Run your Zoom session

1. Start early

Start your Zoom meeting earlier than the scheduled time if you can. This will allow you time to handle any technical issues, and gives participants the chance to do the same. Switch off your camera and microphone until the scheduled meeting time, and you could share a welcome slide for participants to view while they wait. Follow the instructions on how to access Zoom and start your meeting on the getting started with Zoom resource.

2. Prepare your desktop

Make sure your email and messaging notifications are turned off or set to silent to avoid disruptions. If you are planning to share your screen, close or minimise any windows that are not relevant to the session. Be mindful of information that will be visible to participants while screen sharing, for example browser bookmarks and notification pop ups. Ensure your computer beep for arriving mail is switched off and you are in a good ‘audio space’.

3. Turn your video on

We like to see the people we’re talking to. It can feel a bit weird talking into the ether – it’s important to see faces for real engagement, collaboration and discussion. The exception should be if video quality is low and less need for interaction during this time.

4. Set out the rules and expectations

At the start of the session, clearly set out the rules around housekeeping and etiquette, such as how and when you want the students to interact and ask questions. Explain the agenda for the session so that participants know what to expect, and give specific instructions including time limits if you are running activities such as breakout rooms. For mini-lecture/explanation segments, choose a student question option that you can manage and let students know eg whether you’d like them to ask Chat questions as you go (a multi-tasking challenge), or put their hand up, or neither because you’re going to have regular question breaks where they can put their hand up and ask.  If you have a tutor assisting, they could curate chat and bring key questions to your attention.

5. Manage the waiting room

The default security settings for UTS Zoom have been adjusted so that only participants signed in with UTS credentials can access your meeting directly. Guest participants from outside UTS and students who have not signed in with their UTS account will be placed into a waiting room when they join the meeting. To allow them to access the meeting, you will have to manually approve them. Follow the steps in the waiting room section of managing participants in Zoom rooms.

6. Record the session

If you have decided to record your Zoom session, remember to select ‘Record’ on the meeting toolbar to start the recording. Select the stop icon when you want to finish the recording before ending or leaving the meeting. Find more details and full instructions on our recording a Zoom meeting page. Note that the recordings can take up to 24 hours to be delivered to your email.

7. Facilitate student interaction

Encourage students to have their camera active to make the session feel more natural and collaborative. Indicate when you want students to use features such as polling and reaction icons to get instant non-verbal feedback during the session. Follow the instructions on the LX resources for communicating with students during a Zoom meeting and, if you are using breakout rooms, managing participants in Zoom rooms.

8. Use host controls to manage participants

Remember that as the meeting host you can use the Zoom toolbar to manage participants during the meeting. Hosts can control features including muting and unmuting participants, assigning co-hosts, locking the meeting, and removing participants. Find out more about host controls and how to use them on the Zoom help page for managing participants in a meeting.

9. Manage problems that arise during the session

If you experience issues with technology or student behaviour during the session, try to remain calm and keep communicating with the students. Take a look at the LX resource on managing disruptions during your Zoom session for advice on how to handle unexpected challenges.

10. Generate meeting reports

After the meeting is finished, you can use the reports tab of UTS Zoom to generate reports with information about your meeting such as attendance and poll outcomes. Follow the instructions on the Zoom reports resource.

11. Have breaks

If your session is longer than an hour, give students a 5 min break in the middle. Ask them to mute their microphones and turn off video, then come back at the end of 5 minutes and turn video on again (they can turn it off after that if they’re having bandwidth problems).