Here you’ll find answers to some common questions about running your virtual classes in Zoom. This page will be updated regularly based on questions we receive from faculty. We encourage you to also explore Zoom and videoconferencing resources via the top menu bar under “Tech Tools and Tips”.
Zoom Basics
Please email champsupport@champlain.edu with your request.
We have compiled some great beginner resources here.
Please see our instructions on setting up Zoom meetings, including recurring meetings and adding them to calendar events, in this tutorial video.
This can happen! Don’t panic. The meeting has not been cut off. Just rejoin the call and your students should still be there. If they are in breakout rooms, they may not even notice your absence.
To learn how to record a Zoom session, check out this official tutorial:
Zoom recordings integrate with Panopto, which can be used within Canvas. Please see our video tutorial.
We recommend only recording lecture and review portions of the class, especially if you are teaching from a classroom. In most cases, you will probably want to avoid recording student discussion.
The Chat feature is a powerful tool! Betsy Allen-Pennebaker (Core) has written about how you can use it to enhance your classes here.
Note that when you use Chat in your classes, no one will be able to see chats that were sent before they entered the session or breakout room.
It’s difficult to entirely prevent Zoom-bombing, but some pointers are available here. These pointers are geared toward K-12 educators and some are overly strict for college or constrain important pedagogical tools like the chat. However, many–like not posting the link to your meeting online and considering using a waiting room if you’re worried–will help you strategize.
If you experience Zoom-bombing, you can quickly evict the offending user by following the instructions here. Bias-related incidents involving Champlain College students should be reported here.
Using Breakout Rooms
To use breakout rooms, the meeting host (you) must be signed in to Zoom with a licensed (paid) account. Your Champlain account qualifies. If you join a meeting you’ve already created using the link (for example, from the calendar event), you will not be logged in automatically. Without being logged in, you won’t see the option to have breakout rooms. To solve this problem, go to your Zoom account, sign in from there, and then join the meeting.
Please check out Zoom’s intro video and platform-specific instructions here.
This is a function Zoom has. Unfortunately, it requires all participants to have Zoom accounts, which students typically do not. During a meeting, you can set up breakout groups manually (ie, you set the participants) or automatically (Zoom randomly sets the participants). With practice, this does not take long. Make a list of your desired groups in advance of class, and practice using the manual assignment tool with colleagues. We are sorry there is not a better solution for this problem.
In a breakout room, students can converse independently by both video call and chat (the breakout room chat is confined to that room), and they can share their screens if you have permitted it. They cannot record unless you have manually granted individual students permission to do so (there is rarely a reason to record breakouts, so this should not be an issue for most meetings). They also cannot end the breakout session, although they can leave the breakout room at any time. If students have questions, they can use the “Ask for Help” button to request that you join their room, rather than the “Raise Hand” tool.
This issue may span Zoom’s capacity, individual internet and computer speed, and other factors. Unfortunately, patience is the only solution.