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Zoom has become a new classroom for many of us teachers. However it is a classroom which many of us were not given the key to unlock the door to. Here are some tips to using Zoom:
Use your work/school e-mail while signing up for Zoom. Some school districts (in the U.S.) have already paid for professional Zoom (Zoom Pro) accounts linked with work e-mails.
Upon opening the Zoom program on your desktop you will be shown this:
You will be asked if you want to "Join a Meeting" or "Sign in". If you're using Zoom for a meeting you might prefer to click the "Join a Meeting" button (to clarify you can also "Sign In" and join that meeting, directions below). If you click "Join a Meeting" you will see this:
A student (meeting attendee) does not need to have Zoom downloaded to participate. If they have the meeting link and click it, Zoom will open up in a browser tab- just like a website link. This allows them to see and hear the meeting leader and other meetings guests. However, they do not have full usage of all the Zoom tools while in the browser function. For example, adding contacts and receiving messages are only available in the fully downloaded Zoom program. Keep in mind that because of this any information (slides, links, etc.) sent during the Zoom call will NOT be saved (unless it is recorded, see below).
Free: Zoom is free to download. Zoom is free to chat. Zoom is free to video call and audio call. Zoom however, does not allow free video calls for more than 1 hour (or so). If you're in a video call with students and you've run over the free 1 hour time slot... just end the call and call the students again! The time resets.
Recording: Zoom has an option to record it's meetings. The recordings go into the cloud and you can have them emailed to you. I highly recommend recording all lessons for various reasons. One reason is: a student can go back and review your lesson, or watch the lesson if they had to miss it. You must email them the recording for them to be able to watch it. Watching the recorded lessons can also help the parents to be a study partner for their child. Lastly, there are many horror stories floating around the internet regarding inappropriate conduct from a student in a Zoom meeting. Recording lessons allows you to have proof of incidents so you may take appropriate action.
We hope you have found this information useful. Comment below if you have any questions regarding Zoom or any other video-conferencing platform. How has Zoom worked out for you as a teacher? We would love to hear your stories!
And remember,
We're All In This Together.
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