Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing application that is more powerful and has more features than Google Hangouts. Your teacher might invite you to a class in Zoom. You can access using your laptop or phone.

Be sure to allow the program access to your camera and microphone.

Joining Zoom With a Laptop

You'll most likely be invited in an email, and in that email you'll see a link to Join Zoom Meeting. Go ahead and click the link. It's possible the invite will come in a Google Calendar event. You can click the link in that too!

Joining Zoom With a Phone

You can download the Zoom mobile app for your iOS or Android device from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store .

Once installed on your phone choose "Join a Meeting."

Your teacher will have sent you a meeting invite in an email with a "Meeting ID" number. Please input the number.

Troubleshooting Zoom

My camera and/or mic are not working.

Go to System Preferences/Security & Privacy. Click the Privacy tab. Find the camera and/or mic in the sidebar and check the box next to the zoom.us app.

For Teachers

The Settings tab on your Zoom account page is a treasure trove of options for running your Zoom classes.

Always disable passwords for your Zoom meetings.

Also make sure to allow removed participants to rejoin meetings!

A number of students have CSA Chromebooks and are thus unable to install the Zoom App on theur Chromebook. Make sure you allow them to join via a browser link.

Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms allow teachers to seperate students into smaller working groups within a larger meeting.

First, make sure you've enabled Breakout rooms in your settings.

To seperate your class into breakout rooms, begin by clicking on the Breakout Rooms button on your Zoom control bar.

This window should appear. You can adjust the number of rooms. Selecting "Automatically" sorts students into rooms for you, while "Manually" gives you greater control. Click "Create Breakout Rooms."

This new window allows you to assign students individually to breakout rooms. You can also add more rooms here.

Once students are assigned to rooms, you may move them between rooms or exchange a student in one room with another in a seperate room. Click "Open All Rooms" to move students into breakout rooms.

Once students are in breakout rooms, you can use this same window to yet again move students around, or to join breakout rooms and circulate as you would in a physical class. You may also broadcast a text message to all rooms, or close breakout rooms and return all students to the original meeting room.

By default, "Close All Rooms" doesn't immediately close breakout rooms, but gives students a 60 sec. countdown before booting them back to the original meeting room. This countdown can be adjusted before moving students into breakout rooms by clicking "Options" in this window. In Options you can also determine whether students can return to the main room at any time, or if breakout rooms will automatically close after a set time. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND checking "Move all participants into breakout rooms automatically."

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