Zoom

Do you want to know more about didactic considerations using this tool, make sure to check the topics below.

General use overview Links to an external site.

Giving and receiving feedback Assignments Mentoring and tutoring Live Online Lectures Communicating with students Live small group work Online group work and collaboration

Online monitoring (proctoring) of exams

Differences between meetings and webinar

Meetings are designed to be a collaborative event with all participants being able to screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.

Webinars are designed so that the host and any designated panelists can share their video, audio and screen. Webinars allow view-only attendees. They have the ability to interact via Q&A, Chat, and answering polling questions. The host can also unmute the attendees.

For more details:  Go to the site Links to an external site.

 

This video (11:01) tutorial takes you through screen sharing in Zoom and shows you some advanced features.

This video (21:49 min) demonstrates some practical ideas about making Zoom lessons more student-centred. It suggests two great tools that combine really effectively with Zoom and can help to take pressure off the teacher and can lead into breakout room activities

Go to the official Zoom FAQ Links to an external site.

Where do I store my recorded Zoom meetings in order to prevent capacity limits in my Canvas course?

Canvas is not the appropriate platform for archiving video’s. Please, do not upload your recorded Zoom meetings directly to Canvas, upload to Kaltura instead. For an instruction on how to upload your recorded zoom meeting to Kaltura, check the how to tab.

I am joining a meeting without inserting a passcode, what's wrong?

Nothing is wrowng. The passcode is encrypted in the URL. See this page for more information.

Are you hosting Zoom meetings, but you do not see the poll or breakout rooms functionalities?

The problem above indicates that you are not logged in with your VU account. To make sure you are licensed and to take advantage of the benefits of the VU account, you might want to check your login procedure. Please click here to find instructions.

How can I enable annotation on my shared content during a meeting?

To enable annotation tools go to your settings Links to an external site. and check this box.

Make sure to restart Zoom to boost the new settings.

Can I join multiple meetings simultaneously?

Yes, you can. If you are in a meeting you can join another meeting simultaneously.

Why does the VU oblige to use a VU account to login to Zoom?

To guarantee the privacy and security, of teachers and students, it is important that you use Zoom with a VU account instead of a private account. There are three reasons why:

1. The VU has a contract and a data processing agreement with the supplier. These contain all kinds of provisions that prohibit the supplier from using personal data of VU employees and VU students for their own purposes (such as reselling). There are also a variety of security agreements in the agreement about when employees of the supplier may view data (almost never) that enters the application and what the supplier must do to minimize the chance that third parties can view or change data

2. The supplier provides institutions such as the VU with an administrator dashboard. This allows the VU to enforce all kinds of settings on the VU users, which makes the tool a lot more secure (such as the mandatory use of a password with every conference call). With a team of different stakeholders, we have gone through all these settings in the past two weeks and have set them up as safely as possible for the VU (while, of course, enabling the functionalities that teachers really need for educational purposes). We will continue to monitor these settings in the coming weeks. If adjustments have been made by the supplier or if there are wishes from the VU for changes, the safest (but also most useful) settings for the VU will be reviewed.

3. If all teachers and students from the VU login to Zoom with a VU account (VUnetID or VU email address), there is more certainty that those who log in to a conference call are actually the targeted people.

Why does the VU oblige you to use strict security settings such as using a password?

It has already occurred that trolls are entering non-secured and private Zoom sessions. This is a big breach in privacy that we needs to prevent at all times. Hence the default set up to protect Zoom meetings with a password.

Can students link their personal email adress to Canvas and still access a zoom meeting?

Students in Canvas courses can access a Zoom session regardless of their email address in Canvas..

What are useful keyboard shortcuts when using Zoom?

Key combination	Action
Alt+V / Command(⌘)+Shift+V	Start/Stop Video
Alt+A / Command(⌘)+Shift+A	Mute/unmute audio
Alt+H / Command(⌘)+Shift+H	Display/hide In-Meeting Chat panel
Alt+U / Command(⌘)+U	Display/hide Participants panel
Hold the spacebar	Temporarily unmute audio

More keyboard shortcuts can be found here Links to an external site..

