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Blackboard Collaborate

Blackboard Collaborate

Overview

What is Blackboard Collaborate?

Blackboard Collaborate is an online, collaborative learning platform well-suited for the education industry and corporate learning needs. It includes features such as screen and application sharing, web conferencing, and integration with Blackboard Learn.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Synchronous Environment: Users appreciate the software's synchronous environment, with many reviewers stating that it allows for real-time …
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Collaborate with Ease

8 out of 10
October 03, 2016
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Collaborate for meetings and for tutoring students, one-on-one or in groups. Our department, the instructional …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Pricing

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Classroom

$300.00

Cloud
per year

Department

$9000.00

Cloud
per year

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Details

What is Blackboard Collaborate?

Blackboard Collaborate is an online, collaborative learning platform well-suited for the education industry and corporate learning needs. It includes features such as screen and application sharing, web conferencing, and integration with Blackboard Learn to provide a complete learning management system (LMS).

Blackboard Collaborate offers a browser-based web conferencing tool to facilitate interaction between instructors and students. It has a classroom chat feature that offers a messaging platform for students to share images, text, audio, and video. It also supports live captioning to meet the accessibility needs for deaf and hard of hearing students with its Blackboard Live Closed Captioning Service feature.

Its interactive Whiteboard feature is used for conducting presentations using PowerPoint slides for engaging multiple participants with a single presentation. However, Whiteboard content can be added or edited directly from Blackboard Collaborate without opening PowerPoint. And despite being browser-based, Blackboard Collaborate does offer some features through its Blackboard Collaborate ™ Mobile app.

Blackboard Collaborate Video

Blackboard Collaborate: A one click virtual classroom

Blackboard Collaborate Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Blackboard Collaborate is an online, collaborative learning platform well-suited for the education industry and corporate learning needs. It includes features such as screen and application sharing, web conferencing, and integration with Blackboard Learn.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 8.9.

The most common users of Blackboard Collaborate are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(118)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Synchronous Environment: Users appreciate the software's synchronous environment, with many reviewers stating that it allows for real-time interaction and feedback. This feature is particularly beneficial in online and hybrid courses where students can ask questions and receive immediate responses from instructors.

Video Option: The video option is highly regarded by users, who believe it adds a personal touch to the learning experience. Many reviewers mentioned that seeing their professors' faces humanizes the online course and makes it more engaging, especially for 100% online courses.

Record Option: The record option is praised for its usefulness in accommodating various needs such as students who cannot attend classes, those with special needs, enrichment/supplement sessions, and content reviews. Several users found this feature valuable for creating training materials or reviewing sessions at a later time.

Challenging Login Process: Several users have found the login process of Blackboard Collaborate to be challenging, particularly for those who are not computer literate. They mention that it is time-consuming and requires several steps, leading to frustration.

Compatibility Issues with Java: Some users have experienced compatibility issues with Blackboard Collaborate due to its reliance on an updated version of Java. This has caused difficulties for students and parents, as well as frustrations related to browser and operating system compatibility.

Cumbersome Access to Recorded Sessions: Users have reported that accessing recorded sessions in Blackboard Collaborate can be cumbersome, especially for professors who are not proficient with computers. They suggest the need for more customizable options on professors' webpages and expanding the range of acceptable file formats for presentations.

Users commonly recommend Blackboard Collaborate for the following reasons:

  1. Users find the platform easy to use and convenient due to its user-friendly interface and lack of software installation requirements.

  2. Many reviewers praise Blackboard Collaborate for its effectiveness in facilitating web conferencing or virtual classrooms, highlighting its seamless experience for online meetings, presentations, and interactive discussions.

