How do I get started with Zoom?

You will need to download the Zoom application and login using the details below to authenticate your account.

How do I download and install Zoom?

Zoom is available for download for UniSA blue plated computers and your personal devices (PC/Mac).

If you are installing on a blue plated UniSA machine:

• You can download Zoom client via the software centre on your computer, if you are not sure, please get it installed with the help of IT helpdesk prior to the online meeting. Here is the link to help with software centre installations: https://i.unisa.edu.au/askit/all/software/software-center/
• Please login to https://unisa.zoom.us/ portal using your UniSA login and password prior to joining the meeting to authenticate your account, this is required for the first time you use Zoom.

If you are installing on personal device:

• You can download free Zoom client via the link at https://zoom.us/download

What device do I need to join meeting?

• You will need your laptop or your computer desktop with Zoom client installed
• Microphone headphone
• Webcam

Please make sure to configure your settings for video and audio and select correct devices for the Zoom meeting. Please see the help link: https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=1815874

Video resource

• How to set-up Zoom meetings on your Course site in learnonline. 
• How to download and install Zoom and Start a Zoom meeting. We recommend that you follow the download and install process at least the day before you are required to use it to ensure that Zoom works on your computer. If you have trouble with the installation please contact the IT Help Desk. 
• How to Start a Meeting and some of the basic features in Zoom.

How do I set up a Zoom meeting in learnonline? 

Please watch this video which works through how to add a Zoom session to your learnonline course site.  Alternatively, there is also a quick guide staff help page. 

How do I schedule a Zoom meeting outside of learnonline? 

If tutors want to create their own Zoom tutorial , they will need to login to their Zoom portal either by following this link, or by opening their Zoom desktop application. Then follow the instructions on the staff help page for scheduling a meeting. 

Note: Course Coordinators should be adding Zoom tutorial sessions in their learnonline course sites. 

How can I send all students the link to the Zoom session? 

If you set up the Zoom session in learnonline the students will be able to access the link on the course page. However, you may want to send all students a message via your news forum outlining how to access the session or add the link to take them directly there. You can also copy the Zoom invitation and send it via email. Instructions for how to do this are on the staff help page. 

When should Zoom sessions be recorded?

Zoom is best used for interaction and engagement (such as Q&A, live student presentations etc) and should not be to replace presentations that can be recorded by other means (such as Panopto). Purpose recorded presentations are more likely to be re-usable in future offerings and have a longer shelf life without the issue of obtaining participant permissions to re-use, or trying to edit out participants after the fact.

Recording a Zoom session, or portion of a session,  to add to your course site is useful where there is information being shared that is specific to a course offering or project task, is time sensitive (eg Q&A for an assessment or collaborative project task that will benefit students who were unable to attend). These recordings would typically only be made available to the students in the course site for the offering in which they are recorded.

If you think your session fits these requirements, you can record your by clicking on ‘Record’ at the bottom of the meeting screen. There are further instructions on recording a Zoom session on this page. 

Do I need to advise students we are recording? And what do I say?

The host/scheduler of the meeting can record, if you plan to record follow the below instruction:

1. Set up the recording disclaimer in your Zoom settings at unisa.zoom.us. Enabling this setting will prompt students to provide their consent to be recorded in a session. 
2. Advise students the session will be recorded and do this both verbally AND in the chat. It's useful to add this as a PPT slide if you're using slides, in order to remind yourself.
3. Tell students video, audio, shared screens and chats are recorded.
4. Ask students to turn off their video and mute their mics until they are called on to contribute (this depends on how you run the session).
5. When you want a general discussion use the gallery view with all video/mics on but remember this will all be recorded.
6. Any recording which may identify students can only be added to the course site for that offering in which the video was made. The video cannot be included in any medium available to the public.

Note: If you upload the recording to Panopto, you can edit any parts you don’t want before adding to your course site.

Should I record to my computer or the cloud?

