**Students located in China who are having trouble participating in Zoom calls should access the browser based Zoom client at https://www.zoomus.cn/webclient/join, or the desktop client through https://zoomcloud.cn/download. From these urls, students should be able to participate in Zoom calls as usual.**
Zoom is a video/audio conferencing program that can withstand large numbers of people within video meetings. Zoom additionally allows for screen-sharing, a collaborative note taking space, individual and group chats, breakout rooms to create small group discussions, and the ability to record these meetings and automatically save all output from the chats and whiteboard. Meetings can be schedules to reoccur at class times, automatically inviting the students in the class. Certain classes may find that the functions included in Zoom work well with their learning styles.
Read through the tutorial of Zoom’s features below and access a video tutorial and accompanying presentation here.
Log into your Pratt Zoom Profile at pratt.zoom.us. Enter your OneKey here and confirm your email to use the Pratt associated Zoom account. Users with preexisting accounts can transfer their profile to the educational account by logging in at this same address and confirming their email. The educational account allows Zoom meetings to include up to 300 participants.
From here, you can host or join meetings, configure your account, and learn more about Zoom (as seen below). Continue reading to learn about additional functions in Zoom, like scheduling meetings and in-meeting capabilities.
Scheduling meetings:
At zoom.us/meeting/schedule you can schedule meetings with a number of functions. Set recurring meetings for specific times and durations, preset the use of audio/video for hosts and participants, and invite the same group of users. You can additionally choose to automatically record the meetings and assign Breakout Rooms (discussed further down in this post) ahead of time. Consider enabling the option “allow participants to join before host” to help mimic a classroom setting.
Joining meetings:
Student will receive emails with links to join scheduled or impromptu meetings, once invited. Students do not need a Zoom account to participant; only the meeting ID or invite.
Participants can be added once the meeting has begun by entering the Meeting ID and Meeting password into their Zoom apps or browsers.
In-Meeting capabilities with Zoom:
Below is the toolbar at the bottom of the screen during Zoom sessions. The functions are outlined with the corresponding numbers below.
1) Audio/Video controls allow each participant to control what audio and video and shared from their devices.
2) Invite allows the host to add more participants to the call while the meeting is taking place. Clicking here provides you the option to invite new guests through email, and shows the meeting ID and meeting passwords for users to enter manually to join the room.
3) Manage Participants by determining which users’ screens are highlighted, and the audio/video participation of the people in the room.
4) Screen-sharing allows participants in the room to demonstrate what’s happening on their screens, take remote control of the screen that is being shared (with the permission of the user), and annotate the shared screen. Some applications of screen-sharing for interactive learning are as follows:
Using remotely-controlled shared screens to create the opportunity for students to be actively involved in the lesson;
Presenting Google Slides and other presentations through shared screens, lecturing over slide decks as in classes;
Showing digital demos with visual explanation of what’s expected;
Creating spaces for collaborative visual understanding with Whiteboard.
Whiteboard: during a meeting, begin a collaborative note taking and brainstorming space.
If you plan to use this function, take note that mobile iOS users can only host Whiteboards on iPads, not iPhones.
To enable Whiteboard sharing in meetings you host, visit https://zoom.us/profile. Select “Settings” under the “Personal” menu. Remain on the “Meetings” tab, then choose “In Meetings (basic)” settings.
Toggle on the Whiteboard option so that you can use the feature in your chats, and check the new option that automatically saves the Whiteboard output when the chat ends. Checking this will ensure that all output from the class meeting will be available for review.
While hosting a meeting, select the screen share option and a menu will open that allows you to choose which screen you want to share. If you’ve enabled Whiteboard in your settings, the second option should be Whiteboard.
Click on this to bring up a space to draw, take notes, and brainstorm. Initially only the host has access, but other users can request access to remote control the screen and add to the whiteboard, or choose to annotate the Whiteboard from their end while the host still has control of their screens. As seen below, participants in the call can see the Whiteboard while it’s up, select the “View Options” menu at the top of the screen, and choose to annotate the screen being shared.
5) Text Chats in Zoom are automatically created to include all participants in the video meeting. These chats can be automatically saved at the end of each meeting to archive the discussions of the class. The saved text documents, Whiteboard outputs, and recorded videos from the meeting will all be saved in a folder that automatically opens at the close of the meeting.
Visit https://zoom.us/profile. Select “Settings” under the “Personal” menu. Remain on the “Meetings” tab, then choose “In Meetings (basic)” settings. Turn on Auto Saving Chats to ensure that all discussions, questions, and notes from students will be accessible after the meeting concludes.
Additionally, the meeting hosts can determine in these same In Meetings settings whether or not the participants in the class can have individual one on one text conversations through Zoom during the class.
6) Recording and saving meeting information meetings can be recorded and automatically saved to your computer at the close of the meeting. Additionally, when scheduling a meeting, the host can choose to automatically record the whole meeting. Whiteboards, text chats, and video from meetings can all be archived.
7) Breakout Room allows the meeting’s host to create smaller, individual groups of participants for small-group discussions and exercises; these groups can be merged back into the initial meeting at any point.
To enable Breakout Rooms in meetings you host, visit https://zoom.us/profile.
Select “Settings” under the “Personal” menu. Remain on the “Meetings” tab, then choose “In Meetings (advanced)” settings.
Toggle on the Breakout Room option.
While in a call, the host can select the Breakout Room option to determine a number of small groups and assign participants to different rooms.
Once the rooms have been opened, participants will receive notifications that the breakout rooms will open. The breakout rooms can be set to last for specific amounts of time, and present the participants with a countdown timer when the time is nearly up or if the host has closed the breakout rooms manually. Hosts can choose to join or leave any of the small groups at any point.
8) Reactions allow for students to visually respond to the lesson as it takes place, keeping them engaged and allowing the professor to gauge general understanding of the lesson.
9) End meeting will automatically save any output in a file for that specific meeting, and close the meeting for everyone.
How to generate a report for Zoom polling and registration.
Additional Zoom training materials and information can be found here.
More video meeting tips and advice on Pratt’s Telepresence site.