The virtual environment has become, in recent years, a space of opportunity and, when we think of the educational sector, a place of learning and personal development. The impossibility of locomotion and the need for personal distancing, factors that can be repeated depending on environmental and health circumstances, for example, highlighted the importance of tools and technologies that appropriate the digital network for their work.
Therefore, knowing how to use Zoom to teach , for example, is essential, as well as knowing other similar tools.
What is Zoom?
Zoom is a tool that seeks to connect people through a videoconferencing system, generating, in the process, a shared virtual environment, ideal for work meetings, courses and online classes .
It is possible, on the platform, to connect numerous people in the same virtual room , share screens, record calls, schedule meetings and other features of the digital tool.
Step 1: Setting up an Account
Are you interested in teaching via Zoom? The first step to being successful with this platform is to open an account. Setting up a Zoom account is simple and can be done quickly in just a few steps.
To get started, go to the Zoom website and click on “Sign up, it’s free”. You will need to provide your name, email address and create a password before clicking the “Sign Up” button. After creating your account, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for activating your account. That done, congratulations! You now have an active Zoom account that will allow you to start teaching online classes via video conference.
Zoom also offers additional features like virtual backgrounds, meeting recordings, and file sharing features that can be used during classes.
Step 2: Join a meeting
The next step to using Zoom to teach is joining a meeting. It’s important to understand the different ways to join a Zoom meeting, including via a link or invitation sent by the host. Joining through these methods is simple and straightforward, allowing quick and easy access to your chosen meeting.
Zoom offers several options to join meetings securely with the help of passwords or waiting rooms. If you’re attending as a guest, it’s worth taking the time to ensure that all security measures are in place so that only those who should have access can join your class. Once in the meeting, users will be able to see each other and use audio, video, and chat whenever they want.
Step 3: Managing Participants
Once you’ve got the basics of Zoom down and you’ve created your classroom, the next step is to manage the participants. This includes setting expectations for participation, monitoring student progress, and addressing disruptive behavior when necessary. Managing participant engagement and activity is essential to creating an enjoyable learning experience in a virtual environment.
To ensure that all students remain engaged during lessons, it is important to establish rules from the beginning. Setting expectations allows you to create a positive learning environment where everyone feels comfortable participating. You can also use Zoom’s “raise your hand” feature, which allows students to signal that they want to contribute or ask questions without interrupting the class. To monitor student progress, consider using Zoom’s analytics tool, which provides detailed reports on how much time each student spent in class and their level of engagement with the material.
Step 4: Sharing your screen
Sharing your screen is a great way to maximize Zoom’s features and make teaching easier. With this feature, you can share class materials, documents, presentations, and more with your students. It’s easy to set up, all you need is some basic knowledge of how Zoom works.
To start sharing your screen, just click on the “Share Screen” button in the lower right corner of the main window. This will open a window where you can choose which part of your computer (or an external device) you want to share with participants. You can also choose to share audio if you want to play music or other sound effects during class time. Once everything is set up correctly, click “Share Now” to start presenting whatever material you have prepared to your students in real time!
Step 5: Using Separate Rooms
Step 5 of using Zoom to teach is using separate rooms. Separate classrooms are a great way for teachers to focus instruction on one group of students at a time. By creating breakout rooms, teachers can efficiently tailor the learning experience. Teachers can easily assign assignments or instructional assignments, provide individualized feedback, or have small group discussions.
Breakout rooms are easy to set up and manage on the Zoom platform, allowing flexibility and convenience for teachers and students alike. Instructors can create static groups that stay the same throughout classes, or randomize their students into new groups as many times as they like. The ability to easily move students between different breakout rooms also allows educators to maximize instructional time by providing dynamic learning experiences tailored specifically to each student’s needs.
How to use Zoom?
Basically, an account needs to be created on the platform and, if possible, the application installed. Later, after having “logged in” to the system, it is possible to create a meeting room and invite other people. The environment has several features and, there, it is possible to adjust the sound and stop the microphone and camera from working, as well as share screens and use the chat.
Face-to-face class versus online class
In contemporary times, the physical and direct relationship between the characters in a teaching and learning situation has been constantly changing, sometimes due to the innovation and ease of the virtual environment, sometimes due to health and geographic impediments. In this context, the traditional teaching model, whose interaction between the participants and the importance of the teacher is more evident, is replaced, little by little, but without diminishing the value of the official teaching model, by online classes, which, in turn , , have other features.
If the traditional model requires direct contact, a defined geographic space and a pre-established schedule, online classes have flexible schedules and continuous access to content, not being limited, for example, to the blackboard written by the teacher.
In addition, it can be mentioned, for example, that virtual classes have:
Freedom of teaching;
Freedom of study;
Flexibility;
Expansion of the available materials;
Expansion of participants in the same course;
Cost reduction; It is,
Time efficiency.