  3. Users appreciate the range of features and functionality offered by Blackboard Collaborate, including screen sharing, chat capabilities, breakout rooms, and collaborative whiteboarding. These features enhance collaboration and engagement during virtual sessions.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 30)
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Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Collaborate to provide students with digital spaces for online classes. Often times we pair Blackboard Collaborate with other platforms in order to provide an in-depth classroom experience for students. We started using Blackboard Collaborate early since the beginning of the pandemic, and after we entered normal classes we kept on using it for online collaborations with other schools, and for certain school meetings.
  • It allows you to manage your teams very efficiently.
  • The platform is very good for maintaining a well coordinated environment for workshops.
  • It allows the organizer of events program a schedule for meetings, or set up a permanent meeting space.
  • I think there is room for improvement when it comes to the share-screen function. While I prefer it to some other online meeting platforms, videos do have a distinct drop in video and audio quality when buffering in a different computer.
  • The connection display does not always reflect an accurate image of guest's internet connection. I love the feature that allows you to see which participants are struggling with their internet, so as to avoid involving them as much until their issue is solved; yet it doesn't always reflect their status.
  • I would love it if they implemented more reactions for participants in the platform.
  • An area that I see with a lot of potential is related to how many users can display their video on the main event screen.
I would say it is very useful for group collaborations online, as well as virtual classrooms where you wish your students/guests to collaborate in an adaptable environment; however I would advise against using the shared screen to display audio or video, nor would I encourage the use of the shared board with a group of people with disciplinary issues (as there is no accountability for who wrote/drew what).
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard is being used by the whole Campus of the University, and it is helping students to catch up on their course work and also be punctual on all their assignments as well as their lectures.
  • Fast synchronization accross devices upon a change
  • Well organized and simple to use
  • Able to take short quizzes and put a timer on them
  • Able to upload documents for assignments and provide a quick review of that document
  • First time users have it hard to understand how to use it. Maybe, provide a "User Guide for the first-time log in users" would help to navigate easier with Blackboard.
Using Blackboard Collaborate is great especially when you have to go out of city for an important task and you can't attend a course class, but you want to be up-to-date with what happens. With blackboard, if used properly you can keep yourself up-to-date with everything and at any time that you want.
Mariann Hawken | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Collaborate is primarily used as a web conferencing tool for teaching & learning in higher education, but we have also used it for technical support, academic success, conferences, presentations, training, virtual office hours, and more. Collaborate is a dynamic platform that supports learner engagement and content sharing. Faculty use it for online instruction as well as hybrid learning. In some cases, it's also been used for hyperflex teaching where students can choose whether to attend in person or online.
  • Support learner engagement via breakout rooms.
  • Facilitate participant engagement via polls and chat.
  • Share content via browser sharing or file sharing.
  • Seamlessly integrate with Blackboard learning management system.
  • Needs to support digital backgrounds for user privacy.
  • Needs live transcription support for users with disabilities.
  • Needs preloading option for poll questions, especially for large scaled sessions.
Blackboard Collaborate is well suited for teaching and learning, especially online classes. When used with learning management, Collaborate allows for seamless sign-on between the users' course sites and the web conferencing platform. Collaborate is ideal for launching virtual discussions, lectures, office hours, and more. Users can easily upload files to display or share their desktop/specific applications, which is great for demonstrating course principles and meeting learning objectives. Collaborate is really good for breakout rooms, where users join or are assigned to small groups for discussions or team-based learning activities.
Akhilesh Arya | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In this difficult time of COVID-19, it is hard for the students to present in all the classes in person. Blackboard Collaborate is the virtual classroom solution that address all the problems faced by faculty and students during online classes. We are using this tool in our organization to provide live classroom sessions to our students. Not all the departments are using this tool. Every department is using the tools according to their convenience, but in the department of computer science, we are using this tool for online classes as well as for department meetings.
  • Live Poll is an amazing option to engage students during live sessions
  • Breakout groups allow you to interact with students one on one or to interact with them by making small groups
  • Live captions
  • Chat option
  • Delay in audio/video especially when you have more students in class
  • Requires very high bandwidth
It is well suited when you have to do activity-based learning where you can breakout your class in small groups and interact and assign them activities separately. For regular classes, it is a somewhat expensive solution in comparison to Google Hangouts Meet and Zoom. We are using it for project classes where students are divided into the teams of five to six and every team is assigned a different project.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Collaborate was used by many professors and teaching assistants at our university to conduct classes, review and study sessions, lectures, presentations, etc. Blackboard is already used for most if not all of the courses offered here so it’s easy to transition to using another product with the same login credentials to ensure simplicity and ease of access.
  • You can kick out people who are disruptive or not meant to be in the room.
  • Ability to see who’s talking through highlights
  • Options for cameras on or off depending on preference
  • Sometimes sound quality is poor
  • Difficult to monitor the chat with many users
  • Could incorporate a list with the raise hand feature to see who raised their hand and when