We recommend you record to your computer, then upload into Panopto and share to learnonline. Recording will be saved to a Zoom folder on your computer which is auto created when you install Zoom. You get 2 versions, audio (MP3) only and AV (MP4) - upload the MP4 version. 

Can my tutors add their own meeting on the learnonline course site? 

No. Unfortunately sometimes your tutors won’t have editing access in your course. As the course coordinator you can either: 

• Use the ‘Schedule for’ function to allow your tutors to schedule meetings on your behalf. For instructions on how to do this visit the staff help page. 
• You can assign your tutor as an alternative host. However, there are some limitations. Find out how to assign an alternative host by visiting the staff help page. 
• Alternatively, your tutor can establish the meeting using their own Zoom portal, share the URL with you and you can make it available on the course site.   

Why can’t I add a tutor as an alternative host?

The person you are trying to add as an alternative host first needs to associate their staff account by signing in at unisa.zoom.us. Once they have done this, you will be able to add them as an alternate host. 

How do I upload files to Zoom to share during our class session?

Actually, you don’t. Zoom’s main feature is dynamic sharing of content rather than burdening the system with uploading files. See the ‘Share’ help resource.

You can share files through the Chat function if it's enabled.

Is there a way to get a record of attendance for my Zoom meeting? 

Yes, but reports of this nature are only available if you are the host of the meeting. To find out how to get a record of attendance, visit the staff help page. 

Can I run my lectures using Zoom? 

You can but it is not recommended. Zoom is useful for providing a space for teacher and student interactions. As lectures are mostly for the delivery of information, it is recommended that you use Panopto to record and store your lecture presentations. To learn more about recording with Panopto visit the staff help page. 

Is there a Zoom support resource I can send my students to? 

There is support for students using Zoom on the learnononline Help course site. From there, students can also download a PDF quick guide. 

Do I need a headset, or can I use the inbuilt speakers/microphone? 

To maintain a good sound quality for students, it is highly recommended that you use a headset when using Zoom. However, if you are unable to access a headset, you should be ok to use the inbuilt microphone/speakers of your computer. 

Can I host two Zoom meetings at the same time, or should I assign an alternative host to one of them? 

You cannot host two Zoom meetings at the same time. Also, an alternative host cannot run the meeting in the course site if the host is running a meeting at the same time anywhere else. Therefore, the tutor should set up their own meeting in the Zoom portal or alternatively, the course coordinator sets up the meeting at a different time and adds the tutor as an alternative host.  

To learn more about the roles in Zoom you can visit the staff help page.  

I am hosting back to back Zoom sessions and Zoom won’t let me in to my second session.

I get the error message “You have a meeting that is currently in-progress. Please end it to start a new meeting?” What should I do? 

It may have to do with the way you finished the first session. Closing the window, or killing the session, may not send the right signal to the Zoom server. There will be a link in your Zoom session screen that says, "End meeting" and then, if you are the host, there is an extra window that appears and says "End meeting for all" which you need to select. With this, Zoom formally terminates the session and you should be able to start your next session. 

It is important to note that, as a host, you cannot run two sessions concurrently. Therefore, you must formally finish one before starting another. 

If the session was setup by someone else, they may have another session in progress. 

How can I increase the security on a Zoom session? 

See the learnonline resource on customising security for your context. Consider turning off features like private chat or annotation if they are not required.   

I need more help with using Zoom. What support is available to me? 

There are Zoom support resources available on the learnonline Staff Help site. If you have specific unanswered questions, you could book an OED consult here. 

For technical questions contact the HelpDesk: ithelpdesk@unisa.edu.au 

How can I manage my participants/students in the Zoom session? 

As the host of the session you can manage the participants. You can choose to allow, or not allow, your participants to use video, audio and chat. For more information on how to manage your participants visit the Zoom help page. 

How do I share my screen? 

You can share your screen by clicking on the ‘Share Screen’ icon at the bottom of the meeting. For more information on sharing your screen and managing your participants ability to share their screen, visit the staff help page or the Zoom support page. 

How can I change the video layout? 

