Teachers may experience times when they are not able to deliver class in person. This post provides educators with the configuration steps and practical tips for using Zoom to teach their lessons.

ZOOM is a great online platform that teachers can use for online teaching. But it can be a little intimidating and overwhelming.

And so here is our ZOOM tutorial for teachers!

I have been using ZOOM for about two years to interact with my teachers and mentors, and for interviews. And now, seeing how teachers are stressing over how to initiate remote learning with Zoom during this Covid19 pandemic and the lock-down of our schools, I knew I had to make a video.

Keep reading and watch the video at the end to see how to set up a ZOOM meeting, how to invite and manage your students, how to stream it to Facebook, how to share your desktop and how to end / save your videos. This post is packed!

TO START:

Install Zoom on your computer or mobile device and set up your Zoom account.

I always start by going to my Profile after I log in. This is like the starting point for all things ZOOM.

You will want to upload a profile image. This will be what shows if you turn off your camera in Zoom.

You have two options on how to meet – a Meeting and a Webinar. They are basically the same except webinars allow you to stream to a Facebook group though so if you want to do that you will need to select webinar.

For basic ZOOMing with your class a Meeting is exactly what you need.

So: Go to Meeting and Click Schedule a New Meeting.

1. 1. Fill The Topic header with the name of your course or lesson.
   2. Under Time Zone, check the “Recurring meeting” checkbox, then from the “Recurrence” drop-down menu, select No Fixed Time. (This will generate a meeting link that can be used at any time and will expire after 365 days.)
   3. Under Meeting Options:
      1. Enable join before host. If this is selected, students will be able to join the meeting before you. If this is unselected, students who join the meeting before you will see a notice to wait.
      2. Select Mute participants upon entry. Students will need to unmute their mics if they want to talk. It helps with keeping the distraction at a minimal
      3. Record the Meeting Automatically. Classes held via zoom should be recorded and uploaded to the platform to enable students who cannot participate synchronously due to their time zone or other factors to watch at a later time.
         NOTE: Zoom provides a simple way of doing this. Select Record the meeting automatically in the cloud; Zoom will start recording when you start the meeting and stop recording when you end the meeting. Zoom cloud recordings will be automatically saved.
      4. Fill other options:
         1. Video Host and Participant – ON
         2. Audio – BOTH
         3. Enable waiting room (if you desire, I would keep off)
         4. Only Authenticated Users Can Join – you can leave unchecked.

5.Click Save.

Once your meeting has been created, you may copy the Invite Attendees Join URL and share it students, guest lecturers, or invited guests; or, click the Copy the invitation link to copy and send the meeting information listed to your students or guests.

Once you are ready to have your meeting, push the START THIS MEETING button and your meeting will start.

• You will be prompted with two options – YES OPEN IN ZOOM and Connect With Computer Audio. And you are in. As soon as you open up the meeting, anyone with the link can join, so I would advice you to arrive early to set up before your students arrive.
• 

• Mute & Video – These two are located in the bottom black bar. They allow you to shut off and turn on your sound and video. If you shut off your video, you profile picture will default.
• Invite – Say you need to get someone the link while you are in your meeting, click the invite and COPY URL. You can then send it to them. (Trick – the numbers at the end of the URL are the meeting number).
• Participants – This box will show you who is in your meeting. You can MUTE ALL, UNMUTE ALL, and there are a few other group options at the bottom of this box (take a look).
• Share Screen – This allows you to share a URL, your desktop, or use the whiteboard. I will explain more.
• Chatting – Allows you to chat with the members in your meeting. Make sure if you are trying to chat, you select EVERYONE because you do have the option of just chatting with individuals except you have an instruction for a particular student.
• Pause / Stop Recording – This will allow you to pause the recording of the video.

Share Screen. This is a way for you to share your desktop, a URL, or use their built-in whiteboard. To start just hit Share Screen and select which option and to end the sharing there will be a STOP SHARE option at the top.

