FAQ

1) Ensure your volume on your Computer is up and that your speaker is not muted.

2) In the Zoom App you an also adjust the Volume, click the ^ next to the Microphone, then select Audio Settings... You will see a slider to increase the volume of your sound.

3) Ask students to move closer to their device when speaking- often times they don't know that the Mic doesn't pic them up as well from a distance.

4) If you are having difficulty hearing a specific student and notice lag, interruptions, etc. then you should suggest they sit closer to their wireless router or MiFi device so that they get a better connection. In some cases turning off nearby mobile phones or being by a window also helps.

5) In rare instances, the student's Chromebook Mic can become disabled. This quick link can be shared to help students turn the Mic back on: Chrome://settings/content/microphone (have them copy and paste that into the Chrome Browser).

After utilizing all troubleshooting steps, if you are still having volume issues or if you identify a specific student that you cannot hear during a Zoom meeting, you (or they) should contact the helpdesk (or student helpdesk).

These are the steps all educators should take to secure your Zoom meeting:

1. Use the Waiting Room Feature and admit students one or two at a time- confirming who they are before continuing. If a student cannot be confirmed, put them back to the waiting room or remove them from the meeting.

2. Once all students are present, Lock the Zoom Meeting. Now nobody else can join your meeting. Warning: This includes students that get disconnected and need to-rejoin.

3. Ensure every meeting you create uses a password. 

This link is an example of what a meeting that has a password will look like: https://vvsd365u.zoom.us/j/97644789098?pwd=ezRwgXXtdXE2cTFlTENjMEJYRXXxZz08 

This link is an example of what a meeting without a password will look like: https://vvsd365u.zoom.us/j/97644789098?

For a  comprehensive look at settings to configure and rationale, read the Educator Checklist for Securing your Zoom Meetings.

Unfortunately this is not possible due to the way Zoom is configured for student usage.  Per Zoom's Terms of Use, students under the age of 16 cannot have accounts (they can only join meetings hosted by VVSD Staff from the links that you share). Pre-assigning a member to a breakout room requires them to have a Zoom account, thus staff can be pre-assigned to a breakout room, but students cannot. As the Host, you can still always assign students to Breakout Rooms during the meeting.

First you must verify that you are a "Licensed" user and not a "Basic"  user. Open your Profile page and scroll down to where you see User Type.  It must show Licensed for you to be able to complete the next steps. If it does not show Licensed and you are a staff member who will be responsible for running Zoom meetings with students, then send an email to helpdesk@vvsd.org with the subject line ZOOM PRO ACCOUNT.

If you are a Licensed user, then when creating meetings (or editing existing meetings) you will see the option to "Assign an Alternative Host" at the bottom of the settings. Enter the email address for another staff member (who must also be a Licensed user) and save your meeting.  This will allow them to be able to start the meeting in the event you are not present. If they start the meeting then they will be the Host. If you join the meeting you will be the Co-Host.

Note: you will need to still provide the meeting information to whomever is the "Alternative Host" so that they have the ability to start the meeting.

If you want to have students change their username before the meeting begins, then you must NOT Share your Meeting Link. Instead, you need to share your Meeting ID and the Password.  Then:

1. Students can click on the Zoom App from their Chromebook shelf

2. They will see a "Join Meeting Screen" where they type the Meeting ID 

3. Below the Meeting ID is their Username (this is where they can click and change it as needed). 

4. Then they click Join. They will be prompted to enter the password before connecting.

Note: When a Meeting Link is shared instead, it just automatically opens up the Zoom app and skips the "Join Meeting" Screen, so students are unable to change their Username. They can however still change their name during the meeting.

Zoom on Chrome OS is not as robust as Zoom on a Windows or Mac Computer. The following things can be done on a Chromebook / Chrome Tablet:

• Join audio/video

• Pin a participant’s video

• Start or stop your video

• Switch to Gallery View

• Manage participants

• Invite others to join

• View a teacher’s shared screen and share their own if enabled (note- they cannot annotate nor use the Whiteboard in Chrome OS but can view the teacher's Whiteboard if used)

• Use nonverbal feedback like Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down, or Raise their hand to ask a question

• Chat with the teacher or Everyone (if chat is enabled)

Additionally, if you are a staff member on a Chromebook as a Host or Co-host you can:

• Access the Security icon in the meeting controls to lock the meeting, enable the Waiting Room, and remove participants

• Share their entire screen or just a single application window

• Record the session to the cloud (if a Licensed User Type)

This information and more can be found at https://blog.zoom.us/how-to-use-zoom-on-a-chromebook/ 

The co-host may leave and join any breakout room but only after they first join a breakout room that they are assigned to by the host. The co-host does not even see the option to Join breakout rooms until they have joined their assigned breakout room. However, after they have joined, they will easily be able to navigate to any other rooms.

Note: Only the host can assign participants to breakout rooms.

***The above is directly from Zoom Support, however, Instructional Technology has found this not to work consistently as described when a Co-Host is using a Chromebook***

Students can now self select break out rooms if the host creates rooms using the setting "Let participants choose room." On their Chromebooks, students will see a "Breakout Room Button" once the teacher has opened the rooms, a pop up window opens where then they can select which room to enter by clicking Join.

If you are already in a screen share, make sure your video panel is "on." To do so, click the "... More" button from the toolbar. Then select "Show Video Panel" (note: if you see "Hide Video Panel" then your video panel is live and must be hidden behind other programs or on a different monitor/screen) Lastly, click the Grid button (or other buttons in the top left corner) to toggle to the Grid View Layout. You must have multiple attendees in your Zoom meeting for the Gallery Grid Option to be available.  For a more detailed description (with Images!) click here.

Zoom alerted the District with the following notice regarding HD group video:

To preserve internet bandwidth and ensure that we are making the best use of global networks, you may experience intermittent availability of HD video during Zoom Meetings with 3 or more participants hosted on your desktop or mobile device. Standard video capabilities will remain in place. If you are joining using a Zoom Room or Conference Room Connector, HD video will remain enabled.

To provide a better video conferencing experience for district learners and staff along with preventing Zoom from unexpectedly degrading the quality of meetings, VVSD Technology has proactively disabled HD quality video within Zoom for all VVSD licensed accounts. This setting was implemented yesterday morning will assist with freeing up network resources throughout the district. While most staff members have already been using the standard “High quality” video setting within Zoom, there are some who might have enabled the HD quality video setting.

Technology alerted all staff in August of 2021 that Zoom was switching to saving cloud recordings for only 30 days. After 30 days all cloud recordings are automatically deleted. This document explains these details and also links to information on how to save cloud recordings to your laptop and how to delete recordings.