Zoom Web Conferencing

• Who can create an APSU Zoom account at https://apsu.zoom.us?
  
  Any active faculty, staff, or student can create an APSU Zoom account so they can host meetings.*  Account creation is as simple as logging in at https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window) with your single sign-on credentials; however, it is an essential and required step as you do not automatically have an APSU Zoom account.
• *Who should create an APSU Zoom account at https://apsu.zoom.us?
  
  Creating an APSU Zoom account gives the user a Zoom license so that they can host meetings beyond the constraints of the basic free Zoom account.  This means only users that plan on hosting meetings need to create an APSU Zoom account.**
• Do faculty, staff, and student users get different licenses?
  
  Not at this time.  Any active faculty, staff, or student can create an APSU Zoom account and get a license.  Please note, Zoom does not see you as a faculty, staff, or student.  The tool simply looks as you based on how you are participating – host, co-host, attendee.
• **Is there anytime a user would need an APSU Zoom account to attend a meeting?
  
  Yes.  There is a setting in Zoom called “Only authenticated users can join.”  This optional setting is at the discretion of the meeting host.  If the host turns this on and selects “Attendees must sign into their APSU Zoom account,” attendees will need to have 1. previously gone to https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window) to create their APSU Zoom account and 2. sign into their already created APSU Zoom account to attend the meeting.  Attendees are not able to see in advance if a meeting requires authentication.  If hosts choose to use this optional setting, they must notify their attendees in advance.
• Is a Zoom account created or accessed at https://zoom.us with an APSU email the same as an APSU Zoom account created at https://apsu.zoom.us?
  
  No, these are very different accounts even though they can both use APSU email.  Meetings hosted by a free Zoom account created at https://zoom.us (opens new window) are limited to 40 minutes if there is more than 1 attendee, cannot be recorded to the cloud, and cannot use polls.  APSU Zoom account users receive a license to host meetings, and, therefore, do not encounter these constraints.
• You are an active faculty, staff, or student that needs to host a Zoom meeting for longer than 40 minutes, what should you do now?
  
  First, read this whole newsletter!  Then, go to https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window) and log in with your single sign-on credentials.  Reference this website for on-demand Zoom resources.

Zoom Passcode Encryption

“Embed passcode in invite link for one-click join” is on by default.  Whenever you choose to add a passcode to a meeting, the passcode will be embedded into the meeting link.  Previously, the meeting link contained just the Meeting ID and hosts had to remember to give the link or ID AND the passcode to attendees.  Now the meeting link includes the encrypted passcode.  You can give attendees this longer link for one-click join to your meeting.  You can still give attendees the Meeting ID and Passcode and they can join by entering this information in Zoom.  While this setting is on by default, you can turn it off in your specific Zoom settings.  Simply log in at https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window), select Settings on the left side menu, and search for “Embed passcode in invite link for one-click join.”  Finally, keep in mind that whether you share a link and passcode, encrypted link, or meeting ID and passcode, once you share with someone, it can be shared with anyone.  Consider other security options in addition to Passcodes to keep your Zoom meetings secure.  Learn more about Zoom security on this pages under the Securing Zoom tab.

User Authentication

As Zoom is being used more and more, security also becomes more and more of a concern.  One option to secure your meetings is “Only authenticated users can join.”  When enabled, the host can then allow only users with an APSU Zoom account (@apsu.edu or @my.apsu.edu) or any Zoom account.  Please note this is an optional setting and may add an extra step for your attendees to join.  There are additional options to secure your meeting besides authentication including requiring registration, passwords, and waiting rooms.  Important note when using “Attendees must sign into their APSU Zoom account:”  any APSU faculty/staff/student can have an APSU Zoom account; however, they must “claim” it.  Users must go to https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window) and sign in with their single sign-on credentials to create and claim their account.  This MUST be done BEFORE attempting to log into a meeting that requires authentication.  If they have not activated their APSU account FIRST, their single sign-on credentials will not work in Zoom.  As a host, if you are requiring APSU authentication, please notify your potential attendees that they need to create their APSU Zoom first.

Recording to the Cloud

Cloud recording is an option for all meetings/webinars.  When you record a meeting and choose "Record to the Cloud," the video, audio, and/or chat text can be recorded in the Zoom cloud and accessed online through your APSU Zoom account. The recording files can be downloaded to a computer or streamed from a browser. There are a number of settings that can affect the recording layouts and what is included in the recording.  Please use the Zoom Cloud Recording Quick Guide to help you determine the best cloud recording settings for your situation.  It is also important to note that there is a cloud recording storage limit that APSU must manage.  Please see the “Zoom Storage Limit” section under the “Notices” tab on this page for more information.

