Zoom

GETTING STARTED WITH ZOOM

TEACHERS: PLEASE MAKE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO READ OVER THE MEETING CONTROLS THAT NEED TO BE IN PLACE WHEN HOSTING A ZOOM SESSION WITH STUDENTS!

Logging in with Zoom is as simple as going to zoom.com, clicking "Sign In" and logging in with your Google login. Here are a few video tutorials to help you get up and running. Although you can both schedule meetings through the Zoom website AND Google Calendar, as a teacher you may find it easiest to create your meeting on the Zoom website and simply share the link to your meeting via Google Classroom.

IMPORTANT: The Zoom website includes all of your "master controls" for creating as secure of a meeting space as possible for you and your students. Once you have logged into your Zoom account, if you click on the "Schedule a Meeting" link in the upper-right corner, you will find a Settings link on the left side. Exploring those settings will give you a strong sense of the controls you can execute. See below for list of essential controls to prevent "Zoombombing" and other disruptive meeting practices.

For additional support and training videos, please go to Zoom.com, log in with Google, and click on "Video Tutorials" on the left side of the screen. You can also click on the "Attend Live Training" link to register for free, live webinars in a variety of Zoom topics.

Joining a Meeting

Scheduling a Meeting with Zoom Website

Scheduling a Meeting with Google Calendar

Meeting Controls

Breakout Rooms

*Recording a Zoom Meeting for Later Viewing

*PLEASE NOTE: Recorded sessions should include an INSTRUCTOR ONLY recording a message to his/her/their classes, a lesson explanation, or a demonstration. No recording is allowed which includes student participants at this time. No screen captures of images showing students during a session should be posted online. Even among adults, it is considered appropriate protocol to ask for consent among attendees prior to starting to record any session.

ESSENTIAL MEETING CONTROLS TO HAVE IN PLACE

Video conferencing in the PreK-12 system has created unique opportunities as well as challenges in the classroom. Holding a virtual classroom can come with security risks in absence of the instructor placing certain controls in place. One such security risk is called "zoombombing." In "zoombombing," online trolls, either known or not known by or associated with your students, attempt to seek control and disrupt your online learning experience in a variety of inappropriate ways. Fortunately, there are controls you, as an instructor, can put in place to prevent such chaos from interrupting your classroom experiences.

Settings to Utilize to Create Safe Online Learing Experiences with Students

This section will include a brief description of the settings which should be used to secure your online meetings using Zoom. In some cases below, there will be links to the Zoom support center for tutorial steps related to a particular feature. Using these features is like having virtual body guards for your room!

For Starters

Familiarize yourself with Zoom’s settings and features so you understand how to protect your virtual space when you need to. In the information below, when you see a reference to Settings (in bold), this feature refers to a master setting found by going to Zoom.com and logging in with your Google credentials. There are also individual settings you can employ while running a meeting, but those will not be referenced in this manner.
Two words all teachers need to remember when using Zoom..."Waiting Room." This is an extremely helpful feature for hosts to control who comes and goes. (More on that below) **Note: As of March 31, Zoom has enabled the "Waiting Room" feature by default in your Settings**
When you share your meeting link on social media or other public forums, that makes your event VERY public. ANYONE with the link can join your meeting if you admit them from the Waiting Room.
On April 7, Zoom launched a "Security" button, which the host will see on the meeting toolbar. This button will allow the host to quickly access many of Zoom's security features with the click of a button!

Managing Your Screen Sharing

To prevent participants from seizing control of your screen during a meeting, use the host controls at the bottom of the Zoom interface. Click the arrow next to Share Screen and then Advanced Sharing Options.

Under “Who can share?” choose “Only Host” and close the window.

You can also lock the Screen Share by default for all your meetings in your web settings on Zoom.com, which will look like this.

Managing Your Participants

Here are some other useful Zoom features to secure your classroom and help you present with confidence. Underlined text links back to Zoom support documents or training videos for additional detail.

