Timer

Transcript

Chapter 17 The Timer The Timer in Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing is a clock that you can use to effectively manage your sessions. It can be useful in helping you pace your own presentations or coordinate multiple presenters by tracking the time allotted to each. The Timer appears in the Collaboration toolbar. Note: This feature is not supported on mobile devices. For a list of features that are supported, see Attending Sessions on Mobile Devices on page 23. The Participants’ Timer looks the same as yours except that it doesn’t have the Pause and Stop buttons. You also can use the Timer when working with Participants. Let’s say you have sent Participants to breakout rooms for thirty minutes to work on an assignment. To help the Participants stay on track with the assignment, you could make the Timer (set for thirty minutes) visible to them. The Timer can be set to count down from a specified time to zero or count up from zero for an indefinite time. It can be paused and resumed at any time. Page 277 When the Timer has expired, you may be notified by an audible tone and/or visual notification (such as the one below), depending on how the Timer was configured. Anyone in the session can turn their own audible and visual notifications off. For details, see Setting Notification Preferences on page 17. As a Moderator, you can use all the available Timer features. Participants can use a subset of the features. In the following table, a checkmark indicates which functions can be performed by Moderators and which can be performed by Participants. Feature Moderators Participants View the Timer Set preferences for Audible and Visual notifications. Configure and start the Timer Pause and resume the Timer Stop the Timer Starting the Timer You can set the Timer to work in one of two modes: n n You can have the Timer Count down from the number you specify to zero. Use this option when you want to keep track of how much time you have left. (This is the default mode.) See Counting Down on page 278. You can have the Timer Count up from zero to an indefinite time. (The Timer can count up to a maximum of 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.) Use this option when you want to keep track of how much time has expired. See Counting Up on page 281. Counting Down To configure a Count Down Timer, do the following: 1. Open the Timer Settings dialog in one of the following ways: 278 o From the Tools menu, select Timer and then Start Timer…. o From the Information menu in the Collaboration toolbar, select Start Timer…. The Timer 2. Click on the Count Down From radio button. 3. Move to the time field (Hour, Minute or Second) you want to change. Either click in the desired field with your mouse or use your Right and Left Arrow Keys. The Timer 279 4. Enter values in the Hours, Minutes and Seconds fields. There are three ways to do this: o Select the existing values in the time fields and type the new values over them. o Use the Time spinner to change the values in the time fields. o Use the Up and Down Arrow Keys to change the values in the time fields. Note: You cannot leave the time fields at zero. If you do, the Start button will be disabled (grayed out). The maximum value you can enter in the Hours field is 99. If you enter a value greater than 59 in the Minutes or Seconds fields, the values will be converted. In the example below, 80 seconds is converetd to 1 minute and20 seconds. 5. Select your Timer expiration indicator options. These indicators can be used to notify users that the Timer has expired – that time’s up. You can choose none, one or both options: Choose Play Sound if you want a “beep” to sound when the Timer has expired. Choose Display Message if you want to display a visual notification when the Timer has expired. (This is the default option.) Note: If a user has not acknowledged the “Timer expired” notification (by clicking on Dismiss) within 30 seconds, the notification will automatically close. Note: Anyone in the session can turn their own audible and visual notifications off. For details, see Setting Notification Preferences on page 17. 280 The Timer 6. Select your visibility options to specify which users you want to be able to see the Timer. You must choose one: Choose Show to All if you want everyone in the session, including Participants, to see the Timer. The Timer is shown to everyone in breakout rooms, as well as those in the main room. (This is the default option.) Choose Show to Moderators Only if you want only Moderators to see the Timer. 7. (Optional) Enter a name (of up to 25 characters) to session attendees explaining the purpose of the timer. You might want to enter the name of a timed assignment to make it clear to students how much time they have left to complete the assignment. 8. Click on the Start button. The Timer will end when zero is reached. Counting Up To configure a Count Up Timer, do the following: 1. Click on the Count Up From radio button. 2. Select your visibility options. You must choose one: Choose Show to All if you want everyone in the session, including Participants, to see the Timer. Choose Show to Moderators Only if you want only Moderators to see the Timer. 3. (Optional) Enter a name (of up to 25 characters) to session attendees explaining the purpose of the timer. You might want to enter the name of a timed assignment. 4. Click on the Start button. The Timer will not end on its own and must be stopped manually. Pausing and Resuming the Timer Moderators can pause and resume the Timer at any time, regardless of whether or not they personally started the Timer. One reason you might want to pause the Timer is to reset the time (see Changing the Timer on next page). To pause the Timer, click on the Pause button. The Timer 281 To resume the Timer, click on the Resume button. Note: After the Timer is paused and resumed, the Timers of all users will be re-synchronized with the new time. Changing the Timer To change the time you must first pause the timer. Note: After the time is changed, the Timers of all users will be resynchronized with the new time. 1. Pause the Timer. (See Pausing and Resuming the Timer on previous page.) 2. Move to the time field (Hour, Minute or Second) you want to change. Either click in the desired field with your mouse or use your Right and Left Arrow Keys. 3. Enter values in the Hours, Minutes and Seconds fields. There are three ways to do this: o Select the existing values in the time fields and type the new values over them. o Use the Time spinner to change the values in the time fields. o Use the Up and Down Arrow Keys to change the values in the time fields. Note: You cannot leave the time fields at zero. If you do, the Start button will be disabled (grayed out). 4. Resume the Timer. (See Pausing and Resuming the Timer on previous page. ) Stopping the Timer There are three ways to stop the timer: 282 o From the Tools menu, select Timer and then Stop Timer. o Click on the Stop button in the Timer. o From the Information menu in the Collaboration toolbar, select Stop Timer… The Timer Note: Keep in mind that, when you stop the Timer, others in your session will not be notified (as they can be when the Timer expires). The Timer will just disappear. If you want to notify users, use the Chat function (see Chapter 8, “The Chat Panel”). The Timer 283