Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Resources for Faculty

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is a web-conferencing tool that can be used by faculty, staff, and students from within Brightspace by D2L. This web-conferencing tool allows groups to meet together at a specific time but from various locations.


What are Options for Using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra?

  • Course Orientations
  • Weekly meetings with students in hybrid courses
  • Optional meetings with students in traditional courses
  • Common meeting room for student study (not monitored by instructor)
  • Small group rooms for students to meet synchronously to discuss projects
  • Tutoring sessions provided by instructor, staff members, and/or other students
  • Advising sessions/Office meetings with students or other colleagues
  • Recording of video demonstration (using the whiteboard) to be reviewed by students asynchronously

What Type of Interactivity is Possible with Blackboard Collaborate Ultra?

  • Instructors can use the whiteboard and pen features to work/solve problems (teacher-student or student-student)
  • Students/Instructors can use shapes to create diagrams to convey messages or complex processes.
  • Create (either in Blackboard Ultra or PowerPoint) polling (yes/no) or multiple choice questions.
  • Create breakout rooms to randomly or strategically partner students. Each group will have their own whiteboard and chat area.
  • Instructors can allow students to use video, text chat, and voice chat to ask questions, make comments, etc.
  • Students can use the hand-raise feature to maximize usage of classroom time and organization.
  • Instructors can provide guest speakers (who are not enrolled in the course) a link to enter and participate in the session.
  • Instructors can promote students to a presenter role to allow them to share their own files or screen.
  • Instructors/Students can share their screen to demo special software/files

Faculty: Using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra within D2L: