--- Server: Bb Learning System Release 8.x(??) | Client: IE6.x(WIN) ---

Hi

We attempted to conduct a "break out" group in a Virtual Classroom session in the "Group Pages" area. The message alerted me that I was invited to join the break out, and then when I accepted, the new window displayed but with red "X"s and said that the Java Applet failed?

All other functionality of the Virtual classroom was working. We also tested the same thing in the Communication > Collaboration area (ie. not specific to a group) and the break out session and window loaded fine???

Can you enlighten us to why it would work at a course level but not at the group level?

Thanks
Leanne

BB Learn 9.1.7.  with Elluminate v10. on Windows XP through IE 8 and Firefox 9. 

We are experiencing this as well.   I am able to launch Collaborate through the tool link and through the control panel, but not from within a group.  In IE it appears to launch Collaborate, but the popup window then displays an error message which says to contact the system admin.  In Firefox, nothing happens at all - the system just sits.

Any ideas are appreciated.  Thank you.

Theresa

 

Theresa,

The original question was about Blackboard 8 using the standard collaboration tool.  Are you talking about the standard collaboration (Lecture Hall/Office Hours), or about the new Blackboard Collaborate/Elluminate tool?

Mike

Hi, Mike:

AHHH!!!  Thanks for that insight. In the setup area for the group it is referred to as the virtual classroom.  Being a former WebCT-based shop, my brain read that as Elluminate (which we used to refer to as the Virtual Classroom).  Now that you ask, I realize that the virtual classroom is what we used to call the whiteboard.  So this sheds new light on the problem.  We've been having issues getting our chat tool to work and I'll bet the same problem is affecting the virtual classroom. 

Do you have any thoughts about why neither tool is loading properly?  The Java wheel spins round and round.

And while we are on the topic, maybe BB should consider renaming these items to avoid confusion - Collaboration and  BB Collaborate.

Thank you,

Theresa

Theresa,

I agree, the names are very confusing, and I'm not even coming from WebCT!

Does this happen in every class and every group, or only with particular classes/groups? 

I've sometimes gotten the "Contact the administrator" error when trying to access groups that I'm not a member of as administrator, and sometimes I have to clear my Java cache and restart my browser (or even my computer) to get things to work.  OTOH, I'm also testing multiple Blackboard versions, and sometimes the collaboration Java applet from one version is not compatible with the collaboration service on another version.

Mike