There are 3 video layouts to choose from. To learn more about each of them visit the staff support page. 

What are breakout rooms and how do I manage them? 

Breakout rooms are a way of grouping participants within your Zoom session. This can be useful for establishing smaller discussion groups. For more information on Zoom breakout rooms visit the staff support page. 

After a breakout room activity, how can students share their work to the main room? 

Whiteboard 

Students can use the whiteboard feature. At the end of the breakout session the student who created the whiteboard can save it to their computer (defaults as a png image). 

When all students have returned to the main room you can call upon the student to then share their saved whiteboard image. 

• Note: before starting the breakout room ask students to appoint someone who will create the whiteboard and talk to it on behalf of the group. 

Chat 

Students can only see the chat for their breakout room so they could use this to collaborate. Have the spokesperson save the chat to their computer before the breakout rooms end so they can have it as notes. 

Word, Excel, PDF etc 

You could upload a file in the chat before launching the breakout rooms. In each room a student downloads the file and screen shares then the group annotate the file. Spokesperson saves the file to share back in the main room. 

Can I get students to annotate a document or slides? 

Yes you can. To find out more about using annotation tools visit the Zoom support page. 

Can I leave students in the Zoom session to chat? 

Not recommended. You can only have one Zoom session running at a time. UniSA students have access to create their own Zoom session with peers, more information available online.

How do I set up quick polls during a Zoom session? 

Once you open the zoom session you will see the Poll function in the bottom menu. You can only create quick on-the-fly type polls in session. 

How do I create polls ahead of starting the Zoom session? 

Full details available online with Zoom.

1. Go to https://unisa.zoom.us/. 
2. Sign in.
3. Select Schedule a New Meeting or edit an existing one. 
4. In the new window that opens fill in all the fields like the name, time etc. 
5. Select Save at the bottom. 
6. Another window will open – scroll to the bottom. 
7. You will see “you have not created any poll yet”. 
8. In that box select Add. 
9. Now you can create your polls. Note, use the +Add a Question link to keep adding polls before you Save. 
10. Now when you start your Zoom session the polls you just added will be there. 

How can I upload my recorded Zoom session to Panopto? 

• If recorded locally, Zoom will process the video after the session and will display the location of the video on your computer when the processing is finished.  
• Upload the .mp4 file to Panopto following the instructions in Upload video & audio.  
• The video can then be shared with an embed code to your course with the Embed a video or folder information.

How can tutors share the recording of a Zoom Session with the course coordinator? 

If your tutors have arranged the Zoom session from their account, the recording will be attached to them. They may have saved the recording to their computer or they may have saved it to the cloud. Ask your tutors to upload the recorded version to their Panopto account. To share it with you, they will need to change the ‘Share’ settings of the video to ‘Unlisted’. Within the share settings they can copy the link to the video and send it to you.  

Note: If your tutor was the alternative host to the Zoom session, the recording will have saved to the hosts account. To find out more, please visit this staff help page. 

I don't have a webcam, is there another option? 

An android smartphone can be used as a webcam for your PC by installing an app called 'DroidCam' on your phone. With the app installed and configured you can use it as a webcam for Zoom, Skype for Business and for recording video and audio for Panopto. Follow these instructions to install and configure the app 'DroidCam' on your smartphone and connect it to your workstation. 

As a tutor, why can't I start the Zoom session?

Edit the Zoom activity in Moodle and add the tutor as alternative host,  

AND 

Make sure the course coordinator is not having their own Zoom session at the same time. 

What if my session drops out? 

Tell students your plan at the beginning, e.g. If the session drops out, wait 2 mins whilst I try to reconnect. If this still doesn’t work I will email/post in the forum what to do next. 

I can't add students to break out rooms, why not?

There are several possibilities that can cause this:

1. Students who joined the session via their internet browser can’t be added to breakout rooms. If you plan to run breakout rooms, tell students beforehand they must download the app.
2. Students who arrive late can’t be added to existing breakout rooms. Always create 1-2 extra breakout rooms to add late-comers to. Alternatively leave the late comers in the main room and make that their breakout room. 