Blackboard Collaborate worked very well for classroom settings with probably less than 50 or so participants including the teacher. This allows for as many people to be seen, heard, or able to participate in the chat without being drowned out by hundreds of messages. It’s not great for a very interactive class, unless you are simply doing a question and answer situation, I’d recommend another platform.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Instructors have many options to choose from for doing online instruction, but Blackboard Collaborate is the easiest to use in our LMS. With the advent of COVID-19, all of our classes had to pivot to online last spring on very short notice. Blackboard Collaborate allowed us to do that relatively easily.
  • Ability to share screen/audio
  • Easily accessible through LMS
  • Easily record/play back sessions
  • Polling tools
  • Accessibilty (desktop, mobile app, telephone for audio)
  • The interface needs a rework—some things are not at all intuitive. A surprising number of students needed help finding the session recordings, for example.
  • Connectivity can be an issue (dropped audio, frozen video, getting disconnected). This is more likely due to the network than to Blackboard Collaborate.
  • Better polling tools.
  • Picture-in-picture to share screen and camera (of the speaker, for example) at the same time.
It's good for instruction. I could see that it might not be as good a fit for meetings. The ability to share screen and camera (separately) is very helpful. It would be nice if we could share both at the same time (like picture-in-picture, with the speaker over in one corner of the screen).
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
This feature was used across the entire organization. Before March 2020, it was used by a few departments that wanted to be "ahead" with using technology, but starting in March it was rolled out to everyone.
  • One location for all your materials
  • Stable product
  • Easy access
  • Update to use newer technologies
  • Not easy to integrate with other tools
  • Outdated
Blackboard has been in business for a long time and many users—students, faculty, and staff—are very familiar with the tool. It is a very stable product with rare scenarios where you have to call support. But they are lacking a modern approach to applications. Their system looks outdated (style), it is missing features to connect to other services. Integrations are not easy or they cost a lot of money. It is a very pricy tool with not a lot to offer. Blackboard used to be ahead of everyone, now it is playing catchup games with competitors instead of staying ahead and being proactive
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Collaborate for our virtual meetings and in our virtual classrooms.
  • Breakout rooms for group work
  • Polling tools for classrooms and meetings
  • Recording unlimited
  • Cost
  • Stability of video feed
  • Sharing computer audio for online videos
Well suited in the classrooms, but maybe not the best solution for professional meetings.
Rita Wheeler | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Across the whole college, we use Blackboard Collaborate for virtual classrooms.
  • The ability to break students out into smaller groups and then bring them back to the main room
  • Having all tools (chat, participant management) all on one page
  • Quality of video in large meetings
  • Price is high compared to competitors
It is well suited for virtual classrooms, but not for meetings.
Becca Guler | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
This program is used in academic support services for online tutoring and academic coaching, which are increasingly needed as more and more degree programs are offering online-only options and the number of students outside a commuting radius increases.
While Skype and Google Hangouts are useful for video chat, they aren't designed for academic purposes and lack many of the tools available in Bb Collaborate.
  • The Whiteboard feature is perfect for tutoring. We use it to write out formulas, draw diagrams, etc while in video chat to enhance explanations.
  • The file attachment feature is also very handy. This means we don't have to do a follow-up with a student using their email to send files of handouts, etc.
  • It's great that we only have to share a classroom access link for a student to enter a session. With other products, they had to set up a username and log-in with an account. Link access means 1 less hassle.
  • We are currently beginning to use the "record session" feature video sessions to use as training for new employees.
  • I recently tried to use the Share Screen feature, which would be extremely valuable for online tutoring, but despite installing the additional Blackboard Screensharing app, it won't work. I have not yet contacted support to get help with it, but it seems this should work when one follows the instructions.
  • It's not incredibly intuitive in its setup. For example, to get the "share video" icon to appear (the only way you can activate the camera to start video feed), you have to do a sound and video test first.
It's useful for a classroom video session with a professor, as multiple students can access it at once (it will stream better if only the instructor uses video and others just use chat) and both lecture or answer questions, employing the Whiteboard feature as necessary. There is a hand raising option students can use to signal that they have a question, or they can just put a question in on the chat section.
It is not as interactive as some video tutoring platforms I have seen, but it is something that our support services at school have access to with a site license, so it's ideal for us.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Collaborate is generally used across our e-school. Teachers use the software to present live and recorded lessons to our students across the state of Florida. It allows us to deliver instruction in a more interactive method, reaching all types of learners and incorporating audio, video, and interaction.
  • Enables teachers to upload PowerPoint presentations and display them for the class
  • Allows multiple people to be present at one time
  • Has adequate tools for teachers to be able to engage class in interaction (polling, raising hand, allowing microphone and video camera sharing)
  • Blackboard Collaborate frequently causes us to see "Exception errors"
  • Students and teachers regularly get "kicked out" of the online classroom/lose connectivity
  • PowerPoints are static. Does not support animations unless using another program to upload.
I think it's great for online instruction in groups less than 100. I do not feel it is the best option to support a large group. I have seen issues with the software freezing in large groups of 500+.
Joseph Axenroth | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We've been using Blackboard Collaborate since back when it was Elluminate (then Blackboard Collaborate, and now Blackboard Collaborate Ultra). The Ultra version is browser-based and very simple to use. It is typically used for office hours for our online instructors, handling virtual training sessions our team administers to our faculty, and other times people on our campus may want to meet virtually. Collaborate is also an easy way to have a guest speaker join a classroom remotely.