Simultaneous Meetings

You can now join multiple Zoom meetings simultaneously.  Log into your APSU Zoom account at https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window).  On the left menu, select Settings.  Under the Meeting tab, enable the “Join different meetings simultaneously on desktop” setting.  In order to use this feature, you must be logged into the Zoom app.  You cannot use this feature when trying to “join from your browser” and you cannot host more than one Zoom meeting at a time.  This feature is to help you attend more than one Zoom simultaneously.

Live Transcription

Zoom can now provide AI-powered live subtitles and transcripts for all meetings!  This is a huge step in making live meetings more accessible to all users.  The live transcription feature must be enabled by the meeting host.  While enabled, participants can view the live subtitles and/or transcript or hide them if desired.  Live transcription only supports English at this time and it is recommended that you speak clearly for best results. For more information about this feature please view the Live Transcription in Zoom Quick Guide.

Host Stop Participants' Video

• Stop One Participant's Video: The meeting host or co-host can stop a participant’s video.  Select the Participants button, hover over the participant’s name, select More, and then Stop Video.  Alternatively, when viewing the participant’s camera, you can select the ellipses button (…) and then Stop Video.  The participant cannot turn their web cam back on unless the host or co-host goes back in and selects Ask to Start Video.  
• Stop All Participants' Videos: First, when you are scheduling your meeting, choose your settings so that the participants' videos are off at meeting start.  Once the meeting starts, select the Security button and uncheck Start Video.  Participants will not be able to turn on their video.  If someone has already turned on their video, their video will remain on.  It is not automatically shut off.  If you want to turn their video off, see the option above.  It is advised that you tell participants when you are not allowing video.  Otherwise, they may believe they are experiencing technical difficulties.  

Stop Incoming Video

If you’re struggling with low bandwidth (or even with video fatigue), the new stop incoming video feature allows you to instantly stop the incoming video feeds (opens new window) of others in the meeting, replacing them with participants’ profile pictures. This feature only affects your view, not others, and it doesn’t turn off your camera.  If you are a host or co-host looking to stop a participant's video from being viewable by others, please see Host Stop Participants' Video above and Focus Mode under Classroom Management.

Immersive View

Recreate the feel of a physical class or conference room by placing up to 25 video participants onto a single virtual background as part of an immersive view (opens new window). See picture below.  Participants are automatically placed onto provided or uploaded scenes and the host can adjust the arrangements as needed.

Advanced Polling and Quizzing

Zoom has released advanced polling and quizzing features (opens new window).  Advanced polling options enable you to add questions that allow for ranked responses, matching, short and long text responses, fill-in-the-blank, and more. You can even add images to your questions! Turn your polls into quizzes by selecting the right response for each question. You can choose to show participants how many answers they got correct after they complete the quiz, or make quiz records available only to you.  Advanced polls and quizzes requires version 5.8.3 or higher.  Attendees not on this version will not be able to participate.

Controlling Slides Shared by Another

A presenter in a meeting can give slide control to other participants (opens new window), so that others can control the progression of slides for them or so that multiple people can present and change slides without having to switch who is sharing their screen.  This avoids the need to ask the presenter to change the slide when they are ready, interrupting the flow of the meeting and presentation.

Focus Mode

Focus Mode (opens new window) was designed with the digital learning environment in mind. When enabled, it allows instructors and other co-hosts to see all students’ videos so they can supervise the class. Students, however, can only see hosts, co-hosts, and their own video feed — not other students as pictured below. This helps learners stay focused without feeling self-conscious about turning on their camera or getting distracted by what their peers are doing.

Saving Gallery View

Just like in a physical classroom, creating seating charts in your virtual classroom has its advantages. You can arrange students in Gallery View (opens new window) so they’re in alphabetical order, or put students who need more supervision on the first page of the gallery.  Now, you can also save that Gallery View (opens new window) and load it every time you start your recurring meeting with the same meeting ID.

Zoom Assistance with Attendance

Zoom can assist you with taking attendance in video conferencing courses.  To help Zoom help you, make sure you tell your students to either 1) join class from their APSU Zoom account or 2) when joining from a browser and prompted to enter their name, they must enter their name to match the class roster.  

