1. In the Course Tools section of the Control Panel, click Collaboration.
2. Click the Collaboration Session button.
3. Optional: Enter a name for the session in the Session Name box. (By default, Blackboard assigns a name to the session that consists of the course name and the date and time the session was created.)
4. In the Schedule Availability section, select a Start After date.
5. Optional: Check the End After box and select a date.
6. Optional: Select whether you want to make the session available to students.
7. In the Collaboration Tool section, click the arrow on the Choose tool for this Session box and do one of the following:
   • To create a session that allows students and instructors to participate in question and answer sessions, select Virtual Classroom.
   • To create a session that only contains the chat feature, select Chat.
8. Click the Submit button and click the OK button.

Note: Lecture Hall, a Virtual Classroom session, and Office Hours, a Chat session, are displayed by default. Click the Join Session button to enter the session.