Collaborate Ultra is integrated with our LMS (Blackboard, though they support other integrations), so essentially there is no setup involved for the faculty member. Students just click a link, type in their name, and they are able to join the session, simple as that. Smartphones and tablets are also supported.

The Collaborate team has been aggressively working on making the tool more and more accessible.
  • Very simple to use. While not overbearingly rich with features, there are a lot of features available to get workflows done.
  • Allows for several options to make a session accessible, while the developers are working on even more ways.
  • Mobile friendly.
  • Takes advantage of features available in Firefox and Google Chrome browsers for application sharing; these features are not yet available in Safari or Microsoft Edge.
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is great for office hours, virtual training, virtual guest speakers, virtual lectures, and more. While it has a focus for pedagogical needs, its use is not limited to just that. It also supports up to 500 people in the session at one time (with the option to request support up to 1,000).
October 03, 2016

Collaborate with Ease

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Blackboard Collaborate for meetings and for tutoring students, one-on-one or in groups. Our department, the instructional department, is the only department that uses it. Many of our employees work remotely, so being able to communicate in a virtual setting is a beneficial alternative to email. Also, we tutor our students remotely, and using Skype, email, or phone is not conducive to what we need to do.
  • Allows for sharing of the whiteboard between participants
  • Easy to enter rooms
  • Ease of recordings and retrieval of recordings
  • The tools that are available...text, write, chat, talk, app share, go directly to videos
  • The app sharing feature - it is great that it exists, but it is clumsy and lags behind. It is also hard sometimes for the 'sharer' to tell if they are sharing or not. There is also a lag between the sharer and the participants.
  • The tool bar seems to get stuck sometimes. I will try to write or highlight and I cannot switch between the different options.
  • The Blackboard Collaborate app commands are hidden.
  • It would be nice if the chat feature to the moderator went to the main room chat by default, rather than the moderator chat.
It is great when you want to communicate, but need to have a visual. It allows for writing on the whiteboard and an uploaded PowerPoint. Also, the polling, private rooms, and other tools make it good for group activities.
Carly Pietrzyk, PhD | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Blackboard Collaborate is utilized by my company for teachers to hold office hours for students within the online courses provided by the company. It is also used to hold virtual department meetings. This addresses our need for communication between teachers and students, teachers and other teachers, and teacher and management staff.
  • The ability to host a number of people in a meeting and manage their participation via text and audio.
  • The screen sharing features allows presenters to demonstrate procedures exactly as instructed on the screen. This also allows the presenter to permit others to share their screens if they need clarification of something or to share further ideas.
  • The software gives you the freedom to use a whiteboard to draw/demonstrate concepts to students and other employees.
  • Some of the newest computer high resolution screens are not as compatible with the interface. The font and windows are much smaller and the user is not able to increase the size of the windows to make it easier to read/navigate.
  • The audio can sometimes be inconsistent and tune in and out when someone is speaking. This is not every time though and many times the audio is clear.
  • The login process takes a bit longer to get into the program. You have to go through a few step process and loading time to get into the application.
It definitely is well suited for department meetings and communication between students and teachers for online tutoring. I actually think it could be useful for a variety of companies, especially for employee training purposes. It may be a bit too complicated for generic communications with clients.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Collaborate is a excellent online and remote classroom training tool that allows students to connect to class via a remote session. Features like: whiteboard, sync across devices, ability to make timed quizzes, and the ability to upload assignments and docs are some nice features.
  • Its ability to share the presenter's desktop to distance learning classrooms/students.
  • Its ability to share the presenter's video feeds to distance learning classrooms/students.
  • A particularly nice feature is the ability for an instructor to be able to share his notes with the class.
  • It is nice that students can participate in the class as if in the classroom using a chat session.
  • Students can actually see the instructor which makes them have a more personal experience.
  • Whiteboard feature.
  • The ability to upload assignments and docs is a nice features.
  • Synchronization across devices and quick syncing time.
  • Ability to make timed quizzes.
  • Easy to learn interface for instructors and from what feedback I have heard it is easy for students to use.
  • Loading of presenter slides is not as intuitive as it could be.
It is best suited for classroom presentation and less for online meetings. However, I think the goal of Collaborate is to allow those students not in the physical classroom to be able to better participate and to feel more a part of the class. This is what Collaborate does best. And of course the integration with other Blackboard features makes it a quite seamless tool.
Mallory Rice | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have used it both as a continuing education student, and as a site-manager for classes that my colleagues teach. Blackboard Collaborate makes it easy to connect students with professors and teaching assistants. As a student, the features make it easy for our professor to screen share, draw, and do presentations for us. On top of that, it is easy to work and coordinate with other students who are also using Collaborate.
  • Collaborate makes it easy to share screens, presentations, and images in a digital classroom, which is essential when teaching difficult concepts to people who are not in the same room as the presenter.
  • Collaborate even allows for small-group work WITHIN a larger group. Our teacher was able to break us out into smaller "rooms" for small discussions and presentation prep.
  • The basic controls and modules are easy to learn and teach with presenters.
  • Some of the more advanced features are difficult to use.
  • Troubleshooting at home can be difficult--if it doesn't open for some reason, etc.
  • I have been kicked off repeatedly before (although this might be more my own computer functionality, rather than the program).
  • Sometimes there is a lag, causing the presenter's voice to need to catch up/speed up.
Blackboard Collaborate is great for large groups, such as online classes, study groups, or remote meetings. It probably isn't necessary for smaller groups, especially for those that don't need all the extra features such as recording, or screen share.
