There are a number of super cool tools that we use in our OpenClasses, including Blackboard Collaborate, Miro, Mentimeter, and OneDrive. In this video, we’ll take a look at these tools and how to use them.

Firstly, we’ll cover Blackboard Collaborate, our preferred virtual platform.

• Inside the virtual classroom, there are some simple tools for you. At the bottom of the screen are your buttons to mute and unmute your microphone, turn your camera on and off, and raise your hand. You can also change your status by clicking on the profile button.
• You can expand the Collaboration Panel by clicking the purple arrow in the bottom right of your screen. Here, you will see four tabs: Chat, Attendees, Sharing, and Settings.
• The first tab is your chat window, which is pretty self-explanatory. To change who you’re chatting with, hit the “Previous Panel” button at the top, and choose between Everyone, Moderators, your Breakout (if breakouts are currently in session), or type the name of another attendee to start a private chat.
• Please note that the chat will not persist throughout the session. If there is any important information from the chat that you need, make sure to save it before you exit.
• During the virtual class, you’ll be split up into smaller teams in what we call “Breakout Sessions”. When you’re in a Breakout Session, you will only be able to hear those in your group, and no one else will be able to hear you. 
• At some point, your instructor might ask you to switch between breakout rooms. In order to do this, click on the “Attendees” tab. Then, click this symbol next to the breakout you want to enter, and you will automatically be directed there. 
• If you need to contact the instructor while in breakouts, you can send a message via the Everyone Chat, you can send a chat directly to the Moderators, or you can use the “Raise Hand” or status buttons. Your instructor can then pop into your breakout room to help you out with whatever you need. 
• Another neat capability is screen-sharing. Simply click the “Share Content” tab, “Share Application/Screen”, select which monitor you want to show, then click “share”. If you’re sharing a video, make sure to check the “Share Audio” box so that everyone can hear. Once you’re finished, click the “Stop Sharing” button at the bottom of your screen.

Let’s take a look at Miro, our preferred Whiteboard tool.

• You shouldn’t have to sign up or create an account in order to use the Miro board (unless you want to!) You can simply click the link provided by your instructor, and use this tool as a guest to have full functionality. 
• Navigating a Miro board is fairly straightforward. First, it can be helpful to zoom far out in order to get your bearings. You can zoom out by using the scroll wheel on your mouse or pinching your track pad. You can also use the “Plus” and “Minus” buttons on the board map in the bottom right.
• From there, you can move around the board by clicking and dragging. It can be easy to accidentally grab one of the board elements and move it instead of moving you, so make sure that you click and drag in the blank space between elements so nothing gets displaced. 
• If you do accidentally move something, or if you want to undo anything you’ve done, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z, or click the “Undo” button at the top of the screen.
• To manipulate the elements on the Miro board, make sure your “Select” tool is enabled on the left toolbar . Then you can click or double-click on items in the board to move them, resize them, add text, and more.
• For example, it’s easy to add Sticky Notes to the board by clicking this symbol  on the left toolbar, choosing a color, and then clicking where you want the sticky note to appear on the board. You can add text by double-clicking inside the sticky note, and you can also use the object control panel to change other aspects as well, such as font, text orientation, object color, and more.
• Once an object is selected, you can easily draw connectors by clicking on one of the four blue circles on each side and dragging out. 
• As I mentioned before, Miro also responds to simple keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V for copying and pasting and Ctrl+Z for undo. 

Mentimeter is a very simple and visually dynamic polling tool. 

• If your instructor has a question or poll that they want everyone’s input on, they will send you a link or a QR code to a Mentimeter questionnaire. Using your phone or your computer, you can open the link and answer the question. If there are multiple questions, you can move to the next one after answering. Then, all of the collected answers will be displayed on the instructor’s screen so they can be easily seen, understood, and discussed. 

Finally, a little about OneDrive, another great collaboration tool.

• At some point during class, your instructor might provide a link to a OneDrive document or spreadsheet. These operate like slightly simplified versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, except that they are web-based so that multiple people can make changes simultaneously.
• If many people are working on the same document, we recommend assigning a scribe so that you don’t write on top of one another. 

This is just a brief overview of the tools we have available in our OpenClass environment. If you have any questions about these tools and their capabilities, please feel free to reach out to your tech support contact from the virtual invitation. 

We look forward to having you in class!