• Here/Present - The old tried and true “here!” method will still work in Zoom.  You can call out names and have students respond audibly with their microphone.
• Nonverbal Feedback (opens new window) - a variation of the verbal “here” method is to call names and have them respond with nonverbal feedback like the “Yes” or “Thumbs Up” icon.  The feedback will show up next to the student’s name on the Participants list.
• Polling (opens new window) – Create a poll with a getting started question for the day.  It could be as basic as, “Are you present in class today?”  As long as you did not make the poll anonymous, you will be able to see who responded to the poll.  You can even create one poll and use it in each of your recurring meetings.  After the meeting is over, you can run a report to see the poll results (opens new window).
• Reporting - After the meeting, log into https://apsu.zoom.us (opens new window), select Reports on the left side menu, then Usage report.  This will give you a searchable list of all the meetings you have hosted.  Under the Participants column, the number of participants is listed.  Select the number and you can see a list of participants’ names.  The list can be exported as well.

Zoom Office Hours

Zoom for office hours?  Yep, just another awesome way to use Zoom!  Set up a recurring meeting in Zoom to allow students to stop by and ask questions.  Check out this Zoom for Office Hours guide.

Zoom recommends using virtual backgrounds with a green screen for best results.  You may be able to use virtual backgrounds without a green screen.  However, virtual backgrounds without a green screen will not work for all users based on their computer and camera hardware.  Review the virtual background prerequisites (opens new window) for more information.  Please note, if you get an error like the one below that your computer can not support virtual backgrounds, than your computer hardware can not support virtual backgrounds.  In order to use virtual backgrounds, you would need to set up a green screen.

Zoom virtual background comes stocked with some options to try.  You can upload your own images as well.  To feel and share your APSU spirit from anywhere, try one of these APSU branded virtual backgrounds.  Please note, the image below is just an example, visit the links to download files.

• APSU Canto Photo Shelter (opens new window)
• Created by Dr. Tim Oneal (opens new window)

Zoom virtual background comes with some stock options, but you can find or create your own.  The recommended setup is:

• A background image with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and minimum resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels.
• Background video (MP4 or MOV file) with a minimum resolution of 480 by 360 pixels (360p) and a maximum resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p).

Zoom curates some virtual backgrounds on their website (opens new window).  Sites recommended by Zoom for backgrounds with royalty-free media include Pexels (opens new window), Unsplash (opens new window), Pixabay (opens new window).  You can also create a free account with Canva and create your own virtual backgrounds.  Learn more about the free Zoom virtual background maker (opens new window).  Be careful as you explore the internet!  Only download from reputable sites and look for free options.

While you can create and share an unlimited number of whiteboards, please note that Distance Education’s Zoom Whiteboard retention policy states that:  

 

Whiteboards that were last opened beyond 120 days will be automatically marked for deletion and users will see a warning 30 days before, to provide enough time if they want to keep them. Once a whiteboard is moved to trash, users can recover it from the Trash tab, and the clock is reset. Users can safeguard whiteboards by starring them so they won't be deleted.

 

Additionally, please note that APSU's Zoom cloud storage is limited.  We ask that you occasionally review your whiteboards and delete those that are no longer needed.  If the cloud storage limit is met, APSU faculty, staff, and students will not be able to record meetings to the cloud or create new whiteboards until users free up space.

Classic whiteboards are only accessible within a Zoom meeting as a screen-sharing option. This type of whiteboard offers basic editing and formatting tools, and users can save the whiteboard content as a PDF document or a PNG image. However, once the screen-sharing ends, the whiteboard and all its content disappear.

 

Conversely, with the new Zoom Whiteboard feature, users have access to an infinite canvas that can be created and accessed both during and outside of meetings. Essentially, it serves as a visual collaboration solution that can be easily shared with others. Managing your whiteboards is made convenient through the Zoom online portal or the Zoom app on your device.

Zoom Whiteboard has the following features and capabilities:

• User Commenting
• Various templates including mind maps, meeting notes, flowcharts and storyboards, etc.
• A toolbar that allows you to add sticky notes, texts, shapes, etc.
• A Presentation feature equipped with a timer and laser pointer
• A Project feature that allows a number of related whiteboards to be housed and allows the owner to add team members.
• User access level settings for the following roles: viewer, commenter, editor, and owner.
• The ability to export your whiteboard as a PDF, PNG, or CSV file.
• Grid customization and mini-map for visual navigation

Zoom Whiteboard Overview

       

 

• Getting Started with Zoom Whiteboard (opens new window)
• Using the Zoom Whiteboard (opens new window)
• Sharing with Zoom Whiteboard (opens new window)
• Zoom Whiteboard Education Tips