Brandon Cluff | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I used Blackboard Collaborate when I was going to community college. It was used with online classes which I usually took during intermission. It makes the online experience more like an actual classroom and it makes it a lot easier to interact with classmates and the instructor. It really helps visual learners, like myself.
  • The training documentation.
  • Ability to transfer files.
  • Whiteboard utility.
  • Lags a bit while playing audio and video especially while using multi-camera view.
I thought it was perfect for online education. I really have a hard time sitting down and reading a textbook when I'm at home. Blackboard collaborate kept my attention and helped me absorb the material by using visuals and being able to actively participate during class lectures and/ or discussions.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My organization used BlackBoard Collaborate for all virtual education courses and for virtual meetings and workshops.
  • It is convenient and easy to set up virtual meetings at any time.
  • Quick and simple access that people can use easily.
  • Easy ways for teachers, students, and classmates to engage with one another.
  • It can be hard to use all of the features when accessing from a mobile device.
  • Advance features like desktop conferencing and multi-point video are more likely to have glitches.
  • The numerous components can make it difficult for new users.
Blackboard Collaborate works really well in an eLearning environment, for classes and group projects.
T. Alex Manly | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, we enable the Blackboard Collaborate tool in courses only upon request due to the complexity of its interface. However, with the upcoming implementation of the new UI, we are going to be opening up the tool to all courses system wide. The new UI is so much easier to understand and use, and I am confident that the adoption rate is going to drastically increase.
Currently, some instructors use it for virtual office hours, some use it for lecture capture and still others use it for remote lecturing back to their class when they are off campus. Some of our organizations use it for web conferencing as well. With the greater availability of the tool next semester, I figure the use cases will at least be the same but more likely new ideas for using it will come about.
  • The new UI is so much more simpler to use.
  • Every month more features from the classic UI are being implemented.
  • In my experience, the only bad aspect that I can bring up is that the video does not keep up with the audio and you will sometimes see that they are out of sync.
  • I have also read that some people are experiencing degraded audio in their recordings. During the session the audio is fine but in the recordings it is not good.
With it's integration into the Learn LMS, setting up virtual office hours are a snap.
Laura Abercrombie | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently at Polk State College, Blackboard Collaborate is used as a synchronous learning environment in online and hybrid courses. Students are able to interact with professors while they (the students and/or the professors) are off campus and at odd hours. Students participate in guided online course orientations, study sessions, and workshops via Blackboard Collaborate.
  • The synchronous environment is great for online and hybrid courses. Students are able to ask questions and receive feedback in real time.
  • The video option is great, especially for 100% online courses. It gives a face to the professors name--humanizes us a little bit for the students.
  • The record option is wonderful for students who cannot be in class, students with special needs, enrichment/supplement, and content reviews.
  • Logging in can be challenging for students who are not exactly computer literate. The program's reliance on an updated Java can be a real source of frustration for students and parents.
  • Accessing sessions once they've been recorded is a bit cumbersome. It is especially difficult for professors who are not as computer literate.
  • Accessing a virtual classroom could be improved. I would like to see a customizable "button" or "widget" option that can be placed on a professor's webpage.
As a composition professor, there is less need for me or my colleagues to use it--though I have in the past. I see it especially beneficial for math professors because the whiteboard feature allows symbol notation for math problems, and students can see how the problems are worked out synchronously. I also have used it in the past for literature discussions in a small-group setting after class, as well as for content reviews before exams.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Well, it varies by department. But Blackboard Collaborate is used to hold virtual meetings, professional development sessions, parent and student conferences, and virtual office hours, and for student projects.
  • File sharing can be done in session and is quick and seamless.
  • No software downloads are required if you are using the Ultra version.
  • Very user friendly.
  • I've run into issues with downloading the launcher especially for remote users.
  • There are some known issues with the launcher not playing recordings of sessions.
  • There is a bit of lag when sharing the desktop or trying to do a web tour.
Blackboard Collaborate is best used to host a live session. While there is the ability to record, I do not think it is a best practice to pre-record sessions then send out a link.
Bridget Powell | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I can't answer as to how it's used organization-wide, as we are a large state university. However, our small department uses it primarily for meetings where we need to share something visual, usually a course. It's very helpful, because it allows us to control access to our courses by being able to demo them rather than grant guest access.
  • Blackboard Collaborate allows for simultaneous video, chat, audio, and sharing and does so in a very efficient way.
  • I really like the feature that allows you to record the entire event, and how well that recording captures the session.
  • It is generally easy to use, once it's open.
  • Trying to get started can get very confusing. If you've already downloaded it once, sometimes it doesn't seem to find the previous downloads.
  • When you're downloading, there's no indication that anything's happening until suddenly a small screen appears. This has caused me and others to start the download again and end up with two different windows open.
  • Screen sharing can be glitchy - the person sharing can't necessarily see how fast (or how slow) the scrolling is happening on the other end. I usually have a second computer set up so I can "see" as both the facilitator and a participant.
Blackboard Collaborate works well to bring people together for online learning sessions. In my previous job we used it to bring together students from all over the world to participate in group work and discussions, and it works well for that. It can be a little iffy trying to use it to screen or app- share, as you can't always tell what the participants are seeing, and when you have students trying to connect from, for example, a forward operating base in Afghanistan, the connection can be slow.
December 04, 2015

