How to Teach Online with Zoom

The motive here is to locate the robustness of a particular teaching platform, Zoom Online, thus, let us excavate and drill down the subject to obtain the exciting insight.

The four minarets of the rapid success of this platform can be listed as:

• User-friendly: Zoom requires a simple meeting invitation, and by simple meeting link, students can connect through a meeting or online class whereas for Google Meet or Hangouts, the invitation need to be accepted by the other side. For use in Mobile, Google Meet app needs to download which is nevertheless the case with Zoom.
• Low cost: Zoom Web-conferencing feature is low-cost or Free for essential functions and is used by anyone or everyone by just making an account through a simple login.

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Microsoft Teams require an initial payment to start with, though it’s one of the excellent platforms. Skype can also be used, but it has other drawbacks.

Google Meet is still not free for the individual. Though is expected to be launched in a few days from now i.e., May 2020.

• Low Bandwidth: Skype was one of the most popular for teaching online. But, it is now losing ground for new users, and also old users are migrating to other platforms like Zoom.

The reason being that Skype requires higher bandwidth and has a connection problem.

• Video and voice clarity: No app gives Voice and Video clarity as excellent as Zoom. For this, you need to experience using Zoom to understand its features.

The platform many a times being questioned for a major drawback it possesses:

Security breach:

There are vivid news and media reports that Zoom is trying to pierce into privacy acknowledgement and is available on the dark web.

There have been several cases of Zoom boming. Zoom boming voices out the disruption made into a live meeting by the unconditional intervention of any stranger.

Several breach-overcoming actions are being advised by the cyber branch, out of which the primed formulation to be instantly accomplished by the online zoom users is the creation of a unique mail id just for the sake of attending Zoom online teaching.

Regular email address should not be employed for the platform, at the same time, downloading shouldn’t be done as the application asks for various permissions’ allowance which may lead to indirect free-flow of the user’s privacy tapped in mobile phones and laptops.

Formulations depicting Online reach to Zoom employment:

• Enter your newly created email address for account creation
• Email notification would be immediately received as soon as the account is created
• Post confirmation of email id, the free account has been created on Zoom and ready to be employed for.

It’s time to deep dive into specifications involved in the meeting conduction on Zoom, would term it as the vivid tools of Zoom Meeting:

Mute or Unmute:

It needs to be selected if the user is using earphones or microphones, he/she need to click, or it will be system’s automated configuration by default. The same goes for the speaker also.

There is a button to Test Speaker and Microphone. Trial and Error methodology works well here.

On several occasions, you will not need to even click on this button as software or application is designed in such a fashion, that it automatically selects or configures options without you also selecting or pressing any button.

Video:

Zoom Meeting will automatically get connected to user’s laptop camera, so it needs to be disabled. One can join a session with or without a video.

When video alternative is pressed, it automatically selects Laptop Webcam, and if using a desktop, one needs to have Webcam to access these features.

In default settings, according disabling can be devised for hosting or attending the meeting. This would almost simulate the classroom atmosphere in overall and proper check can be ensured on students’ progress in the online learning procedure.

 Adequate testing of Video Settings features along with opting appropriate virtual background features is too an assistive tool for smooth meeting conduction.

The third tool is regarding Security breach eradication on which already appropriate light is being thrown. Thus, let us move to tool 4, i.e., Manage Participants.

Manage Participant’s screen is to invite other participants through Zoom. Though it is recommended not to use these features to request the host can provide a Link, Meeting ID, and Password so that participants or students can Join meeting.

 The moment, the invite button is clicked, Pop up Button with Meeting ID and Password will appear. Adequate and concerned screenshots are need to be gathered and properly disseminated via email or whatsapp for smooth allowance of learners to join the organized meeting.

The next demanding tool is Chat window feature on the application which allows the attendees as well as the organiser of the meeting to communicate when needed in texted format, high interpretability is attained for the users, sometimes voices get superimposed and due to destructive combination, audibility tapers down.

Let us dive into the specifications to be cared about when sharing the screen, the ultimate tool to be mentioned, so as to present the prepared teaching or presenting documentation. The documented format could be anything like ppt, pdf, word doc., or even in-built whiteboard feature employment, just to engage the session with high interpretability.

It involves some technicalities regarding sharing of screens on the laptop, asking the commencer/ presenter to display according to his/her convenience, say, display of portion of the screen, background interfacing, portrait visibility, display of content from the second(standby) camera, music/ computer sound invasion only, etc.

One of the primed feature that a Zoom faculty should be highly aware of is the proper employment of whiteboard element of the app, it allows the faculty to demonstrate as well as illustrate via the way he/she is comfortable in, with the aid of vivid dotted brushes of various colours, it’s quite similar to the interface provided in the paint section of our desktop version, thus easy to operate and become acquainted with.

Additionally, the faculty could allow even the learners to share their screen simultaneously for ensuring whether the proper notes is taken down by the students or not, or for checking the solution of the query asked, assignments given can be marked/corrected on the screen using dotted brushes, etc, thus, embedding the platform with a plethora of relevant offering versatility tools.

Let us wrap-up this articulation by presenting some of the formulations/ tips to engage the learners on the online mirror while teaching

• Extracting out the creative skills of the learners
• Emphasization on group projects
• Proper interaction with the learners while they work
• Solicitation followed by stratification of queries /questions
• Reinforced learning
• The blending of similar highlighted experiences of learners in framing coursework and learning outcomes

This article was originally published on https://mytrustedtutor.com/blog/how-to-teach-online-with-zoom/