If you are using your desktop. It’s a great way to share a YouTube video in a browser, sharing a PDF, a PowerPoint or really anything you can open on your computer. Whatever you see on your desktop will show and you will also see videos of your participants on the right-hand side going down. A few words of caution:

• Make sure you are SET UP before you start your meeting.
• Think about your desktop, if you screen share, they will see all of it. Consider putting the things on your desktop in a folder.

• The system will make a DING sound when someone joins. This alerts you there is a new person in the meeting. You will default to SPEAKER VIEW. The yellow circle at the top allows you to CHANGE to Gallery view.

To end your meeting, you just select END MEETING in the bottom right hand corner. Because you set it up to save to your device, it will start the saving process for you.

There you have it. It’s a little much when it’s all typed out like this, but I wanted to make it extremely thorough so you feel comfortable. I promise you, it does get easier!

Preparing to Teach

1. Once you’ve scheduled your Zoom meeting, share the Zoom information and class expectations with your students. You may post an announcement in WhatsApp so students know when and where to meet. In your announcement, let students know what to prepare and expect to do during the Zoom class. You may also choose to email the instructions to them.
2. Plan and share your agenda and remote teaching guidelines so students know when and how they will participate during the session: will they use text chat or audio to communicate? Will they submit something before or after the class? What do they have to do to prepare for the class? All this should be communicated to students before the class begins.

During Class

We’ve highlighted some simple ways to make your remote classroom a vibrant and engaging learning environment. We recommend that you let students know when the class will end and what to expect after this class.

1. Turn on your video so students see you. It makes for a more personal remote teaching experience. Depending on your class size, you can ask students to turn on their videos as well.
2. To record your session so that it may be posted to students later, click the Record button on the lower right of the Zoom screen, and select Record to the Cloud. (NOTE: if you set the meeting to record to cloud automatically, you don’t need to click the record button.)
3. Use the text chat or audio to discuss datasets, formulas, a video, an article, etc.
4. Use the Share Screen tool to share documents, websites, images, or slides, etc., and provide different means for representing the information.
5. End Meeting. Please let students leave the class meeting first. If you end the meeting, it may feel like you are pushing them out of class. Stick around until the last student leaves in case they have any final questions.

Note: Remote teaching in Zoom may feel awkward at first, but you will get more comfortable with it after practicing. Remember that students are not used to learning in this way, either. The key is to communicate expectations and center your teaching on the students– engage them in the process of teaching and learning.

After Class

As much as possible, consider what would most benefit your teaching goals and your students before the class begins so you have a plan for after class.

1. If you recorded the session to the cloud, you will receive an automated email from Zoom once the recording has processed, which will contain links to view and download your recording.
2. Once processed, the recordings will be available in Cloud Recordings. Zoom cloud recordings cannot be downloaded by anyone but the recording owner. If some students were unable to attend the class, you may ask them to watch the recording and complete an alternative assignment so they get a similar learning opportunity as the students who attended.
3. Assess students based on your set learning goal. If you didn’t get to hear or assess the students during the session, provide an assessment after the session to allow students to demonstrate their learning.

Top Tips for Teaching with Zoom

1. Find a quiet well-lit location. Ensure there is no background noise – fans, washing machines, loud music, etc. Ensure there is adequate lighting if you are using the webcam video.
2. Use earbuds with a microphone or headphones.
3. Test your audio and webcam before your conference begins: https://zoom.us/test.
4. Notify students of Zoom classes or meetings: Let them know they can access the link through Zoom App, share your Zoom URL via email or text or Google calendar event, or any other shared digital space that everyone can access.
5. Establish guidelines and make students aware of your expectations for class. E.g., after I lecture for 15 minutes, we will discuss your questions.
6. Record the Zoom class session to the cloud. The audio will automatically be transcribed with machine-based captions. You may edit the transcription after the meeting to correct errors.

Have Questions?

• For technical assistance, send me a message on ezarononye2012@gmail.com