1.5.3. BigBlueButton
BigBlueButton is an open-source web conferencing system targeted at the
higher education market, specifically for use in distance learning. It provides
a good set of general conferencing features, as well as semi-participatory
presentation plus whiteboarding functionality.
Good Features
- "Moderator" role for one or more participants
- One participant at a time has "presenter" status (assigned by a moderator)
- Import presentations from a file (PDF or PowerPoint)
- "Presenters" can page through presentations; all participants will see the same slide
- Whiteboard overlay with pen, rectangle, and circle tools
- Whiteboard contents are distinct per-slide
- Record and subsequent playback of presentation including slide content and
timing, audio, chat
- Polling module available
- Users can independently rearrange the application's sub-windows; a "reset
layout" button is provided
- User interface runs in a web browser with low latency (using Flash)
- No assumptions regarding aspect ratio of slides
- Text chat (public channel and between individual users)
- Audio conferencing
- Users can mute themselves
- "Moderators" can mute other users and lock the muted state
- Any user can share their webcam and/or desktop
Missing Features
- Limited collaborative whiteboard ability because there is one "presenter"
- No layers in whiteboarding functionality
- No flexibility in lecture formats
Other Features
- "Presenter's" pointer position over the slide is shared
- Integration with CMS (Moodle etc.) to manage sessions
Screenshot
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