Teaching with Zoom

Prepare for Zoom instruction

• Practice using Zoom in advance. Test your audio and video. Be sure light is on your face and that your background and desktop are free of distractions. Practice looking at your webcam, not the screen when you present. Practice sharing your screen. (See Testing computer or device audio and Share Screen).
• Review your host controls and meeting settings. Determine whether you’ll include other hosts or co-hosts, mute participant microphones (muting recommended for large groups), or record the session for use at a later time. (See Host Controls, Managing participants in a meeting, and recording).
  • If creating a Zoom meeting in Canvas, the default is set to Enable Waiting Room. This prevents a student from entering before you and be listed as host, but you will have to admit each student. If you do not want to do this, uncheck Waiting Room, but DO NOT "Enable join before host" as this may assign the host to the first person in the meeting.
• Consider making slides or discussion questions available in advance in Canvas, etc. so that students can access the content if screen sharing does not work.
• Anticipate potential challenges including the possibility that students don’t have ideal connections and aren’t able to hear and see everything perfectly.

Use screen sharing to share your screen or slides as you speak

(See Share Screen and Screen Sharing a PowerPoint Presentation).

• Display an agenda at the start of the class session so that students know what to expect of the shared time together.
• Narrate the material that you’re displaying visually on the screen. Just as you might read materials aloud in class, read screen material that you share on-screen just in case students are not able to see essential text.
• Post discussion questions in your slides so these can be visible to students who may have a slow Internet connection or who may struggle to hear the audio.

Use the chat tool to connect regularly with students during meetings

(See In-Meeting Chat).

• Use chat to troubleshoot technical problems at the start of a meeting. If you have a TA who can support the class instruction with technical help, this would also be a good person to respond to troubleshooting tips in the chat.
• Check the chat often to identify student questions and areas of interest or confusion. For larger classes, assign a TA to moderate the chat and make sure important questions and comments are addressed. Even for smaller classes, it may be worthwhile to ask a student (or two) to take on special roles as “chat monitors” to voice if there are questions that arise that the instructor has missed.
• Use chat to engage students in discussion. Pause often during a lecture to ask a question and invite students to answer or comment. “Call on” students with a text question or comment to elaborate.

Use active learning and collaboration tools to make the class more interactive

• Use the polling tool within Zoom to collect student responses, and then share results with both in-person and online students. (See Polling for Meetings).
  • NOTE: If using the integrated Zoom in Canvas, you will need to download the polling csv file, add your questions, and upload the file to your session.
• Use breakout rooms to help students talk in smaller groups, just as they would do break-out groups in a larger class environment. As the instructor, you can visit the breakout rooms, broadcast messages to various rooms, and end the breakout sessions when it is time to regroup. (See Getting Started with Breakout Rooms and Managing Video Breakout Rooms).
• Consider asking students to work together as a large group or breakout groups on a shared Google Doc (instructor sharing a document or students using Canvas Collaborations).

Reviewing Recorded sessions

• If you are using the cloud version of Zoom (from MyUWF), you will find your recordings under the Recorded link at the top of your account page. Click on the Open button. On the next page, you can download or copy the link to your session. You can paste this link into your course or email it to your students.
• If you are using the integrated Zoom from within Canvas, your Zoom recordings are located on a Recordings tab that students can access by clicking on Zoom on the course navigation menu. You will need to publish your recordings for students to be able to access them.

Canvas-Zoom Integration Notes

• When using the integrated Zoom in Canvas, you will need to download the polling .csv file, add your questions, and upload the file to your session after you schedule the meeting but before the meeting actually starts.
• If creating a Zoom meeting in Canvas, the default is set to Enable Waiting Room. This prevents a student from entering before you and be listed as host, but you will have to admit each student. If you do not want to do this, uncheck Waiting Room, but DO NOT "Enable join before host" as this may assign the host to the first person in the meeting.
• Zoom meetings created in Canvas are automatically added to the course calendar. There is a link to also add the meeting to your personal Google calendar.
• Learn more about the Canvas-Zoom LTI.

Help students learn with Zoom

You can ensure an optimal classroom experience by taking time to set expectations and help students get comfortable meeting in Zoom. Include information about your course Zoom policies in your Syllabus.

Note: Students can see class sessions and office hours that you schedule in Canvas. At the current time, they cannot schedule meetings (e.g., study groups) with the Zoom app in Canvas. However, they can access Zoom outside of Canvas. If they want to schedule online study groups, they can log into the Zoom web portal from their My UWF Desktop.

• If this will be the first time they have used Zoom, encourage students to go to the meeting URL in advance of the class start time. They will need a few minutes to download Zoom software before they can enter the Zoom meeting.
• Make sure that students know how to attend class in Zoom; they will click the meeting URL that you share with them. Remind students to use the Canvas calendar or the Zoom app in Canvas to access the link to the meeting.
• Provide students with a link to this helpful Using Zoom as a Student page. You can include this on a content page that discusses your use of Zoom for meetings, as a module item, or as a link in your syllabus. 
• Encourage students to choose an appropriate space for joining your virtual classroom (a quiet place where they can focus and won’t be disturbed). However, please note that these conditions may not be available to all of your students.
• Suggest that they coordinate with roommates to minimize noise and competition for internet bandwidth while they are attending class online.
• Spend a few minutes at the beginning of the first class you hold in Zoom reviewing the interface for the benefit of people who are new to Zoom. Share your screen and demonstrate to students how to:
  • Toggle their microphone and camera on and off
  • Open the Chat and Participants windows
  • Raise their hands and/or use Reactions if you are using those features
  • Encourage students to mute themselves when they are not speaking.
• If some students in your class are more experienced with Zoom, see if they are willing to answer questions from students who are new to Zoom.
• If your class is a large one, suggest to students who do not have a camera that they identify themselves when speaking.

Other Recommended Resources

• Stanford University, Teaching Effectively in Times of Disruption
• University of Minnesota, Zoom: Teach Online Class Sessions
• Zoom, Tips & Tricks for Teachers Educating on Zoom