Why is the writing displayed back to front when I use the Doc Cam?

Enable Mirror Effect in video settings. 

Why did I lose the menu in a shared screen?

There are a range of keyboard shortcuts in Zoom, If you accidentally action the Hide Floating Meeting Controls in a Shared view don’t panic, just use the Escape key on your keyboard and the controls will return.

Why can't my students hear the audio for a video in a shared screen?

Pause the video & stop sharing. Select Share again but this time select the Share computer sound box in the bottom left of the share window. Proceed and restart the video.  See Zoom help.

How do I create new ‘pages’ in a Zoom Whiteboard?

Use the page controls in the bottom-right corner of the whiteboard to create new pages and switch between pages.

• Note: Only the participant or host that started sharing the whiteboard has access to create and switch pages.

How can I address a hacker or inappropriate behaviour in a Zoom session? 

For more serious concerns, you can close a meeting at any point. There are also a range of settings available to increase the visibility of participants and control who attends a session, see the help resource. Please report any external access to the IT HelpDesk.  

If there is a need to remove a participant from a Zoom meeting, simply follow these steps: 

1. If the Participants panel is not visible, click Manage Participants at the bottom of the Zoom window. 
2. Next to the person you want to remove, click More. 
3. From the list that appears, click Remove. 

Note: The below options remove some interaction that students or participants have, depending on your use-case, these might not always be desirable.

• Turn off Annotation
  Zoom Annotation is a great feature, but there are times when you may not want your participants to have the ability to annotate on your screen share. 
  To disable the Annotation feature during a meeting, in the Zoom control bar select More >  Disable participants annotation. 
  This will prevent them from marking up the screen while you are sharing it.
• Removing Annotations in the session
  It’s easy to clear any Participant annotations that were made by navigating to the Zoom control bar and selecting Annotate > Clear > Clear Viewers’ Drawings.
• Controlled participant Screen Sharing
  As a default, only a Zoom meeting Host can share their screen. If you would like any of your participants to share their screen, please follow these steps (Host only): 
  • 1. Select the up arrow to the right of Share
  • 2. Select Advanced Sharing Options...
  • 3. Select All Participants (or just the participant you wish to share their screen) under Who can share?

Select the Share icon/Advanced, then select Content from 2nd camera. This is an example of someone doing this:

Try to post things to learnonline at the same time each week. For example:

Monday morning 

1. Record a short video of what students should be doing for the upcoming week 
2. Include some pastoral care in your message, reminder of counselling etc 
3. Review any forums and ensure you have answered all queries 
4. Summarise these queries and answers in your video 

Scheduled lecture time 

1. Make sure your (preferably chunked) lecture videos are recorded in Panopto and add to learnonline at or before the normally scheduled lecture time 
2. Encourage students to watch the lecture at the same time as if they were on campus 

Some different ideas are:

• Record yourself doing the practical activity (e.g. measuring something) and upload to Panopto. Include the theory that you would have said during the practical along with the video in learnonline. Create a word/excel document with lots of different (measurement) results for students to work through. 

• Have students work in e.g. Matlab then use Zoom/Skype to share their screens if they have problems working through the tasks. 

• Try the app “Explain Everything” – students follow along on paper if appropriate e.g. maths calculations. They then use the green tick status in zoom when they have finished and are ready to share their answers.

For example ITEE have this remote electronics labs https://www.multisim.com/   

Also: https://www.tinkercad.com/  

Don’t be afraid of the silence. Give students time to think about your question/prompt. Perhaps have a power point slide with “thinking time” or a clock image open on your computer that you can quickly share to indicate this is “thinking time”.

Share a power point slide with an emotive image but no words. Ask them to think about it from some perspective. Give them time to think about it. Then start a sharing whiteboard and invite students to simply add words that reflect their thoughts. Again, debrief afterwards.

Students prepare a presentation and deliver this during the session. Make sure they keep it short, around 5 minutes, and encourage the class to ask questions afterwards.

