Overview
In this article, we'll walk through the "Direct" button, which you'll find towards the center of the Bottom Panel of the Live Classroom. This button is only available to class Instructors. Below is a screenshot highlighting the button's location and with its menu expanded:
Clicking the "Direct" button opens a dropdown with all the available Views Tabs in your class listed. Upon clicking an entry from the list, everyone's screen will shift to that tab. It's a handy way to guide new participants to the right place or keep the group together when moving the discussion from one tab to another.
We've listed some important characteristics of the "Direct" function:
- When the "Direct" feature is used, the screen for all participants will shift to the corresponding tab. Participants are not locked to this tab, however, and are free to navigate to any other tabs afterwards. The feature is intended as a supportive alignment mechanism rather than a method of enforcing focus.
- The "Direct" tool also includes automation to reduce manual effort. These behaviors include:
- When you start an activity that generates a new Views Tab (e.g., a File Share), the system automatically directs the class to that tab. This eliminates the need to manually reset "Direct" each time you begin a new activity.
- When an activity concludes and its Views Tab is removed, if "Direct" was focused on that tab, the system will automatically redirect the class to another tab it determines to be the most appropriate.
- At the start of a class session, the system typically sets the "Class Gallery" Views Tab as the default focus.
- To indicate the most recent tab selected with the "Direct" feature, the system provides visual cues:
- In the "Direct" dropdown, the active tab is displayed in bold text.
- In the Views Tabs bar, the active tab is highlighted in gold.