Transitioning from Bb Collaborate to other webinar tools
Bb Collaborate's contract with UofT will be ending on August 31, 2021. There will be no access to this tool past this date. The ETO is available to help you transition from Bb Collaborate to the alternate webinar tools available (MS Teams and Zoom).
As announced by Academic & Collaborative Technologies (ACT), effective August 31, 2021, Bb Collaborate will no longer be available for use at the University of Toronto. Instructors should download any Bb Collaborate recordings they wish to keep.
Currently, U of T has two tools available for synchronous online teaching and recording: Zoom (see how to administer Zoom) and MS Teams. To help make a decisions, see which webinar tool should I use (and when)? We recommend testing the full routine in your course (from scheduling to archiving) before your course begins. These alternate options do require a bit more administrative work than Bb Collaborate as they are not as integrated. However, they offer other positives (blurred backgrounds! configurable windows! live captions!).
Why did this happen at this time in the summer?
The institutional webinar tool has been out for contract renewal for several months. The process of evaluating and selecting a new tool at the institutional level is time consuming, a tonne of work, and very confidential (which makes it difficult to share information during the process). The notice of contact termination with Bb Collaborate was released as soon as it possibly could be, but we know that this does not alleviate the pressure to transfer your activities to a new tool.
For details about this and other RFPs, ACT shares all updates about RFPs on its Major Projects Updates Wiki.
How can the ETO help?
We realize that this has implications for your course planning in the upcoming term; especially for those continuing to teach entirely online. Likely you've become familiar with the Bb Collaborate platform and have trepidation about adopting a new tool at this point in the summer. We hear you.
To help transition, the ETO is:
- Currently updating documentation (we will have new guides that run you through how to administer both Teams and Zoom in your course for their entire lifecycle by the end of next week)
- Hosting two Zoom training sessions at the end of the month (Tuesday Aug 24 and Tuesday Aug 31, 1-2 pm; Registration opening soon!).
- Hoping you'll consider booking a consultation to review your options (based on your teaching needs)
More information will be included in the upcoming August ETO newsletter on August 13, 2021 but please reach out to fase.edtech@utoronto.ca with any questions in the meantime (we're working to get the newsletter out by the end of the week).
