Tech Tip: Asking for Help in Zoom Breakout Rooms

Did you know you can ask for help from your instructor in Zoom breakout rooms? At the bottom of the Zoom screen, you can click “Ask for Help” in the meeting controls. Another button will appear that says “Invite Host.” Clicking this button sends a notification to the instructor that your breakout room has requested help.

For more Zoom tips and tricks, visit the Zoom Help Desk Wiki page.

Tech Tip of the Week: Setting the Time Zone in Zoom

Have you ever noticed a different time listed for Zoom sessions in Moodle or Canvas? If you have, you may need to correct the time zone in your Zoom account. You can find the steps to change your time zone here: https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ischool/Setting+the+Time+Zone+in+Zoom

Please reach out with any questions you may have!

 

 

Tech Tip of the Week: Creating Polls Ahead of Time in Zoom

Did you know you can schedule polls for class ahead of time? You can, and the Help Desk has documentation to help walk you through the process!

This feature is especially helpful if you have a series of questions you want to ask, and it allows you to save time instead of scrambling to type up the questions before class. To read the Help Desk’s documentation on creating polls ahead of time go to this wiki page.

As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!

Tech Tip of the Week: Assigning Student Roles in Breakout Rooms

It can be difficult to engage students when teaching over Zoom, but utilizing breakout rooms is an effective way to make larger classes feel more like a community. They can also give students who are reluctant to talk on microphone in the main room a chance to communicate with classmates.
Assigning roles in breakout rooms can help break the ice and ensure that everyone participates, and the iSchool Wiki has a great page that walks you through different roles and the best ways to incorporate them into your online courses. Roles can include:
      • Manager or Facilitator: makes sure group stays on task and reminds everyone of the questions they need to discuss.
      • Recorder: takes notes during the group discussion and posts them to a class forum if need be.
      • Spokesperson or Presenter: shares what the group talked about with the entire class after breakout rooms close.
      • Reflector or Strategy Analyst: guides the group to a final consensus or decision if need be.
      • Challenger: asks questions during the discussion.
      • Timekeeper: keeps track of time and makes sure everyone gets the same amount of speaking time.

If using these roles, it is a good habit to share the definitions of each role with your class and put the way you want them to assign roles (alphabetical by first/last name, birthday, etc.) in the chat. Make sure to also share the discussion questions you want them to answer before sending them into breakout rooms as participants won’t be able to view the screensharing once they are in the breakout rooms. 

Tech Tip of the Week: Setting the Time Zone in Zoom

If you have ever experienced Moodle showing the wrong time for class Zoom sessions, the first course of action will be to verify that your Zoom account reflects the correct time zone. To do this, please follow these steps:

1. Go to illinois.zoom.us and log in with your NetID and password.

2. Click on Profile on the left side of the screen.

3. Once you are on your profile, find where it says Time Zone. Click Edit on the right side of the screen.

4. A drop down will appear where it lists your time zone. Select the correct
time zone and click Save.

5. Once you save, go to your class’s Moodle page and verify that the time of
class is now correct.

image of zoom profile with time zone boxed in green

If you would like to view our documentation on how to change your time zone in Zoom, please view this page on the iSchool wiki.

Tech Tip of the Week: Joining Zoom via Moodle in Safari Browser Error Message

Recently users have been experiencing an error message when trying to join Zoom classes via Moodle while using the Safari browser. This error message is due to third party cookies and pop ups not being allowed in your Safari browser settings. If you have been getting the error message ‘Sorry, your session was expired. Please refresh the page or login again.,’ please check out this Wiki documentation from the Help Desk that explains the steps you would follow in order to ensure you can join Zoom sessions via Moodle on Safari in the future! As always, if you have any further questions don’t hesitate to reach out the Help Desk.

Hiding Your Video Feed From Yourself in Zoom

This week we are sharing how to hide your video feed from yourself when you are in Zoom!

To hide your self view, right click on your video/picture to get the menu display. From the menu, select Hide Self View. If you are in Speaker mode, you will have the same option, but you will first have to enter full-screen view, hover over your image, and choose the icon on the left that says Hide thumbnail video when you hover over it. A box will appear in its place that tells you who is speaking.

Screenshot of Zoom options and how to hide self view

To show your self view again, right click on any user’s display and from the menu select Show Self View. If you are in Speaker mode, go to the box that tells you who is speaking and click the middle icon.

Screenshot of Zoom settings and how to show self view

For more information on how to hide your self view in Zoom, please see their documentation here.

Tech Tip of the Week: Changing your Name in Zoom

If you chose to change your preferred name in Self Service, your preferred name will populate to your Illinois Zoom account. However, if you only want to change your name in Zoom or you want to add your preferred pronouns, please follow these steps:

  1. Go to https://illinois.zoom.us/ and sign in.
  2. Click on Profile in the left sidebar area.
  3. Your name should be listed at the top, and to the far right there should be an Edit button. Click on Edit.
  4. Under Display Name, type your preferred name. This is the name people will see when you are in a Zoom meeting with them.
    1. NOTE: You can also add your preferred pronouns in this space as well.
  5. Then click Save Changes.

Here is further documentation on changing your display name in Zoom.

Tech Tip of the Week: Sharing a PowerPoint in Zoom

With midterms underway and preparations for final presentations beginning, you may soon find yourself needing to share a PowerPoint in Zoom.

This week’s Tech Tip will show you how you can share PowerPoint without it taking up your entire screen, which is particularly helpful if you have notes you also need visible to yourself.

Sharing a PowerPoint

By default, your PowerPoint presentation will take up your whole screen and you may be unable to see the Chat and Manage Participants. Follow these instructions to contain your presentation in a window rather than full-screen.

  1. Open the PowerPoint you want to present.
  2. Click the Slide Show tab in the top bar, then Set Up Slide Show.
  3. Under Show type, select Browsed by an individual (window) and click OK.
  4. Open your presentation by clicking the Slide Show tab, then click Play from Start or Play from Current Slide


    Your presentation will display in a window.

  5. In Zoom, start or join a meeting.
  6. Click Share Screen in the meeting controls.
  7. Select the Powerpoint window and click Share.

You can find a video demonstrating these steps here.

Tech Tip of the Week: Broadcasting a Message to Waiting Room in Zoom

If you have decided to enable waiting rooms in your Zoom meetings, we want to share with you a quick Tech Tip this week!

You are able to send a message to everyone in the waiting room.

You can do this by opening the chat and going to select a recipient the same way you would to send a private message, but while the waiting room is enabled and there are participants waiting you should see the option to select everyone (in waiting room) as the recipient. Sending a message will then broadcast that message to everyone currently in the waiting room.

You can find screenshots and more information in Zoom’s documentation on waiting rooms.