Break-out rooms – they’re a hit! They can resemble the small group discussions typical in classroom tutorials with students often being more active in these smaller groups. Remember to set them a task first, including what you expect after the break-out groups finish.

A guest speaker is possibly easier in a virtual classroom because the world is unlimited. Always wanted your students to hear from that renowned expert in London?  Well at least with some good-will around time zone differences. But don’t make it like a lecture; instead interview your guest and have students add their own questions to the chat.

Students will need to have a split screen for this but it’s not too hard. Make a padlet with a task for students to respond to – perhaps post an article, an image or have a debate. This takes place in padlet in real time. The trick here is you are also ‘live-streaming’ the padlet by sharing it through the zoom. It turns an asynchronous activity (the padlet) into a live bulletin board.

You could do the same with any shared file like google docs or a mind map.

Students will need to have a split screen for this but it’s not too hard. Make a padlet with a task for students to respond to – perhaps post an article, an image or have a debate. This takes place in padlet in real time. The trick here is you are also ‘live-streaming’ the padlet by sharing it through the zoom. It turns an asynchronous activity (the padlet) into a live bulletin board.

You could do the same with any shared file like google docs or a mind map.

Each student (or pair of students) chooses one learning outcome and gives a 5 minute talk on what they have learned and why they thought it important to share. Set the task a week before and have them submit a couple of written paragraphs to you before the zoom session. Explain this will ensure everyone’s original thoughts are captured before they hear from everyone else.

Create a poll with a list of possible actions you expect students should do between now and the next session, or assessment etc. The options are contextual to your course but could include doing the practice quiz, begin the essay plan, summarise the reading etc.

Ask students to respond with what they think they are most likely to do and then share the results, concluding with some words of advice.

https://learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/video-conferencing-with-zoom-online-course-tips-ideas

We found this table (Finkelstein, 2006) irresistible for its analogy and for its ideas.

Finkelstein, JE 2006, Learning in Real Time: Synchronous Teaching and Learning Online, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, Hoboken. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [26 May 2020]. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unisa/reader.action?ppg=83&docID=469387&tm=1540878658114#ppg=5

If you would like to ask questions about online teaching and learning related to your course, you can look through the Preparing for online exams website write to TIU@unisa.edu.au, have an online consultation with a member of the TIU.

PDF Version: Zoom Activity Ideas (184 KB)

Examples 

An example of how Zoom and Panopto have been used in the online course CURR 3021 which, as a staff member, you can explore. 

Another example of how Zoom and Panopto have been used in the online course BUSS 1060 which, as a staff member, you can explore. 

Many online courses at UniSA have used YouTube in their websites to deliver content, rather than Panopto, as they had created these videos before UniSA had a licence with Panopto. Some of the reasons why it is preferable to use Panopto to deliver UniSA content now, rather than YouTube are: 

• Panopto is UniSA branded – sending the right messages to students 
• No advertisements in Panopto, while there can be in YouTube 
• Panopto videos can be searched by students in a way that YouTube can not 
• UniSA controls the videos, rather than YouTube  

Many online courses have adopted the use of Adobe Connect as a virtual classroom tool as UniSA previously supported this virtual classroom software. UniSA is now switching their support to Zoom rather than Adobe Connect because of licensing requirements which meant that only a certain number of staff could have Adobe Connect licenses. With our current license with Zoom, all staff and students have corporate licenses. The functionality of Zoom closely resembles the functionality of Adobe Connect, except for the use of layouts to organise pods. The ability for students to schedule, run and record their own online meetings in Zoom, to support their project work and to make recordings of presentations, is a powerful benefit for our students studying online. 

If you would like to ask online teaching and learning questions related to your course, you can look through our FAQs, write to TIU@unisa.edu.au, have an online consultation with a member of the TIU, attend a Zoom workshop or sign up for the 1-week course, Introduction to Engaging Learners Online. 

PDF Version: Zoom and Panopto  (327 KB)