when Off allows the users to control the seating chart.
The last option in the Seating Chart menu is to arrange seating for the Front of Room. The options for the Front of Room menu are to bring to the focus to instructors/assistants, presenting group, current speaker, or none. Other options are to bring the focus to the instructor, class, or sign language cameras.
In the settings screen, the major settings for Video, Audio, Screen Share, Performance, and Notifications can be setup.
In the Video settings screen, the user can select the active camera, and choose from effects, including no video effects, blurred background, select a default image, or upload a new image to serve as the background.
Also, check the options to mirror video and to select whether the popout gallery can opened in a new window or not.
If the Gallery can be popped out into a new window option is selected, this icon is added to the settings toolbar and by clicking it the popout gallery opens into a window.
In this screen the user can select the active speakers and microphone, select the volume for them, and test the setting to assure they are all working properly.
In this screen, you can set the screen resolution for sharing
The resolution menu offers three settings to choose from: High, Medium, or Low.
This setting is useful in cases of lower performance from the network or devices. The use can select from four system performance settings: Maximum, Enhanced, Moderate, and Minimal.
The Maximum Setting option does not change the overall performance. The user in this performance mode will have access to full gallery view, highest video quality, virtual background, background noise cancellation, front of room, and instant active speaker updates.
The Enhanced Settings bring minimal changes to the overall performance. The user is limited to up to nine gallery view videos, good video quality, virtual background, background noise cancellation, front of room, and frequent active speaker updates.
The Moderate Setting is the most balanced setting, allowing up to four gallery view videos, balanced video quality, slow active speaker updates, virtual background, background noise cancellation, and front of room.
The Minimal Setting is the most limited performance setting, allowing only my own and active speaker videos in gallery, displays low video quality, slow active speaker updates, but still offers virtual background, background noise cancellation, and front of room setups.
In this screen, the user can choose whether to be notified when receiving a direct chat message and whether to play an audible alert when receiving a chat message or not
Enabling Popout Gallery mode allows the user to drag popout gallery anywhere in the screen.
In case of multiple monitors, the popout can be dragged to other monitors, allowing other parts of the Class session to have more screen space, facilitating presentation and the viewing of elements being presented.
At the bottom of the gallery pop-out, there is a toolbar with icons for quick access to features such as muting the microphone, toggling the camera, opening the chat and people panels, accessing reactions (emotion list), and raising your hand.