Webconferences
Webconferencing tools provide the opportunity for interactive exchange between all participants. Participating in webconferences is generally easy and does not require extensive technical equipment. You can start a webconference from home, in the office, or in appropriately equipped lecture halls. A stable internet connection is particularly important. For better sound quality, the use of a headset is recommended.
Compared to livestreaming (or video conferences from a lecture hall), webconferences offer many options for interaction with the students/participants (chat, polls, screen sharing, white board, ...)
There are currently two options available for webconferencing at the University of Innsbruck:
- BigBlueButton: for online meetings/lectures up to 250 participants (Manual)
- Easyconference: for quick meetings in small groups up to 20 participants (Manual)
BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton (an open source software) is used within the University of Innsbruck as an interactive tool for conducting webconferences and/or virtual classrooms and is the primary webconference program. A wide range of functions is available, including:
- Screen sharing or presentation sharing
- Whiteboard function
- Chat with all or individual participants, as well as a pointer function
- Surveys
- Access and rights restrictions for participants
- Playing video links directly in BigBlueButton
You want to use BigBlue Button for your teaching?
Add the "Virtual Classroom" course element to your OpenOlat course to enter directly into a BigBlueButton meeting via your OpenOlat course. This also gives all students in your course the opportunity to participate in the online meeting via the "Virtual Classroom" course element, and saves you the hassle of needing to send access links to your meeting participants.
Please note: More information on creating/configuring the course element can be found in the Helpcard 31-010 Virtual Classroom.
Do you want to use BigBlueButton outside of OpenOlat?
Of course, you can also use BigBlueButton outside of OpenOlat. Employees of the University of Innsbruck can log in at https://webconference.uibk.ac.at with their user ID and create a meeting room.
Please note: Logging in with a project account (e.g. x7-...) is not automatically possible. Please do not hesitate to contact the Department for Digital Media and Learning Technologies in case of a problem.
Further assistance and information
To support you in using BigBlueButton, various help documents are available:
- BigBlueButton Manual
Check out the BigBlueButton manual if you need guidance on using specific features in BigBlueButton or to get an overview of BigBlueButton's functionality.
- OpenOlat Helpcards
For the "Virtual Classroom" building block, there are several Helpcards available. - FAQ's
Browse the FAQs to find answers to frequently asked questions and issues. - Presenter checklist
We have created a checklist for presenters and facilitators to help you before your first BigBlueButton meeting. (German) - Participant checklist
There is also a checklist for participants in a meeting to help before using BigBlueButton for the first time. (German) - Troubleshooting
Learn the most important tips here if there are technical problems in BigBlueButton. (German)
Important to know
- It is recommended to use the Chrome browser as there may be issues with other browsers.
- Please note: It is not possible to view recordings directly after the meeting as they need to be processed first. The processing time can vary, as a guideline it takes at least the same length as the recording and up to one day, depending on the amount of other processed recordings.
- Uploading documents is recommended as a PDF.
- IMPORTANT: Once you leave the meeting room, uploaded documents will be deleted. So, please upload documents directly before the online meeting and don't close the conference.
- Information on data protection when conducting virtual classroom lectures can be found here.
Easyconference
EasyConference is a video chat application that is primarily intended for spontaneous online meetings with a small group of people (up to around 20 people). No registration is needed to create a meeting, you can start directly using the following link:
https://easyconference.uibk.ac.at/
- If you have any questions about EasyConference functions, you can find the manual here: https://www.uibk.ac.at/zid/anleitungen/videochat-easyconference/. (German)
- Please note: For webconferences with EasyConference, only use the Chrome or Microsoft Edge (based on Chromium) or the Jitsi-App on mobile devices.