The Participant Collaboration toolbar enables Participants to chat with the Instructor or all the Participants, ask the instructor for help, or join a video conference. The following tools are provided. Each are described below.
Chat Button
Assist Me
Video Conference
The Chat panel is typically located at the bottom right corner of the Participants Viewer, but can be dragged anywhere.
Click an icon in the Chat panel to use a collaboration option. To close, click the icon again.
The AI Assistant option in the Collaboration tools panel opens the AI Assistant pane in which participants can type questions in their own words and receive instant, context-aware answers based on previously uploaded material. This helps participants understand the content of the current experience without waiting for an instructor to respond. See AI Assistant for more information.
Chat Button
Clicking the Chat button enables participants to start/join a Group Chat with all participants or Personal Chat with the instructor. The Chat Button opens a pane where Participants can send click the messages, start a personal chat with the Instructor or a group chat with everyone in the Experience. In an Instructor-Led Experience, the instructor is present and can respond in real time. In a Self-Paced Experience, the Instructor is notified and will respond when available.
A red badge counter appears on the chat icon in the Collaboration toolbar, indicating the number of new, unread messages. This visual alert helps participants and instructors quickly identify when new messages have been received, even if the Chat panel is currently closed.
To display the Chat pane as a separate popout window, click the icon in its top right corner. To redock a popout window, close it. For example, by clicking the X in its top corner.
The red line in the Chat panel indicates the point at which new, unread messages begin, helping participants and Instructors easily distinguish between previously read and new messages.
Assist Me
Clicking the Assist Me button sends the Instructor a request for help. The hand icon briefly animates to show that the request has been sent, and then remains yellow
until the instructor provides assistance.
Video Conference
Clicking the Video Conferencing button enables a participant to join a CloudShare video conference.
CloudShare provides built-in video conferencing right from your participants’ Viewer. There’s no need to configure or use any other external applications.
During your class, click Audio/Video at the bottom right corner of the Viewer to start CloudShare video conferencing:
The CloudShare audio/video component will appear.
At the left side of the video player, click Settings to configure your camera and microphone devices.
From the drop-down menus that appear, select the Microphone, Speakers and Camera devices that will be used for the broadcast (if no choices are available for one or more of the options, check to ensure that all the hardware is connected and working properly).
Once you have finished setting up all the necessary settings, click 'Join' to be added to the class video conference participants.
Important Information:
On first use, you'll need to consent to allowing CloudShare's video conferencing function to access the camera and microphone on your browser.
Test your microphone volume by speaking out loud while the popup is open. The volume bars underneath the Microphone setting will light up while you speak to help you determine the best volume level. Test your speaker volume by clicking Test next to the Speakers setting. A test audio clip will be played to help you determine the best audio volume level.Minimum Requirements for Video Conferencing
In order to use CloudShare video conferencing features, the following requirements must be met:
- CloudShare's video conferencing function must be allowed to access the camera and microphone on the participant's browser.
- A compatible modern browser must be used (such as, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Microsoft Edge).
- Video conference participants must be logged in to the CloudShare platform.
- CloudShare uses Amazon Chime as the provider for video conferencing, which requires that port TCP/443 be accessible from the participant's browser to run the audio/video component. More specific information from Amazon Chime can be found here.
- Minimum recommended bandwidth for highest quality performance:
- Instructor: 1.2 Mbps upstream/downstream
- Up to 4 Participants: 450 Kbps upstream, 400 Kbps for each participant downstream
- From 5 to 16 Participants: 184 Kbps upstream, 134 Kbps for each participant downstream
Working with the Video Component
The CloudShare live video component works like any other window. It can be resized and moved anywhere on screen at any time. It can also be 'popped out' of the Instructor Console window and even moved to a second monitor, when needed.
Player Sizing and Location Options
You can drag the player to the location you want in the Instructor Console.
- Use the buttons located in the upper right corner to resize and relocate the player.
- Click the Minimize icon to hide the player. Only a menu bar for the player will be displayed.
- Click the Maximize icon to return the player to its default size.
- Click the Full Screen icon to enlarge the player to the full size of the currently selected VM. Using Full Screen mode also displays all current participants. The player uses your monitor resolution settings to determine the best fit.
- To return the player to its default size, click the Small Screen icon that is displayed at the upper right corner of the Full Screen.
- Click the Popout
icon to relocate the video player to a separate window. This feature enables you to view the video session without hiding or interfering with any other component of the Viewer. You can drag a popped-out window to any other screen location, including to a second display monitor in your configuration.
- To return the player to its default location, click the Popback
icon that is displayed at the upper right of the popped-out window, or simply close the popped-out window.
Change Viewing Modes (Full Screen Only)
Whenever you use the player in Full Screen mode, the view toggle button is displayed at the top right:
Speaker View displays thumbnail images of all participants in a single row across the top of the player.
Gallery View arranges thumbnail images of all participants in a matrix:
The actual size and arrangement of the thumbnails will depend on the number of participants.
To scroll through a large group of thumbnails, click the arrow icons located at the left and right of the Gallery View page.
You can maximize the display area for thumbnails in the player by clicking the Participants button at the bottom of the player. Clicking the button again will re-display the list.
Number of Participants / Participant List (Full Screen Only)
To see the complete list of participants by name, in Full Screen mode, click the Participants button at the bottom of the player.
The list also displays icons for the current status of each participant's microphone and camera, and whether they have raised their hand.
Raise Hand
Click the Raise Hand button at the bottom of the player to indicate that you wish to speak during the video session. After you click, a blue hand icon will be displayed next to your thumbnail image as an indicator for the Instructor and other participants.
When the Instructor responds to your request, the blue hand icon will disappear.
To manually turn off your own Raise Hand request, click the Lower Hand button located at the bottom of the player.
Stop Video
Turn off your camera and stop the video signal from being broadcast.
Mute Audio
Turn off your microphone and stop the audio signal from being broadcast.
Settings Menu
Opens the Audio and Video Settings pop-up, enabling you to view and change device characteristics.
Related to
Assisting Participants During a Session