Require the use of a password when setting up your meetings. You will see that option when you log into your Zoom dashboard at Zoom.com, under Settings. As of March 31, this setting is now ENABLED by default.
Allow only signed-in users to join: If someone tries to join your event and isn’t logged into Zoom with the email they were invited through, they will receive a message stating "the meeting is for authorized attendees only." This is useful if you want to control your guest list and invite only those you want at your event — other students at your school or colleagues, for example. Have your students sign into their Google accounts when they click on the link to join your meeting.
Lock the meeting: It’s always smart to lock your front door, even when you’re inside the house. When you lock a Zoom Meeting that’s already started, no new participants can join, even if they have the meeting ID and password (if you have required one). In the meeting, just click Manage Participants at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants pop-up to the right, click on More and then Lock Meeting.
Remove unwanted or disruptive participants: To be used only when a student/participant fails to comply with your requests and continue to disrupt the learning process for the class. From the Participants pop-up menu that appears after you click on Manage Participants, you can mouse over a participant’s name, and several options will appear, including Remove. Click that option to remove someone from a meeting. You can also choose Put in Waiting Room by hovering over a participant's name, clicking on More and then selecting Put in Waiting Room.
Allow removed participants to rejoin: When you do remove someone, they can’t rejoin the meeting. But you can toggle your Settings to allow removed participants to rejoin, in case you boot the wrong person.
Put ‘em on hold: If you need to temporarily remove someone from a meeting, you can them on hold, and the attendee's video and audio connections will be disabled momentarily. Click on a participant's video thumbnail and select Start Attendee On Hold to activate this feature. Click Take Off Hold in the Participants list when you’re ready to have them back. Use this when you you need a quick, temporary removal of a student from class.
Disable video: Hosts can turn someone’s video off by hovering over a participant's name in the Participant list. This will allow hosts to block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate gestures on video.
Mute participants: Hosts can mute/unmute individual participants or all of them at once in the Participants list. Hosts can block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate noise from other participants. You can also enable Mute Upon Entry in your Settings to keep the clamor at bay in large meetings.
Turn off file transfer: In-meeting file transfer allows people to share files through the in-meeting chat. Toggle this off in your Settings to keep the chat from getting bombarded with unsolicited pics, GIFs, memes, and other content.
Turn off annotation: You and your attendees can doodle and mark up content together using annotations during screen share. You can disable the annotation feature in your Zoom Settings to prevent people from writing all over the screens. Note: You will not see annotation capabilities if you are using a Chromebook.
Disable private chat: Zoom has in-meeting chat for everyone or participants can message each other privately. Restricting participants’ ability to chat among one another while your class is going on can cut back on distractions. This can also prevent anyone from getting unwanted messages during the meeting. This can be controlled in Settings or you can change chat settings during a meeting using the Chat button. Once clicked, the Chat Pop Up will appear. You will see three dots down towards the bottom of the window, which will reveal your chat options, as shown below.

Use the Waiting Room

No, really...use the waiting room!! One of the best ways to use Zoom for public events and classes is to enable the Waiting Room feature in Settings. As of March 31, Zoom has enabled the "Waiting Room" feature by default in your user settings. Please leave that featured ENABLED at all times!

Just like it sounds, the Waiting Room is a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them. It’s almost like the velvet rope outside a theater, with you as the red-coated ticket taker carefully monitoring who gets let in. Once the class starts, you can even send individual users back to the waiting room, sort of like a virtual "time out," by clicking on their name in the Participants list , selecting More and Put In Waiting Room.

Meeting hosts can customize the Waiting Room in Settings for additional control, and you can even personalize the message people see when they hit the Waiting Room so they know they’re in the right spot. This message is really a great spot to post any rules/guidelines for your event, like who it’s intended for.

There are a number of options associated with waiting room, so read more about Waiting Rooms by clicking here. Once you have joined your class with students waiting, you can admit them one by one using the Participants list panel, as shown below.

Click HERE for a Zoombombing Cheat Sheet - which includes steps for essential settings to secure your meetings

Click HERE to access a page specifically about Using Zoom on Your Chromebook, which includes installation instructions and tips for maximizing performance on your Chromebook

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