What Is BigBlueButton and Who Can Use It?

When planning meetings via BigBlueButton, please note the difference between oral examinations and general virtual meetings.

Information on how to create a BigBlueButton meeting for an oral examination can be found under “How do I hold an oral examination via BigBlueButton?”

You can find general information on how to create a standard meeting with BigBlueButton under “How do I create a standard meeting for small groups with BigBlueButton?”.

• BigBlueButton meetings for oral examinations are managed via ILIAS.
• To ensure that digital examinations can take place, we have extended the previous management system for oral exams and set up an Examination ILIAS, which is independent from the standard system. The Examination ILIAS can be found under https://pruefung.uni-mannheim.de. You need your Uni-ID (user ID) in order to login.
• To ensure that the oral examinations can be held in an environment conforming to data protection law, we have connected BigBlueButton to the Examination ILIAS.
• In terms of exam preparations, you can proceed as usual. Upon request, the Student Services team will set up an examination course with a corresponding BigBlueButton meeting for the course in which you intend to hold exams.
• The students will be added to the course in separate groups.
• Members of one group can then take part in the exam, while the other examinees will not have access to this examination.
• For information on how to register for oral examinations, please contact the Student Services.
• Information on how to start and moderate meetings can be found under “How do I start and moderate virtual meetings?“

Oral examinations are organized via the new Examination ILIAS. Find out more on how to join standard meetings in BigBlueButton under “How do I join standard meetings via BigBlueButton?”.

Before you join a BigBlueButton meeting for the first time, we recommend that you test all relevant features first. Find out how to do so under “How can I test BigBlueButton?”

Please follow these steps to enter a virtual room for an oral examination:

• Log into the Examination ILIAS with your Uni-ID (user ID) and navigate to the relevant course or group for the oral examination.
• Select the BigBlueButton object.
• Click on the link below “Content” to load the virtual room and join the meeting.

Please note: Should you get a notification under “Content” that no virtual room has been started yet, this means that the organizer has yet to initiate the meeting. Please also read the section “What if I can't find an entry for the oral examination in the Examination ILIAS?”.

After the virtual room has finished loading, you will see a pop-up asking how you would like to join the conference. We recommend selecting “Microphone” right away. You will be asked by your browser to confirm access to your microphone. Please click on “Allow”. Otherwise, you will not be able to use the microphone.

The activation of the microphone will be followed by an echo test. Please follow the instructions by saying a couple of words and answer the question whether you can hear yourself.

Please note that the organization of an oral examination differs from that of standard meetings. Find out more under “How do I hold an oral examination via BigBlueButton?”

• You can initiate BigBlueButton meetings independently without needing further authorization.
• You can access BigBlueButton via https://bbb.uni-mannheim.de/ .
• To sign in, use the login button in the upper right corner (“Einloggen”) and select “Einloggen mit LDAP” using your Uni-ID (user ID). Once you have logged in, you can change the language settings under your profile.

Create a new room on the homepage under “Create a Room”.

You can then change the settings for the room, designate a name for the room and generate a password for access to the room if you like. To do so, click on the dices icon reading “Generate an optional room access code”.

You also have the option to change other settings, for instance requirements for users to join. Participants will then explicitly need to be approved by the moderator before they can join the meeting.

The room has now been created and will become active as soon as you enter it. Click on the room you have just created and then “Start” on the right-hand side to enter the virtual room.

You can invite the other participants by sending them the link to the virtual room, which you can find above the room once you select it. The participants can then give themselves a name and join the conference.

To join a meeting via BigBlueButton, you need the link to the virtual meeting. Find out how to take part in oral exams under “How do I take part in an oral examination?”

Before you join a virtual meeting for the first time, we recommend that you test all relevant features first. Find out how to do so under “How can I test BigBlueButton?”

Alternatively, you can just click on the link provided for the meeting. You will then be forwarded to an information page, where you can click “Join”.

Please note: If it is not possible to click the button, the meeting has not started yet. You will see a notification reading “You will automatically join when the meeting starts”. Depending on the settings for the room, you may first have to wait in a waiting room until being admitted to the meeting by the moderator.

Once you have clicked on “Join”, a new tab will open in your browser. In a pop-up, you will be asked how you would like to join the audio. We recommend that you select “Microphone” right away, even if you had not planned to say anything yet. To join the conversation, you can then simply activate your microphone. You will be asked by your browser to confirm access to your microphone. Please click on “Allow”. Otherwise, you will not be able to use the microphone.

The activation of the microphone will be followed by an echo test. Please follow the instructions by saying a couple of words and answer the question whether you can hear yourself.

If you select “Listen only”, you will have to go through the audio setup later in case you wish to say something.

It is usually advisable to mute your microphone and to only activate it if you want to say something. This facilitates maintaining order in meetings with more than two or three participants. However, exceptions, such as for oral examinations, should be discussed with the organizer beforehand.

Before you join a virtual meeting for the first time, we recommend that you test all relevant features first. Find out how to do so under “How can I test BigBlueButton?”

To start a virtual meeting, please follow these steps:

For a standard meeting:

• Follow the link to the meeting, click “Join”, and log in using your Uni-ID (user ID) .

