Transcribe a Blackboard Collaborate recording the whole online class.
A Blackboard Collaborate recording downloaded as an MP4 is transcribed in about 6 minutes for a 3-hour session and about 2 for a 1-hour one. Recording downloads appear when the session's moderator has allowed them; the first 20 minutes are free, and ten weekly 2-hour sessions (1,200 minutes) fit the $12 pack of 2,000. No bot joins your Collaborate room: WhipScribe works on the recording afterwards.
After the session ends
An online class is already a recording. It only needs to become text.
Downloading the MP4
Collaborate session settings include an option that allows recording downloads, and when the moderator turns it on, the recording can be downloaded as an MP4 from the recordings list. If the option is off, the recording plays in the browser only, and the file is the moderator's to share. The MP4 includes the shared slides and the voices; only the voices become text.
Who may transcribe it
A student transcribes a class the lecturer lets them download. Moderators and lecturers can download their own sessions and share the transcript with the group, which also helps anyone who joined late or lost their connection mid-class.
Online voices are clearer
Collaborate audio comes from each participant's own microphone, so voices are closer than in a lecture hall. Crosstalk, a dropped connection and a participant with a noisy room are where text thins out; the moderator's voice usually stays clean throughout.
Ten weeks on one pack
A weekly 2-hour online class for ten weeks is 1,200 minutes, on the $12 pack. A single 3-hour session uses 180 of the $6 pack's 500 minutes. Upload each MP4 on upload page as it is released.
What goes missing after an online class
Everyone was there. Nobody wrote down the second hour.
✗ Recording only
A Collaborate recording is complete and almost never replayed.
- The chat panel gone once the session closes
- Breakout feedback summarised from memory
- The 25 MB Whisper API ceiling, far below a class MP4
- Cutting the session to suit a short-clip tool
- Clocks that reset in every cut
- No record of the questions asked out loud
✓ Recording transcribed
The session as a document the whole group can read.
- The entire session in a single upload
- Chapters at each section of the class
- Tasks and dates said aloud, listed
- Questions answered, collected
- A chat to check what was agreed
- DOCX for notes, VTT for the video
Sample
A two-hour online class held in Collaborate.
This sample is illustrative and written for this page, not taken from any real class. The lines are spread through a two-hour online session.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $6 (500 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$6/500 min
8 hours of audio — $0.72 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 500 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$12/2,000 min
33 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 2,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
Bulk pack
$24/5,000 min
83 hours of audio — $0.29 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 5,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Blackboard Collaborate recordings, answered.
How long does a 3-hour Collaborate recording take?
Close to 6 minutes, since each hour of a session takes about 2. A 1-hour seminar takes about 2.
What do ten weeks of 2-hour sessions cost?
1,200 minutes, which goes on the $12 pack of 2,000 minutes with 800 left. One 3-hour session uses 180 minutes of the $6 pack. A new visitor gets the first 20 minutes free, and a pack transcribes the rest from where the preview stopped.
The download option is missing. Why?
Recording downloads in Collaborate are allowed or blocked by the session's moderator. Ask the moderator to enable them or to send you the MP4. WhipScribe has no integration with Blackboard. Recording a Collaborate session with a separate screen recorder is a matter for the course rules, not something to do around a setting the moderator chose.
Is there a cap on the Collaborate MP4?
Each MP4 can run to 10 hours or 5 GB. Without a pack, uploads stop at 2 GB, and a heavier session recording starts once a pack is on the account. Collaborate recordings of a typical online class are usually far smaller.
Can a class held in French or Hebrew be transcribed?
Yes. 99 languages are detected automatically. A class that switches between languages is detected on its main language, and the switches are handled. Participants on a phone line or with heavy accents still come through, though crosstalk between two microphones can blur a few words.
Exports and privacy?
Sessions export to TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT or JSON. The moderator and participants who speak are named in the summary, key quotes and chapters. Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training.
Related
More for online classes
Download the session. Read the class's first 20 minutes free.
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