These guides are regularly updated. Email mel.herdon@icaew.com any suggestions or improvements.

Guidance for trainers

You can share this guide with external trainers

The ICAEW Zoom guide website URLs can be shared externally, so send this page - or the link to the whole site - to the trainer delivering your virtual class.

Practice session

Virtual classroom delivery can seem daunting if you don't have a lot of experience. But Zoom is a user-friendly platform. Plus we can arrange a dry run with ICAEW staff, so do let your contact in ICAEW know your availability.

We can also organise a run-through for any in-house clients.

Create a virtual classroom

It’s quick and easy to schedule a meeting. If you do not have a professional Zoom account*, an ICAEW license will be used to schedule the meeting.

Steps to schedule a meeting

Login to your Zoom account

Select Meetings

Click Schedule a New Meeting

Enter the topic, description, date, time, duration and amend the additional features to suit your requirements

Click Save.

* Virtual classes must be set up using a pro account as the free Zoom automatically ends all meetings after 40 minutes.

Invitation

Once you’ve scheduled the meeting, click Copy Invitation to copy the details to access the meeting. Depending on what’s been agreed, communicate these details to your ICAEW contact, or client ahead of the training.

You can also edit the meeting after it has been created - this will not change the access details.

How long?

We recommend a virtual classroom of no longer than 3 hours with a 10 – 15-minute break every hour.

The ideal class offers two 55-minute sessions of content (excluding welcome and ice breakers).

Managing multiple sessions

A course with multiple sessions (e.g. a full-day course split over two half days) will require a separate Zoom meeting set up for each session.

At the end of the each session, remind delegates that they will need to use the new link (which will be sent to them) to access the next session.

Be ready!

You can - and should - start the meeting before the time set. E.g., If the meeting is scheduled for 09:30 hrs, you can start it at 09:00 without editing the start time. This is useful for managing the host/co-host set up - see below. And for ensuring slides are working, etc.

See the Meetings section of this Zoom guide for more information on setting up the meeting, assigning hosts, etc.

Host/co-host

A host controls the settings in a meeting. In a virtual classroom, the trainer will be the host, as this allows you to control the delivery of the training.

When an ICAEW Zoom account is being used for the delivery, the ICAEW account holder will start the meeting then transfer host controls to the trainer. They do this by opening the participant list, right-clicking the trainer's name and selecting Make Host.

The trainer can then make the ICAEW account holder co-host by following the same process but selecting Make Co-Host; as a co-host they can assist with any technical issues that may arise during the session.

The handover should occur before the classroom is set to commence. The ICAEW account holder will start the meeting 25-30 minutes early, to give you time to get ready.

For more on host/co-host controls, please see: Roles of hosts

Waiting room/admitting delegates

Once delegates begin to join the meeting, they go into a waiting room - a screen displaying the message: Please wait, the meeting host will let you in soon.

As Host or Co-host, you can control when delegates are admitted into the virtual classroom from the waiting room. A notification will appear on the participant list to show who is in the waiting room and will give you the option to either admit or remove the participant.

A pop up in the bottom right corner of your screen will also appear telling you of anyone waiting to be admitted.

Delegates are advised to start joining the meeting 15 minutes before the session begins, to check they have no technical or connection issues. This period can be used as a networking opportunity, giving the trainer and the delegates a chance to casually interact or get to know each other a little, before the session begins.

The number of delegates varies from course to course. To ensure the virtual classroom remains interactive and personal, we recommend no more than 25 delegates per class, although the system can accommodate more. Larger classes risk becoming a webinar or lecture.

The team will send you a delegate list a few days before the session so you are aware of how many people will be joining, alongside their names and job roles, if Data Protection allows.

Disable the waiting room once the classroom begins to allow late joiners, or any delegates who lose their internet connection, to join or re-join without disrupting the session. To do this, choose Participants, More (bottom left corner) and Disable the Waiting Room.

For more information see Zoom's own support page: Waiting Room

Virtual classroom rules

The trainer can request delegates use their cameras and microphones. But of course, a delegate is not obliged to do so. At ICAEW we recommend delegates keep their cameras on because they are more likely to remain focused on the training.

As host, you can Mute all when you need to. This removes background noise, but still allows participants to individually turn their microphone on again.

While most delegates probably know the basic functions of Zoom, when the session starts it's a good idea to give everyone a quick overview and some basic house rules, e.g.:

delegates should mute themselves when not speaking
delegates to ensure the Zoom name on their video is their name* and not a nickname or the name of a family member/colleague that owns the computer they are using. They can correct the name shown by clicking on their video and choosing Rename.
tools like 'raise hand' to indicate a question or comment without interrupting the current speaker's flow
using the Zoom chat (if enabled)
how the breakout rooms will work
what to do in the event that a partipant drops off, their screen freezes, the internet connection is lost (i.e. how to rejoin)

* This also ensures ICAEW can monitor attendance, and make sure no one is in the session who shouldn’t be!

Technical issues

ICAEW can only offer technical support if we run the training through the ICAEW licence (recommended), or you specify our need for support via your own Zoom pro account. Please make sure that the trainer and the ICAEW contact have each other's mobile contact numbers before the session starts.

If the training is run through an ICAEW Zoom account and your internet connection cuts out, the ICAEW account holder will regain host control while you re-join the meeting.

If you are unable to re-join for a significant period, please contact the ICAEW account holder to provide a task for delegates to complete in your absence.

See also Equipment checks

Delegate feedback survey

Obtaining feedback is crucial for improving our courses and furthering conversations with the delegates and clients. Your ICAEW contact can provide a link to a feedback survey to publicise at the end of the course.

Before the training ends, paste the survey link into the live chat, and encourage delegates to complete it, stressing that it will only take a couple of minutes of their valuable time.

If possible, build in the time to fill in the form before you end the whole session and they leave the meeting.
The survey link can also be made to come up on screen when the meeting ends - to find out more see Post event survey

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