Course element BigBlueButton

Type of software	OpenSource GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), server hosting required
Type of integration	BigBlueButton enables virtual classrooms with the following functionalities: Webcam and audio support Screen sharing Multi-User Whiteboard Survey functionality Group rooms Group chat, private chat and shared notes
System requirements	BigBlueButton is a browser-based software solution and requires no additional plug-ins. For full functionality (for moderators and participants) Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is recommended. On Windows the new version of Edge with Chromium Engine can also be used. It is officially recommended to use Google Chrome for screen sharing or playback of recorded meetings.
Configuration in the course editor	When integrating BigBlueButton into a course it can be decided whether a scheduled online meeting can be started by the moderator only or also by participants. If this option is activated participants will not be able to enter the meeting until the moderator has started it.
Creating a room (Configuration in the course for coaches)	In the course, tutors can create new events in the BigBlueButton module in the event administration via "Add online event". The following variants for creating online-meeting are distinguished: Add single meeting Add permanent reservation Add daily recurring meeting Add weekly recurring meeting The variants only differ in the creation of the dates. Separate online-meetings/reservations are created, which can then be edited separately. Depending on the configuration of the server, different options can be available here. Add online-meeting: details Configuration of an online-meeting Name: Name of the event Creator: The name of the creator is automatically displayed. Description: Description of the event Welcome Message: Displayed in the BigBlueButton room as a welcome message in the chat for all participants Main presenter: The name of one or more persons can be entered here. Room-template: Selection of the pre-configured room templates (determines number of participants and various default settings in the online meeting) Publish recording: Setting whether the recording should be published manually or automatically. Show room bookings: calendar view for checking occupied online-meetings Start/End: Start and end of the meeting - the maximum duration of a meeting depends on the selected room template Prep time (min.): 0 to 15 minutes configurable lead time in which the meeting can already be started by the course coach or owner (but not by participants) e.g. for preparing a presentation. Follow-up (min.): 0 to 15 minutes configurable follow-up time. The meeting is automatically extended by the follow-up time for all persons after reaching the end time, a display with the remaining conference time appears. Only for recurring online-meetings Start recurring date: 1st online-meeting (with weekly repetition this corresponds to the weekday of the series) End reccuring date: End of recurring online-meetings For recurring online-meetings, the online-meetings can be edited/deleted or supplemented with free data in the second process step "Date" before creation. BigBlueButton for guests (OpenOlat guest access, external participants): Depending on the configuration of the BigBlueButton template, the conference room can be made accessible to non-registered persons without access to OpenOlat, i.e. external participants (see guest access). Voraussetzung dafür ist, dass es sich um einen herkömmlichen, keinen Lernpfad Kurs handelt und der Kurs selbst auch für Gäste freigeschaltet wurde. A link can be generated in the configuration under "Access external users", which can be passed on to the external persons. The last part of the URL can be freely defined. However, no special characters may be used. The link will then also appear for course owners and coaches before entering the room. Participants will not see the link. Guests can enter a name of their choice during dial-in. Zusätzlich kann für Gäste auch in der Konfiguration des Kursbausteins ein Passwort generiert werden, dass sie vor der Einwahl in den Raum eingeben müssen. Ob diese Option zur Verfügung steht, ist abhängig von der BBB Konfiguration durch die BBB Administration. Once a BigBlueButton meeting has been started, i.e. the online room has been opened, the settings on the meeting appointment can no longer be edited! Calendar integration If the course calendar is activated, the recorded online dates are also available as appointments and can be subscribed to by participants in their personal calendar. The tab "Online Meetings" gives you access to a specific appointment or room.
Calendar view	When configuring a room, an overview of all booked BigBlueButton rooms in the instance can be viewed both during creation and later when editing using the "Show room bookings" link. This makes it easier to identify time bottlenecks or a high system load early on and to choose a different date if necessary. In addition, the online appointments created in BigBlueButton are automatically entered into the course-specific calendar. From here, all course members can quickly reach the correspondingly linked BigBlueButton room.
Recordings	The recordings of a meeting can be found in the tab "Online Meetings" → "Finished Online Meetings". Select the appropriate meeting here. Automatically published recordings are directly selectable here. If the deployment is done manually, owners and coaches can now define for which target group the recording should be deployed.
View for participants	When a course participant calls up a BigBlueButton course element, he/she will see an overview of the current, expired and permanent rooms, if available. A click on "Select" will take you to the login area of the respective room. Current sessions can be started by "Join meeting" and the specific BigBlueButton room can be accessed. Once a meeting is over, the rooms can no longer be entered, but you can access any recordings of the meeting. Coaches and course owners can also delete recordings here.
BigBlueButton Room
Link to further information	BigBlueButton supplier website: https://bigbluebutton.org/