Zoom Tips & Tricks

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Apr 21, 2020 by Former user (Deleted)
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Overview

Zoom can be an excellent tool to communicate with students and emulate a classroom environment. There are bound to be speed bumps along the way, but here are some ways to help run a smooth meeting and prepare for potential issues. 

Tips for Using Zoom

  1. Connectivity problems happen – let students know that that’s OK and they should just rejoin as they can.

  2. If you have access to a microphone or headset use it – it’ll nearly always be better audio than your computer’s built in options. 

  3. Control background noise and disruption by asking students to stay muted unless they are going to speak. Encourage them to use earbuds or headphones and refrain from typing on the laptop unless they are muted.

  4. Consider using the text-messaging tool built into Zoom or keeping the video feed off.

    1. This saves internet bandwidth and allows participants to listen comfortably without worrying about their appearance.

  5. If you’re running a session with students on campus and online, designate someone in the room with you to be actively monitoring and engaging with the online students in the chat.

    1. This is a good way to make sure the online students have a voice without you trying to do everything at once

  6. For synchronous (real time) online sessions – be aware that you’re often being invited into a student’s home and be understanding. 

    1. Although we’d suggest that you recommend students to find a quiet space and set aside the time, they (and you) may not always be able to control interruptions by roommates, spouses, children, and pets. 

    2. Especially with snow days, I’d suggest recording live sessions so that students can re-watch what they missed if they need to leave the session for a while.

  7. 49 person gallery view -By turning on gallery view, you can see up to 49 meeting participants at once, as opposed to the default 25.
  8. Screen sharing and using pause share - You probably know you can easily share your whole screen or just an application, but did you know that you can pause your screen sharing? Simply press Pause Share.
  9. Viewed shared screen side by side mode - This enables you to see the shared screen alongside either the Speaker View or Gallery View, depending on which view they choose. When in a meeting and viewing a screen, click on View Options and choose Side-by-Side Mode.

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