What is Zoom?
Zoom is a video communications company with a reliable cloud platform that supports live-streaming video, audio, chat, and webinars.
Zoom is easy to use, join, and makes collaboration easy. It also works on any device — so you can meet students on-the-go, at home, and during the in-between moments.
What features does Zoom offer?
Zoom offers a variety of features to support educators whose students can call into an activity using a smartphone or laptop. You can also use Zoom to pre-record your content and share the final video with families.
Some highlights include:
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Chat
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Live video
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Screen share
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Make annotations during a screen share (think of this as an interactive whiteboard)
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Share computer audio, which is great if you’re playing a pre-recorded video!
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Free group calls up to 40 minutes long
How do educators create a free Zoom account?
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Navigate to Zoom
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Find the Sign Up, It’s Free button in the right corner of the screen
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Create an account using your work email, Google account, or Facebook
How can I use my free Zoom account to host a class?
If you want to host a class using Zoom, you’ll need to use a computer with a working camera and microphone. Once you have those items, you can teach a class.
Test creating a webinar following the steps below. Check out Zoom’s extensive documentation on how to use their video offerings.
How to create your first Zoom class
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Once your account is created, log-in and navigate to Your Account.
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Navigate to Meetings
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Click to Schedule a New Meeting
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Set a Meeting Topic — this should be the name of your class
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Add a Date and Time
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Set the Activity Duration
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Decide which Video and Audio settings you’d like to use
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Add any extra Meeting Options
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Save
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Invite your students via Sawyer Tools
- Add the Join URL to the Class Link field in the scheduled activity setup to send an automatic reminder-email 30-minutes before you class
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If you want students to have the link even before signing up, add the Join URL to the Activity Description under Listings
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If you want to manually send out the Join URL to your class, use the Message a Roster button from any roster page
How to record a Zoom class
Follow the steps above — but hold off on inviting guests.
Once you’re ready to start, you’ll navigate to the record button to save your session. Once you finish, Zoom will give you a link you can share with families.
How to add your Zoom Class to Sawyer
Once you have your Zoom set up, you can add meeting URLs to the each online scheduled activity. Follow this guide to create virtual offerings and edit your existing activities to include Zoom details.