Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Frankie Kam -
Number of replies: 9
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Has anyone tried out BigBlueButton's Moodle integration mod?
http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=4536

I've got it (the mod) installed on my Moodle site:
http://scm.moodleace.com/mod/bigbluebutton/view.php?id=2038
...and I like it!

Here are my observations
1. It's Open Source and Free (no financial constraints here)
2. Nice interface - uncluttered, clean and clear
3. Love the chat Google-Translation feature (allows people of various languages communicate in each others' mother tongue)
4. It was so easy to install - nothing really technical
5. The Screen Sharing feature needs a lot of RAM and/or a fast PC as the feature causes a lot of pixalletion.
6. I'm not sure how the VOIP holds up to a large (20+) number of concurrent online users

Frankie

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Terry martin -

Frankie:

Where are you located?  Can I call you or send email about this module?  I'm currently using GoTo Meeting outside of Moodle.  It's great and does what I want; however, if there is something easier to use, has screen sharing, and it is accessible for people with disabilities, I'm all ears.  It will also get rid of my monthly fee for GTM. 

Thank you!

Terry

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In reply to Terry martin

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Fred Dixon -

Hi,

(I am one of the BigBlueButton open source developers)

BigBlueButton has screen sharing -- we wrote both the screen capture component (java applet) and server component.  Like other parts of BigBlueButton, we tried to make it really easy.

You'll find that GoTo Meeting's screen sharing is faster, but BigBlueButton runs equally on Mac, Unix, and PC computers.

 

> 5. The Screen Sharing feature needs a lot of RAM and/or a fast PC as the feature causes a lot of pixalletion.

It shouldn't be pixaleted for the viewers.  The presenter will only see a thumbnail previous, but if you share your screen on one computer, then login on a different computer using BigBlueButton, the shared screen should be pixel-to-pixel.  To see this, make sure you clidk the "view actual size" on the presenter's computer.   If the presenter's computer has a monitor that is above 1280x1024, in which case BigBlueButton will proportionally scale the screen to fit within that size.

 

Regards,... Fred

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In reply to Fred Dixon

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Frankie Kam -
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Hi Fred.

You must be human since bots don't access human forums. Heh. Just mentioned that since one of the resident users (bots?) on BigBlueButton's demo site is named Fred.

Okay, anyway, what I meant was that where the shared desktop window appears, it pixellates into being. Kinda hard to explain in words. But I'll try:

It was something like two PowerPoint slides transitioning from one to another with a pixelling transition effect. But the end result is indeed pixel to pixel clear. It's just that on my slow broadband line < 200Kbs at most times, the end result takes some time to appear.

When I had a group of 6 students online, whenever one of the spoke on their microphone, I would hear a brief sound and then they were cut off. Any ideas why that could happen? I had my webcam window open at the time too. So in the end, my main mode of communication with them was me speaking in the mic, and the nice chat window system.

None of the students said that my voice was breaking up, but their voices broke up each time they spoke. Maybe when I setup my mod on my Moodle site, it was because I used the default test server settings - and the test server is usually busy?

I might attempt to install BigBlueButton on my VPS since I am working on using Nginx instead of Apache. But I doubt if I can get much VOIP performance out of my VPS server since it runs only on a 512Kbs pipe. And a VPS is not a dedicated server (which is what BBB recommends for a custom server).

Just wondering, 'cause I really like the look and feel of the system. Especially when I chatted with others on the Net whose first language was not English. Kudos for putting in the Google Translate.

Frankie Kam

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Fred Dixon -

You must be human since bots don't access human forums. Heh. Just mentioned that since one of the resident users (bots?) on BigBlueButton's demo site is named Fred.

That's not a bot, it's me!  I'm one of the developers of BigBlueButton and I tend to hang out on our demo server at

http://demo.bigbluebutton.org/

to help others.

 

whenever one of the spoke on their microphone, I would hear a brief sound and then they were cut off

Please see this FAQ entry and let us know if it solves your issue:

http://code.google.com/p/bigbluebutton/wiki/FAQ#Why_can't_others_hear_me_when_I_join_the_voice_conference?

 

As an aside, you definitely want to install BigBlueButton on it's own server.  Give it a 2+ GHZ processor with 2+ Gig of RAM.

 

Regards,... Fred

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In reply to Terry martin

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Frankie Kam -
Picture of Plugin developers

Hey Terry.

I from Melaka, Malaysia.

Or you can email me at:
boonsengkam at gmail dot com
or your can call me at:
6012-6585109

If you have your own Moodle site, you can install it there. Otherwise you can give it a try either at BBB's demo site (go to their website) or at my humble abode which is at:
http://scm.moodleace.com/mod/bigbluebutton/view.php?id=2038
(you can log in as guest).

Frankie Kam
Malaysia, "Truly Asia"

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Ben Duver -

I just used it earlier and it worked like a charm! Very clear too!

-rewill

(Edited by Helen Foster to remove links - original submission Wednesday, 2 March 2011, 08:25 AM)

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In reply to Ben Duver

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Frankie Kam -
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Hi Ben Glad it worked for you. I'd love to use your services to repair my roof, but unfortunately I'min Malaysia! big grin. How's the snow in Austin Texas this time of the year?

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Dan Trouten -

I would SO love to come fix your roof!!! It's been to long since I was in Malaysia!!!

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In reply to Dan Trouten

Re: Video conferencing should be like a Big Blue Button

by Frankie Kam -
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Hope you didn't leave because of our durians. Anyway, you are most welcome to my part of the world anytime! Nasi lemak, roti canai, teh tarik and mee goreng awaits you.

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