OR

• Go to https://bbb.uni-mannheim.de/ and log in with your Uni-ID (user ID).
• On the homepage, you will see a list of all available rooms. Click on the room you wish to use.
• Click “Start” to enter the room and start a conference.
• Please note: Depending on your settings for the room, the participants might be in a waiting room first and have to be admitted to the meeting by you as the moderator.

For oral examinations:
A virtual meeting must be set up in the Examination ILIAS beforehand. Please read the relevant information under “How do I hold an oral examination via BigBlueButton?”. Please also read the section “What if I can't find an entry for the oral examination in the Examination ILIAS?”.

• Please log into the Examination ILIAS at https://pruefung.uni-mannheim.de  using your Uni-ID (user ID) and navigate to the oral exam in the corresponding course.
• Click on the BigBlueButton object.
• Under “Content”, click the link “click here to create a virtual room”.
• You will then probably be asked by your browser to accept a pop-up. Please accept so that the room can open in a new browser tab. In case this does not work, you can follow the link under “Content” to enter the virtual room manually.

After the virtual room has finished loading, you can can join the meeting by selecting “Microphone” in the pop-up that will appear. You will then be asked by your browser to confirm access to your microphone. Please click on “Allow”. Otherwise, you will not be able to use the microphone.

During the meeting, you can make use of the following options to moderate the meeting:
Use the “+” symbol at the bottom left to

• start polls
• upload presentations.

You can also share your screen using the screen symbol at the center of the bottom of the screen. 

If you select this button, you will be asked by your browser which of the screens you have connected you would like to share. You also have the option to only share individual programs, for instance only your browser.

If you have uploaded a presentation, you can add comments using the buttons on the right-hand side.

Underneath the hand symbol, you will find several tools which you can use to comment the presentation.

Use the arrow symbol to undo your last comment.

Use the trash symbol to delete all your comments.

Finally, use the graph symbol to allow other participants to edit the presentation as well.

Please upload your presentation to ensure optimal quality. Screen sharing should only be used in exceptions, as this might overload your terminal. Should you encounter problems when attempting to transmit video and/or audio, please reduce the number of active video cameras in your room.

Virtual rooms for oral examinations can be closed via the Examination ILIAS. You can find this option under the BigBlueButton object in ILIAS under “Content”.

The so-called breakout rooms enable you to split video conferences into several rooms. This can be helpful in cases where you wish to speak privately to one or several people without including the entire group. This option makes sense, for instance, for discussing individual exam results or grades.

As host, you can create these rooms by clicking the gear symbol in the upper right corner near “Participants” and then clicking “Create breakout rooms”.

A new window will open, which allows you to select from several options. You can create up to eight rooms and group your participants into these. You can also let the participants decide themselves which room they would like to join.

Please also define a time span to determine how long the breakout rooms should be in place.

The rooms have now been created and a new field called “breakout rooms” will appear above the participants.

In order to use BigBlueButton successfully, you should observe the following minimum requirements:

• Terminal – computer or notebook equipped with the following:
  • Operating system: latest versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux or Apple macOS (at least 10.14); no mobile operating systems.
  • Browser: latest versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox
  • RAM: at least 4GB RAM
  • CPU: at least Intel i3 (8th generation / model from 2018 upwards), preferably Intel i5 or i7. Analogously for AMD at least Ryzen 3, preferably 5 or 7
• Network – LAN or WLAN with the following transmission rates (you can test your transmission rate at https://www.speedtest.net):
  • Download: at least 5MBit/s
  • Upload: 1MBit/s upload

If you use BigBlueButton under conditions that do not fulfill the minimum requirements, for instance on a tablet or smartphone, we cannot guarantee that BigBlueButton will work properly.

During an active session, you should close all other applications that you do not require for the session. This helps to avoid unwanted side effects such as influences on data transmission or an overload of the terminal.

In order to work with as few resources as possible, we recommend that you provide files and documents by uploading presentations instead of sharing your screen.

Find out how to test the software under “How can I test BigBlueButton?”

Before you use BigBlueButton for the first time, we recommend that you test all relevant features first. An initial test of your own hardware is possible at http://test.bigbluebutton.org. Please also note our guidelines under “What do I need to keep in mind when using BigBlueButton?”

Regardless of whether you are planning the organization or participation in an oral examination or a standard meeting for a small group, you can access the BigBlueButton version provided by UNIT via https://bbb.uni-mannheim.de/ and start a functionality test.

Employees of the University of Mannheim have the following options:

• They can create a test conference themselves and test it together with a colleague.
  You can find general information on how to create and join meetings under “How do I create a standard meeting for small groups with BigBlueButton?” and “How do I join a standard meeting via BigBlueButton?”.
• In case your institution has access to Premium Support from the University IT, you can contact the Premium Support team member and run a test together.
   

Students have the following options:

• You can run a test directly through the software company via https://test.bigbluebutton.org/.

Please make sure in advance that you have signed into the Examination ILIAS and not into the regular ILIAS.

If you cannot find a course/group for the oral examination in the examination ILIAS or cannot find an entry for a BigBlueButton meeting within the course/group, please contact Student Services to make sure that the oral exam was properly registered and added.

No, we have deliberately deactivated the option to record virtual meetings in BigBlueButton. It is also not possible to publish BigBlueButton directly on platforms such as YouTube.