 | Engagement Examples |
Synchronous Examples
• Using Zoom, ask students to coach one another (e.g., collaboratively generate a list of keywords for a topic, facets of a complex topic that could be investigated or sources likely to produce information on a given research question.)
• Ask students to teach one research tool to their classmates by sharing their screens in Zoom. It will be important to provide the students with guiding questions ahead of time for this activity.
• Provide the class with a difficult scenario and ask them to apply concepts you've covered to provide a recommendation for action. Zoom breakout rooms can facilitate small group to whole group discussion. For example, you might place students in Zoom breakout rooms to discuss and report back on a specific aspect of the case study.
• Remember to give students options regarding how they choose to participate. For example, in group activities, ask students to select roles they are comfortable with (facilitator, scribe, questioner) when working in small groups.
Asynchronous Examples
• If the course requires a research tool demo that is not adequately covered by our existing tutorials, consider recording your demo using the Screen Share option in Zoom. This will allow your students to return to the content at point of need.
• For more ideas, check Indiana University's excellent Canvas module on active learning online.
Zoom is a ubiquitous tool, and it can be employed very effectively for synchronous sessions. However, it's not ideal for all learning scenarios. This page will give you tips for ensuring success if you feel Zoom is your best option for supporting a course while protecting student privacy.
General Tips for Configuring Zoom Meetings
When you are setting up a Zoom meeting, consider making a few tweaks to your settings to ensure the most seamless experience possible for both you as the host and your students as the meeting attendees. For a deeper dive into settings, check out Zoom's documentation here.
- Set up a profile picture so that when your video is off, you have a "presence" in the online space.
- Allow your participants to choose how they enter the meeting by setting participant video to "off" and enabling telephone or computer audio when configuring/scheduling the meeting
- Use the "advanced features" in your Zoom settings to select "waiting room" if you have a large number of students coming and need a few minutes for you and the faculty member or other hosts to confer or set up before bringing the whole class in.
- Virtual backgrounds can be set. They block out your messy work from home space, but can also be distracting. Test them before using.
Student and Instructor Privacy in Zoom
Guide to Zoom Recording and Sharing Settings
This guide outlines the functions of key settings for recording and sharing Zoom class sessions. Use the guide to make decisions about the settings you use.
Note that all Zoom recordings are automatically uploaded to the host's My Media page on UD Capture. Your recordings in My Media are only accessible to you, but you can set them to be accessible to others. Learn more about UD Capture sharing settings here.
Considerations for Protecting Student and Instructor Privacy in Zoom
When using Zoom for synchronous class sessions, it is important to try to replicate the privacy protections that students and instructors have in an in-person classroom environment, where discussions are not accessible to anyone outside of the class. Recordings should only be available to members of the class, but this standard can be hard to maintain because Zoom provides extensive capabilities to record and share meeting sessions. TALC recommends:
- Using the guide to make informed decisions about the recording and sharing settings you use.
- Communicating with instructors and students about privacy issues.
- Ensuring that recordings are only made when there is an articulated need (e.g., flexible attendance policies for synchronous sessions).
- Being transparent with students about what is being recorded, why it is being recorded, how it can be accessed and how long it will be available.
- Doing everything we can to ensure that recordings are only available to members of a class.
Recommendations for Communicating with Instructors and Students
- Talk to the instructor ahead of time about their expectations for recording the class session. If the instructor wants the session to be recorded, ask that they only share it with members of the class through the course Canvas page and/or UD Capture.
- If you create the Zoom meeting and make the recording, let the instructor know about the settings you will use related to visibility of identifying student information (names, images, voices, audio transcript), access to view the recording, and recording expiration date. See the guide for details about these settings. Tell the instructor how you will communicate this information to students during the session.
- If the instructor creates the Zoom meeting and makes the recording, ask them about their class norms or existing policies for recording and sharing Zoom sessions. Advocate for settings that enhance privacy.
- Be sure to alert students at the beginning of class that the session is being recorded. Tell them where the recording will be available, why the recording is being made, and how long it will be available. Consider including a slide with this information and/or enabling the recording disclaimer setting.