Virtual Classrooms

Enable remote learning and encourage student participation in a fully online environment.

Manage your Zoom Classroom

VU Collaborate has incorporated Zoom and it can be found under the Communication tab in every space.
We recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome when using Zoom.

On this page:

 

Starting a Zoom Session

When starting a Zoom session, make sure you:

  • Start Video
  • Unmute yourself

You can also run a check on your speaker and microphone to ensure everything is working as expected.

On the Audio options, click on Test Speaker and Microphone.

  • listen to test speaker, and then 
  • talk and pause to test microphone

If available you can select alternate options.

check audio settings

Having issues with your audio or video?

For guidance, see the Zoom guide - Zoom Audio and Video Basics

 


Share Screen

During a Zoom session, you can share your screen, or opened applications with participants.

  • In the meetings toolbar, click Share Screen (1) 
  • Select to share a Screen (2), Whiteboard, application or another option.
  • If you want to share a video or sound from your computer, tick to select Share Sound and Optimize for video clip (3)
  • When ready, click Share (4).
  • Once you have completed sharing, select the Stop Share to ensure your students are no longer viewing your screen.

share screen 

 


Annotations

You may use Annotate to make notes, drawings, and/or add arrows on the share screen during a virtual classroom session.

  • If you are sharing - select Annotate from the toolbar
  • If you are viewing a share - from the top of the window, select View Options (1) then Annotate (2).

from view options select annotate

  • Mouse - Regain mouse control.
  • Select - Select and move annotations.
  • Text - Type a message onto the screen.
  • Draw - Draw or create shapes.
  • Stamp - Select ticks, stars and other options
  • Spotlight - Spotlight pointer, and named 
  • Arrow stamp
  • Eraser - Clear your annotations. 
  • Colour- Select the colour of shapes, and the colour and font size of text
  • Undo/Redo - Undo or redo the latest annotation you have performed. 
  • Clear - This will provide you with further 'clear' options.
  • Save - Download the annotated screen share, as a PNG or PDF.
  • Close - close the toolbar

 


Chat

The chat allows you to post messages to everyone, or to share text, links, documents and/or screenshots.

  • On the meetings toolbar, click Chat (1)
  • Enter text (2)links, and/or drag and drop files (3) into the text input box
  • Select to format text (4), add emojis (5)files (6), and/or take screenshots (7) 
  • Select to share with everyone, or to a specific student.
  • Press Enter to post and share.

chat to enter text emoji documents and screenshots

 


Reactions

Reactions allow you to provide quick responses in meetings.

1. In the meetings toolbar, click Reactions (1), then select a reaction, that will be displayed on the screen.

2. To see which students have chosen a reaction or raised their hands, select Participants from the meeting control.

select reactions

Most will be displayed for 15 seconds before vanishing.

  • Clap Emoji  Clapping hands - congratulate
  • Thumbs Up Emoji  Thumbs Up - agree
  • Joy Emoji  Joy - hilarious or joyful
  • Open Mouth Emoji  Open Mouth - shock or surprise
  • Heart Emoji  Heart - loved something
  • Tada Emoji  Tada - celebrate

Others will stay until they are unselected.

  • raised hand  Raise Hand - to ask a question or join in the discussion.
  • Yes Emote  Yes
  • No Emote  No
  • I am away I'm away

 


Security Features

For added security features, click on Security (or Host tools) at the bottom of the screen. These features allow you as the host or the assigned co-host of a meeting to enable or disable options during a meeting to secure the meeting and minimize disruption during the meeting.

host tools security options

General options:

  • Lock Meeting: new participants will not be allowed to enter.
  • Enable Waiting Room: new participants need to be approved to be in the meeting.
  • Hide Profile Pictures: hide all profile pictures.

Allow participants to:

  • Share Screen: enable/disable the screen share. 
  • Chat: enable/disable the chat function.
  • Rename Themselves.
  • Unmute Themselves: unmute/mute themselves.
  • Start Video: turn on/off their cameras.
  • Suspend Participant Activities: Turns off all participant options at once (Option 1 - 5).
    You will need to re-tick each option to enable them if this has been selected.

For detailed explanations of Zoom Security features, see: Ensuring privacy & security in Zoom by Zoom Support.

 

 


 

Record Attendance in Zoom

Access the participant list of your Zoom meeting to record attendance.

Make sure your students are using their real names or preferred names when joining your Zoom Classroom to have the most accurate report.

Access Participant Report in Zoom Portal

1. Log in to the Zoom Web Portal.

2. On the left side menu, select Reports.

access reports tab

Then, select Usage.

click on usage tile

3. Within the Usage report, you can:

  • (1) Filter down your meeting to a specific date or date range, or by meeting ID.
  • (2) Check the Participant list by clicking on the hyperlinked number.

filter meeting and check participant list

Display Unique Participants

4. You may see the same participants that appear more than once in your list. 

This is due to the report showing the number of logins there were in that meeting, not the number of attendees.

participant list

5. You can remove duplications using Show unique users (1).

And, Export this data (2) into a .CSV file.

unique user list

 

 

Admin Only