Can I add  the Zoom App Market place apps to my account?

No. Because of security and efficiency reasons, you cannot add extra functionality to VU Zoom accounts. VU Zoom accounts are also not integrated with Office356 or other services.

Is Zoom accessible for users with visual impairments?

Zoom ensures that its products are operable and perceivable for users with visual impairments. Our products support common screen readers such as NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, and Android Talkback. Additionally, visual interfaces are designed with adequate colour contrast, size, and use of colour to ensure clarity for users with various vision needs.

What are important accessibility-related keyboard commands that I should be aware of?

To ensure full keyboard support within the desktop meeting client, you must prevent the toolbar brom automatically hiding. This can be done by unchecking the 'Always show meeting controls' under the 'Accessibility' section of the desktop application Settings, or in the 'In-meeting (basic)' section of the web portal Settings . This may be also be accomplished on a per-meeting basis using the 'Toggle the "Always show meeting controls" option in Settings/Accessibility' keyboard shortcut. Please see table below for a list of other important navigational keyboard shortcuts. 

Description	Windows	macOS
Toggle the 'Always show meeting controls' option in   Settings/Accessibility	Alt	Ctrl + \
Navigate among Zoom pop-up windows/toolbars	F6	CMD + ~
Change focus to Zoom meeting controls (at the top when sharing your screen at the bottom when not sharing)	Ctrl + Alt + Shift	CMD + ~
Begin remote control	Alt + Shift + R	Ctrl + Shift + R

• Fill out this  contact form  (Links to an external site.)  for questions or to set up an appointment with an expert;
• Or contact your  faculty support.  

The VU takes the privacy protection of teachers and students seriously. The VU Privacy Statement and the measures the VU has taken to ensure safe use of Zoom can be found below.

Read the Privacy Statement Download Privacy Statement

of Zoom for the VU. It explains how the VU is processing and protecting your data.

Securing privacy is not only a matter of technology and security settings. Even more important is the way in which online meetings are set up and controlled by the host and the way in which participants behave. So, VU staff must comply with the following rules:

1. Point out to participants that they are not allowed to record a session.
2. Make use of the VU license. Do not use a private account or free version.
3. Do not share sensitive information via Zoom.
4. Always create a new, unique password for a new session containing numbers and letters (8 to 10 characters long).
5. Update the Zoom application as soon as prompted.
6. Use a secure internet connection, such as your home network secured with a strong password or eduVPN Links to an external site..
7. Be aware of what is in your background. If you want, you can  replace your background  (Links to an external site.)  with a virtual one.
8. Only accept the necessary cookies (required cookies). Do not accept any other cookies. Have a look at the instructions on how to do so following point 7 of the student section.
9. Only make recordings if it is really necessary (read about the conditions under which it is allowed to make recordings in the FAQ more below on this page)
10. Record the session using Zoom's cloud recording function which will then automatically upload the video file to Kaltura via Canvas. If you need to make a local recording (for more advanced post-editing for example), upload the video to Kaltura ( https://video.vu.nl or My Media in Canvas). Information on how to upload a video file to Kaltura via Canvas can be found here Links to an external site..  After a successful upload to Kaltura, delete the video file from your own computer and do not save it anywhere else.

Also, the behaviour of students themselves is of importance to protect privacy. At the VU, students must comply with the following rules:

1. Use the VU license. Do not use a private account or free version.
2. Do not share sensitive information via Zoom.
3. Accept only necessary cookies. Do not accept any other cookies. Have a look at the instructions on how to do so following point 7.
4. A session may not be recorded in any way. Prior to a session, the instructor will let you know whether or not it will be recorded, the purpose of the recording and how the recording will be made available.
5. Update the Zoom application as soon as prompted.
6. Use a secure internet connection, such as your home network secured with a strong password or for example via eduVPN Links to an external site..
7. Be aware of what is in your background. If you want, you can  replace your background  (Links to an external site.)  with a virtual one.

