Zoom is a video conferencing tool that can be used to conduct live learning sessions, support collaborative learning, host virtual office hours, and more.
Freed-Hardeman University has invested in Zoom Pro accounts for all faculty. This means that you can use Zoom to host online meetings of unlimited duration with up to 300 participants.
Zoom has reliable audio and video quality, and once you’re comfortable hosting a meeting, it’s easy to use. However, comfort with all technologies requires some practice! The resources below will help to familiarize you with Zoom’s features and functionalities.
Zoom offers a variety of resources to help you getting started and to support you through the process of hosting a productive meeting. Zoom’s Getting Started page and FHU’s Step-by-Step Guide for Instructors covers how to sign in, utilizing the home page, viewing, starting, and editing meetings, as well as editing basic zoom settings. Below are additional resources to help you get started.
Your Zoom account may be accessed through a variety of methods. The below links will guide you through each method.
You can review and adjust several important settings in the Zoom web portal. These settings control how the meeting works, and managing these settings before starting a meeting can create a smoother experience for you and your students. Please note that some settings are controlled at the administrative level and cannot be changed.
The settings that you choose will be applied to all future meetings, but you can also adjust settings for an individual meeting when you schedule it.
You can save your meetings to either your local computer or the cloud. We request that all personal meetings be stored to your local computer rather than the cloud. Class sessions may be stored to either your local machine or the cloud.
Zoom features like screen sharing and annotation allow you to use visual aids to facilitate learning with students. Screen sharing can be passed to other members in the meeting, allowing students to present their work. Annotation and polling allows you to quickly assess your students in real-time. Features like Zoom Breakout Rooms allow you to divide students into smaller groups to facilitate collaborative learning activities.
The below tutorials will walk you through the different options instructors can use to host class sessions.
You can use a scheduled meeting or your personal meeting room to host virtual office hours. If you plan to be online and available for a set amount of time on a given day, consider using the waiting room feature of Zoom meetings; this will allow you to speak privately with one student while allowing other students to wait for their turn. This help article from Zoom Support steps through the necessary settings and implications of using a waiting room in meetings.
Note: Using a waiting room for live class sessions may be confusing for students, so either use your personal meeting room only for office hours, or schedule a meeting for office hours that is different from your class session link so that you can control the settings for each meeting.
