How to use the Conferences app

Customers outside of Canada only.

Schoology Conferences by BigBlueButton enables you to hold:

Virtual office hours
Group collaborations
Full online classes
One-on-one tutoring

To support these use cases, Schoology Conferences by BigBlueButton provides a virtual classroom platform that offers built-in activities for active learning and live analytics to ensure every student learns. This enables schools and organizations to deliver a high-quality learning experience to remote students.

You can access Schoology Conferences by BigBlueButton via the built-in Conferences app. Using the Conferences app, course and group admins can create, plan, and hold live audio and video conferences with up to 250 participants.

The Conferences app from BigBlueButton is hosted by Blindside Networks. All organizations using Schoology Enterprise have access to the free version of BigBlueButton via the Conferences app. Organizations that have Premium licensing with Blindside Networks also have access to an additional set of features within the Conferences app.

Install the app to your courses and groups

Instructors can install Conferences from the Schoology App Center directly to each course and group they administer. System Administrators can install the app for all courses and/or groups in their organization.

Only course and group admins can create and start a conference, but by default, all course members can participate. To prevent other members from participating in a conference, select Course/Group admins only when installing the app.

To install the Conferences app from the App Center as a System Administrator:

Click the App Center icon at the top of Schoology, then click App Center.
Locate the Conferences app and click the title.
Click Install App.
Click Add to Organization.
You will be taken to Organization Apps to continue the installation.
Click Install/Remove.
Select the box next to All Course and/or All Groups.
If desired, check Course admins only or Group admins only to prevent other members from participating in the conferencing.
Click Submit.
Click Configure to approve the app for your organization. If you have a Premium license for BigBlueButton, this is where you can enter your credentials provided by Blindside Networks.

Create a conference

If you are the course or group admin, you can create a new conference after installing Conferences:

Click the Conferences app in a course or group in which it is installed.
Click + Create New Conference.
Name the conference and set its start time. You can also include an optional end time.
Click the gear icon for a specific conference to edit the title, start, and end times or to delete the conference.

Create as many conferences as you like. Upcoming conferences will be displayed in the Active tab. A list of past conferences will be displayed in the Completed tab. Recordings of completed conferences will remain available for 7 days after the end of the conference.

Users in schools with Premium Tier BigBlueButton licenses do not have the 7-day limit and may access recorded sessions at any time after they are posted.

Conduct a conference

As the admin for your course or group, you must click the Start Conference button within the app to begin the video conference. Even if the Start Time has passed, your conference will not begin until you start the session.

After you launch or join a conference, BigBlueButton opens in a new tab. Follow the prompts to test your audio and microphone.

As a moderator (teacher), you can moderate the session. You can:

Make anyone a presenter (you are a presenter by default).
Lock features to prevent students from using public chat, private chat, shared notes, sharing a webcam, displaying other students’ annotations, or displaying other students' cursors on the whiteboard.
Start or stop recording.
Start and manage breakout rooms (for example, assigning students to specific breakout rooms).
Change a user’s role (for example, moderator to attendee).
End a session.
Display the Learning Analytics Dashboard to monitor student engagement.

Lock attendee settings

During a conference, Admins may lock some conference features to disable members from using them.

Conference features include:

Share webcam.
Share microphone.
Display other attendees' webcams.
Send Public Chat messages.
Send Private Chat messages.
Edit Shared Notes.
Display the names of other attendees in the Users list.
Follow other attendees' cursors.
Review other attendees' annotations.

To lock conference features for members:

From the Users panel, click the gear icon.
Select Lock viewers.
Click the Status toggle bar for each feature you want to lock or unlock for members.

Private chat messages and Shared Notes are locked by default.

Join a conference

After you begin a conference, course and group members can join your session.

Click Conferences.
Click the conference Title.

Members can only join sessions with a status of In Progress, which indicates that the Admin has started the session.
Members of courses with linked sections can join the same conference when accessing the Conferences app on the course menu.
Admins in schools with Premium BigBlueButton licenses may also invite guests into a session via an invite URL.

End a conference

To end the conference, the course or group admin must select End Conference within Schoology. Participants can exit a conference by closing the browser.

Conferences saves recorded sessions for 7 days. To review a recorded session during this time, select the Completed tab within the app and click Play.

Users in schools with Premium Tier BigBlueButton licenses do not have the 7-day limit and may access recorded sessions at any time after they are posted.
It may take several minutes after the conference has ended for recordings to display in the Completed area

To delete an Active or Completed conference, click the gear icon for a conference and select Delete.

If you have questions regarding your video and audio configurations or review a full tutorial of the app, visit the BigBlueButton Help page.

Frequently asked questions

How many concurrent users can access a single Conference session at a time? Also, is there a limit to the number of concurrent Conference sessions that can be conducted by my organization at the same time?

It is best to use BigBlueButton for sessions of up to 250 students.

Can members join conferences via phone?

Yes, members may join a conference using a phone instead of the Conferences app in Schoology. The Public Chat area displays the dial-in number and code for course admins only. Course admins may distribute this number to attendees who want to join a conference using a phone.

Can I invite others to join the session?

If your school upgrades to the Premium Tier, you can invite a guest to join the session.

Does BigBlueButton charge per minute if you call into a conference?

There is no additional charge if you join a conference via computer or mobile browser.
If you join a conference by dialing in, normal charges from your telephone provider will apply.
The Conferences Premium tier offers the option to set up a toll-free dial-in number.

I set up a Conference and I can access my students but my students can't access each other!
Is this a bug?

Instructors can display all students' webcams in a conference, but students can not display each others' webcams.
Students can display their webcam, share their webcam, and display the instructor's webcam.
Instructors can create conference breakout rooms that allow students in each breakout room to display each others' webcams.

I recorded a Conference but it's not showing up. Should I be worried?

With the increase in concurrent usage of Conferences, recordings may take longer to process. All recordings will be displayed within 24 hours.

How long are recorded conferences available?

Recordings of completed conferences remain available for 7 days after the end of the conference (Free Tier license).
Schools with Premium Tier BigBlueButton licenses have permanent recordings.

Is the Conferences app supported on the Schoology iOS app?

No, if you need to access Conferences on a mobile device or tablet, you should use Schoology in a mobile browser.

Can I use the Conferences app in my linked classes?

Yes, the Conferences app supports linked sections. Course members in linked sections can join the same conference when accessing the Conferences app on the course menu.

Can I download my recorded session?

Downloading a recorded session is a feature of the Premium Tier BigBlueButton only. If you intend to use the Conferences app to download conferences, we recommend reaching out to your Schoology representative to discuss upgrading to the Premium version.