Live Classroom > Views Tabs > Class Gallery

Overview

This article introduces the "Class Gallery" view, available in the Views Tabs section. When selected, it opens a gallery in the main panel that displays all classroom participants. Each participant appears as a tile in a grid, showing either their live webcam feed or their avatar if the camera is off.

When the classroom is in Table Audio Mode, learners will not see this tab. This design encourages them to focus on interacting with their tablemates during table-based activities.

Below is an example of the Class Gallery view:

The Class Gallery displays up to 20 participants at a time. If more than 20 are present, navigation arrows will appear on either side of the panel, allowing you to scroll through additional pages of participants.

When viewing the Class Gallery, you will notice several options available across the top of the main panel, which we'll describe below:

• Participants List - At the top-left, this button will appear as something like "x participants" where x is the number of participants currently in class. Clicking this will open a dropdown menu, displaying a scrollable list of all the participants. Clicking an entry from this list will highlight the user's tile within the class gallery grid. At the top of this menu is a search box that can be used to filter the list by the participant's name--helpful for large classrooms. Below is a screenshot highlighting the Participants List dropdown menu:
• Gallery Page Selection - Found on the left side of the page, this button displays a label like "Gallery 1 of 2", indicating the gallery page you are currently viewing  and the total number of gallery pages available. Click this to expand a list, allowing you to jump to a specific gallery page.
• Open Overlay Gallery / Close Overlay Gallery - Found on the left side of the page, this button can be clicked to toggle the overlay gallery on or off. The overlay gallery is a movable, resizable version of the class gallery that floats independently from the main browser window. You can drag it anywhere on your screen--or even to a second monitor--making it easy to keep the class gallery in view while exploring other tabs. See the image below for a visual example of the overlay gallery:
• Sort By - Found on the right side of the screen, selecting this button will open a dropdown where you can select various options for how the class gallery is sorted for you. Below is a sample screenshot of this menu:We'll describe these options below:
  • Name - This will sort the gallery by user name in ascending order.
  • Tables - Sorts the gallery by ascending table number, displaying users based on the table they're seated at (e.g., Table 1 first, then Table 2, and so on).
  • Recent Speakers - This will sort the gallery such that participants who are currently speaking will be placed towards the front.
  • Camera On - Sorts the gallery such that users with their webcams on will appear first.
  • My Video First - This checkbox can be enabled to ensure that your own webcam video appears first in the class gallery.
  • Auto Rotate Gallery - Enable this checkbox to have gallery pages cycle automatically. This feature is only active when there are two or more pages of participants in the class.

3-Dots Menu

Instructors and TAs can hover their cursor over the portrait of any user in the class gallery to reveal a button that contains 3 dots, as shown below:

Clicking this 3-dots button will reveal a dropdown menu of actions that can be applied to the user. The available options will vary depending on both your role and the participant's role. Below is a sample screenshot of this menu:

We'll now describe each option that appears in this dropdown menu:

• Block Mic / Unblock Mic - This will block the user's mic for the remainder of the class session. This is useful for learners who are being disruptive, as they will not be able to override this block. If the user's mic is already blocked, this can be clicked to unblock it.
• Restrict Learner Camera to Staff / Show Learner Camera to Class - This setting is helpful when a Learner tends to do distracting things on camera. When enabled, the Learner's webcam is visible only to staff, while all other Learners see the participant's avatar instead. The feature is intentionally discreet since only staff members are informed that it is active, and Learners (including the affected one) see no indication that anything has changed. Below is the exact behavior when this setting is applied:
  • "Hidden by staff" label - Staff members will see a small "hidden by staff" tag in the bottom‑left corner of the Learner's video, as shown below:
    
  • Unaffected self‑view - The affected Learner continues to see their own webcam preview normally and is not notified that their video is hidden from peers.
  • Avatar shown to peers - All other Learners see the participant's avatar in place of their webcam feed.
• Mute / Request to Unmute - This will mute the user's microphone. This is useful if the participant appears to have forgotten to mute their mic and their background noise becomes a distraction. Unlike the "Block Mic" option, the user is free to unmute themselves at any time. If the user's mic is already muted, this can be clicked to send the user a notification to unmute their mic, which can be helpful if the user is speaking, but has forgotten to unmute themselves.
• Turn Camera Off / Request to Turn Camera On - This will turn the user's camera off. Similar to the "Mute" option, the user is free to turn their camera back on at any time. If the user's camera is already off, this can be clicked to send the user a notification to turn their camera on.
• Request to Raise Hand - This will send the user a notification requesting that they raise their hand to come to the podium.
• Add to Panel / Remove from Panel - Select this option to place the user on the Panel, which functions as Engageli's version of a speaker or presenter panel. If the participant is already on the panel, you can select this again to remove them from it. For additional details about the Panel, visit the Live Classroom > Views Tabs > Panel section.
• Switch Role to Instructor - Set a user's role to Instructor for the remainder of the current session. This adjustment is temporary and does not alter their rostered role.
• Switch Role to TA - Set a user's role to TA for the remainder of the current session. This adjustment is temporary and does not alter their rostered role.
• Send a Message - Selecting this will cause your Chat panel to open and automatically set the participant as the chat message destination.
• Block Learner from Class - This will add the participant to a block list, immediately removing them from the classroom and preventing them from rejoining. If the user attempts to rejoin, they'll simply be redirected back to the class lobby. The block will automatically be removed once the current class session ends--or after 12 hours, whichever comes first. If any blocked user needs to be allowed back into the current session, the block list can be cleared entirely by accessing the 3-dots menu found in the bottom panel. Note: You can only clear the entire block list--selective unblocking of participants is not possible at this time.
• Block Engagement Tools / Unblock Engagement Tools - This feature disables a participant's ability to interact meaningfully with the classroom environment. It's designed for situations where a participant is persistently disruptive but cannot be removed from the session due to attendance or other requirements. Functionally, it serves as a near-final escalation step, just short of removal. This block will last until the end of the current class session. Alternatively, it can be removed by opening the user's menu again and selecting "Unblock Engagement Tools". When a participant's engagement tools are blocked, a discreet "Engagement Tools Blocked" label will appear on their portrait in the class gallery--visible only to Instructors and TAs. This ensures staff are aware of the restriction without drawing attention to the participant. See the below screenshot for an example of where this label appears when the engagement tools block is applied to a user:
  When a participant's engagement tools are blocked, the following restrictions are applied to them:
  • They will not be able to initiate a screenshare (they will no longer see the Present button in their bottom panel).
  • They will only be able to send chat messages to staff (Instructors and TAs)
  • They will not be able to raise their hand (the "Raise Hand" button in their bottom panel becomes disabled).
  • They will not be able to access the classroom's Q&A feature (they will no longer see the Q&A button in their bottom panel).
  • Their microphone will be blocked.
  • They will be restricted from editing class and table whiteboards. They will still be able to view them, however.

This 3-dots menu can also be accessed from user portraits via the overlay gallery, but due to technical limitations, only some of the above options will be available from there.