Related pages

Overview

Given the increase in the number of fully online courses offered by Continuing Education the need for increasing student and instruction presence is apparent. Conferences is one tool that can help address that. What are they and how do they work in Canvas?

Conferences (web conferences) is a built-in version of BigBlueButton ↗ that allows Canvas instructors to conduct synchronous (real-time) video sessions with their students. In Conferences members are prompted to share their webcams, which are placed in the conference interface for all to observe and listen. Instructors can text chat, share presentations slides (PDF’s of PowerPoint slides or other PDF documents work best), conduct polls, use the interactive white board for drawing, and engage in live video discussion with their students. Although Conferences can handle up to 25 shared webcams at once, video chat works best with small groups.

Users set up live audio and video with their webcams and then share them for others to watch. We suggest that instructors have students record media in Canvas with their webcam in advance of a schedule first time conference. Media comments in discussion icebreakers) and to allow advance time for getting started with a Conference.

Despite the potential usefulness of Conferences as a tool to increase student engagement as an effective alternative to the F2F in-class experience, it is important to acknowledge the challenge of coordinating real-time audio and video technology for all students at once. Students need to be comfortable and adept at making sure that their webcam audio and video works and you the instructor should be experienced in navigating the Conferences interface.

Getting started with Conferences

📽 Watch a video overview of Conferences on Vimeo

Create a conference in your course 🐼
Start a conference 🐼
Join a conference to view the conference interface 🐼
Using the Conferences interface as a moderator 🐼

Conferences interface

Other resources

Refer to a comprehensive list of Conferences quick start guides that include topics such as Creating a Conference, Editing a Conference, and Uploading Presentation Files.