Sometimes asynchronous tools like email and discussion boards just don't cut it and you need to talk "live". Even more than Flipgrid, Zoom sessions add a more human touch to a sometimes isolating online learning experience. This can open the door to more engaged and connected students.

Zoom has great video and audio quality, even with a multitude of participants. Depending on the task, the interactive and collaborative features sometimes make it better than meeting in person, and both faculty and students beings able to easily record meetings and share the URL opens up possibilities.

Here are some situations where Zoom could be a perfect fit:

• Two or more students give a live presentation

• Dynamic role plays (e.g. meeting with a "client" in real time; or faculty acts like a dungeon master by setting up a scenario, providing decision points, and then explaining how student choices affect the situation)

• Students work through STEM problems while the professor provides live coaching, asks comprehension checking questions, and writes equations on the whiteboard when appropriate

• Virtual office hours

• Students collaborate together on higher-level thinking activities (ie. analysis, evaluation, or creation).

• Group feedback and markup of things like wireframes, storyboards, presentation slides

• Talk and work on documents in real time

• Community building to encourage better discussions and collaboration

• Faculty wants opportunity for feedback and questions in order to adjust teaching on the fly so a pre-recorded video is sub-optimal

• Students showcase their completed work to the class and field questions

• Any interaction that is both oral and synchronous (in "real time")

ME 302: Thermodynamics I

(Created by Krishna Pakala)

Even though the Zoom meetings are optional, Krishna's students show up. Ask them why, and they'll tell you that the "Happy Hour" sessions are aptly named--the students leave satisfied. Krishna uses screen sharing to show practice questions, asks questions to check comprehension of concepts and principles, and then writes key points using Zoom's annotation tools. Students pose questions and answers via the chat window, and Krishna gives students time to work out answers themselves before walking through how to do it. To top it off, Krishna records and posts the sessions for those who couldn't attend or just want to rewatch.

• One of Krishna's recorded Zoom sessions

ACCT 575: International Tax

(Created by Jason Booth with assistance from Greg Snow)

Since his students were taking a one-off course on international tax law and weren't expected to be experts on it after graduation, Jason knew an authentic task for them would be spotting potential issues and advising a real expert to look into them more. He then decided to create just this sort of task as part of his week-long final exam and had students do a role-play presentation in Zoom and then submit the video.

• A description of Jason's final exam focusing on the Zoom component

ENGL 515: Visual Rhetoric

(Created by Roger Munger with assistance from Greg Snow)

Roger does things differently. His course has a gamified grading structure; students examine an assignment menu, choose what best suits their needs, and design their own course; there is a real-world client students work for; and there are mandatory synchronous sessions in Zoom where students talk, share, and showcase their work. For our purposes, we'll focus on his Zoom sessions.

• Roger speaks to our community of practice about student interaction in his Zoom sessions (COMING SOON)

• Language from Roger's course documents explaining the Zoom sessions

PRO: 310 Interviewing

(Created by Mary Francis Casper with assistance from Kim Barker)

in this course on interviewing for PR professionals, Mary does a nice job of mixing, theory, concrete examples, scaffolded practice, and then authentic practice followed by reflection and peer feedback. When students are ready to interview each other (and sometimes people in the community), they use Zoom.

• Assignment Description of a PRO: 310 interview assignment via Zoom

• Zoom instructions specific to interviewing someone

• Interview Feedback Outline for PRO 310

Some nice features

• Meetings can last an unlimited amount of time with up to 300 participants (faculty-and-staff-initiated meetings only).

• Easy recording of meetings (Zoom will give you the option to download the meeting file when you end the meeting).

• It's possible for faculty/staff to record Zoom meetings in the cloud and share a URL to viewers. However, you need to specifically ask Learning Technology Solutions (LTS) to turn this feature on for you.

• Easily track attendance with the Registration option in the My Meetings tab

• Breakout rooms allow small group discussion. Note that discussion in break out rooms is not recorded.

• Polling (but see Weird quirks below)

• Screen sharing for host and participants

• Collaborative annotation tools allow participants to do things like highlight, circle, and write on whatever is being shared on the screen

• Whiteboard (excellent on the iPad with the Apple Pencil)

• Automatic transcription that can be edited

• Share documents via URLs with the Chat feature

• Allow someone else (e.g. your TA) to schedule meetings for you

• Participants can call in to a meeting via a phone. If a student has no internet access, they can still participate in the meeting.

When students initiate meetings in Zoom

• There is no time limit on student meetings and up to 300 participants can join

• LTS recommends that students share recordings by uploading Zoom files to their Panopto accounts, copying the meeting URL this creates, and then sharing that URL.

Weird quirks

• We've found that the polling & break out rooms options show up when you log in via web browser (Zoom website), but sometimes not via the app.

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

• Mute everyone but the host by pressing Cmd+Ctrl+M (macOS) or Alt+M (Windows).

• If you need to quickly switch between Zoom and other programs (e.g. your browser, PowerPoint, etc.), press Alt + Tab (Windows) or Command + Tab (macOS)

Support & How to

• You can minimize technical snafus by directing students to a website called Online Mic Test before they join a Zoom session with you. There is also a site to test webcam connection.

• Workers at the Boise State Help Desk will aid students with any technical problems students have related to this tool

• A video on how to schedule a Zoom session from a Boise State account

• Learning Technology Solutions (LTS) resources on Zoom

The Zoom Video Conferencing at Boise State University website

Due to Boise State's enterprise Zoom license, most features are automatically available to everyone. However, should you need to help activating or using them, contact the Help Desk.

For instructional design help integrating this tool into an online class, please contact stephaniechism@boisestate.edu.