If a lecture or other educational meeting is recorded, personal data will be processed by the VU and the General Data Processing Regulation (GDPR, nl: AVG) will apply. Each time personal data is processed, it has an impact on the privacy of students who are recorded. The basic principle is that the VU only processes personal data if there is really no other way and the GDPR provides a legal ground for this processing. For the recording of lectures and other educational events, this means the following.

Recording is only permitted if it serves a necessary, justified purpose that outweighs the student's privacy. This is deemed necessary for this purpose:

1. a lecturer must be able to substantiate that the recording serves a legitimate educational purpose;
2. this goal can only be achieved by making recordings; and
3. the educational objective outweighs the privacy of the students involved.

The recording of a lecture where students mainly listen and possibly ask questions is therefore allowed rather than the recording of a working group where there is a lot of interaction between the students and the lecturer.

The following rules of thumb can help in making the above considerations.

• The more interaction, the more important privacy. The more interaction with or between students takes place during an educational meeting, the more their privacy weighs heavily. If little or no interaction is required with the student, such as at a lecture, privacy plays a less important role than if the student is required to actively participate.
• What do we do on campus?  In online education, the VU follows as much as possible the rules and practices that apply to education on campus. Online recording of lectures that are also included on campus is therefore more likely to be permitted than recording working lectures or working groups that are not included in campus education.

Teachers who want to record a lecture must:

• state why the recording is necessary;
• offer the opportunity to students to switch off their camera and microphone;
• indicate how and for whom the recording is accessible (e.g. via Canvas); and
• state when the recording is deleted.

When teaching online, the VU follows as much as possible the rules and practices that apply to education on campus. For webcam and microphone use during online meetings this means the following.

• Students can only be required to switch on their webcam and microphone when:
• in view of the nature of online education, it is necessary to hear and see each other. Think of lectures or practicals in which the learning objectives require interaction and/or active participation; or
• compulsory attendance applies.

Objection by students
A student who, due to his specific situation, is unable or unwilling to turn on his webcam and microphone, can inform the teacher beforehand. The instructor will then assess whether a different solution can and must be found for the student in question. If it is not possible to come to a solution, the student can make use of his right to lodge an objection with the Data Protection Officer against the processing of his personal data. This can be done via functionarisgegevensbescherming@vu.nl. For more information, see Article 18 of the 'Reglement verwerken persoonsgegevens studenten Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam' .

• In all other cases, students can in principle not be required to turn on their webcam and microphone. However, it is good to discuss with students - where possible - which webcametiquette is desirable, without this being obligatory.

• Set default settings of audio and video to mute and only turn on when you participate in the meeting.
• Set screen sharing to 'Host only' so students cannot take over a session.
• Disable 'Join Before Host' so people cannot cause trouble before you arrive.
• Enable 'Co-Host' if you want to assign others to help moderate.
• Disable 'Allow Removed Participants to Re-join' so ejected attendees cannot slip back in.
• When you start recording, inform the participants that you will do so. Inform them about the reason for making the recording and how you protect this recording and make it accessible in a secure way (password protected or on a secure drive, for example in Kaltura ).

 

Please note that the VU has disabled certain features of Zoom to ensure higher levels of privacy and security. Among others, the VU Zoom license does not allow to send files via Zoom.

Further note that because of the availability of Zoom at the VU, private accounts for other conferencing tools such as private free Zoom accounts, Gotomeeting accounts or other tools are no longer allowed to be used at the VU. At the VU the other allowed conferencing tools are Skype for Business, MS Teams (students-only) and Google Meet .

Privacy entails further that teachers and students to comply with specific behaviour, even independent of the particular platform. See this page for information and instructions for VU staff and students.