Review from an LMS Admin

Jacqueline Staley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have used Blackboard Collaborate for classroom meetings and various meetings.
  • Teal time communication with students.
  • Sessions with students or in meetings can pass documents if needed in real time.
  • Can share not only my desktop but an internet link if needed.
  • Sometimes the settings seem a little complex for instructors. There have been vast improvements over the last year in this regard, but I lost some of my instructors due to the setup issues and now have to coax them back in. Making the setup as seamless as possible is very important when trying to get adoption from faculty members.
We need to think about accommodation issues. How well does the application work with screen readers etc.
Danielle Davis | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I find Blackboard Collaborate to be very useful as a conduit to communication for my students and I. It is easy to use and provides the right amount of choices necessary to have a great communicative session.
  • The visuals are great.
  • Choices for usage are helpful.
  • Ease of use is exactly what new online students need.
  • Time lapse of verbal communication.
  • Inability to share Microsoft Word documents directly.
It is well suited for new online students because of its ease of use.
Christine Paige | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have used Blackboard Collaborate at a previous institution as well as the current institution I am at. My current school uses Blackboard Collaborate across our whole campus as a tool for meetings of various groups. We are a distributed institution so it is very heavily used. We also use it with our students since we are primarily an online college.
  • Very easy to launch
  • Lot's of tools available to communicate/interact, (emoticons, chat, voice, hand raise).
  • Simple interface - easy to navigate and use.
  • Have a more detailed polling option that allows you to add questions in with the answers instead of using the whiteboard or PowerPoint.
  • Ability to play a video simultaneously.
Blackboard Collaborate is great for online meetings when you are a distributed institution. It is also perfect for our adult student population because it is intuitive and easy for them to launch and participate.
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