Zoom Is an Effective Distance Learning Tool

Posted by Liza Brown
1
Jul 24, 2020
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Hasn’t the coronavirus pandemic changed the world of education seemingly overnight? Zoom- the video-conferencing tool- became a household name practically overnight in light of school campuses around the world shutting down due to the pandemic. Zoom, which was launched in the year 2013 to connect remote office workers, is now one of the go-to platforms for online learning. Zoom's simple setup, ability to accommodate 100 participants at once, and low cost has made it into one of the most effective distance learning solutions.

Nothing can replicate the classroom experience, but Zoom (live video with interactive participation) somehow made it possible for students, faculty, and staff to keep up the academic rigor and intellectual vibrancy of the classroom.

Some of the benefits of using Zoom:

The popularity of Zoom as a great classroom tool can be attributed to the fact that participants can join the session from any device (no VPN required), one-on-one meetings up to class of 500 students, one-click connection for easy video and audio, closed captioning and keyboard shortcuts ensures accessibility for all learners, and chats, polls, breakout rooms, content sharing, whiteboarding, annotations.

How does Zoom work?

The Zoom app can be downloaded on any device, including your smartphones. Use the app to schedule a meeting or when logged in to the web client. You type in the topic, date, time, and other info, then click "schedule" to create your meeting. Share the 11-digit meeting ID and/or send the link to join the meeting with your students. It’s advisable that teachers open the Zoom software and test the webcam and microphone to avoid any technical glitchesonce they are live. Also test your internet connection by joining a test meeting so that internet doesn’t act up while you are in the middle of teaching students.

Talking about students, they don’t usually need a Zoom account as long as they are just joining a class scheduled by the teacher (only meeting hosts need an account). But the teacher can restrict the session to "authorized attendees," which is when participants will be required to either log in to Zoom or enter a password in order to join the class. Restricting participants basically is a safety measure to prevent uninvited guests from gaining access. Remember, students below 16 years of age are not supposed to be creating their own Zoom accounts as per Zoom’s terms and conditions. But don’t you worry as your school or teachers will determine the best process for students to access Zoom meetings.

Benefits of Zoom for teachers:

Teachers use Zoom in different ways, depending on their skills, the needs of their students, and direction from their school/district. Teachers can

Record and share lessons- Assuming not every student has reliable internet at home or are sharing devices with others, students can view pre-recorded lessons at their own convenience, which makes distance learning more equitable. Create video lessons using the recording feature in Zoom, and then share the videos for students to watch later.

Teach live sessions- Synchronous -- or live -- lessons are a great option for schools and districts that have been able to resolve the technology access issue. Teachers set up a regular class time on Zoom and lead them through remote learning activities.

Flip the classroom- The “flipped” classroom model enables teachers to assign new materials for students to learn on their own (reading assignments, videos). This saves a lot of class time, which teachers then can useto help clarify the new information and put it to use.

With video conferencing being a great way to bridge the distance, when teaching your students in the same physical classroom isn’t feasible, there are a few things one should keep in mind, to help you and your students gain the most out of Zoom or any video conferencing software:


1.   Log into Zoom before your meeting/class time

2.   Check your video background (background should be appropriate for everyone to see)

3.   It’s better to use headphones (with a built-in microphone) as they deliver the best audio quality

4.   Choose your viewing option (there are two: Speaker View and Gallery View)

5.   Using the ‘Mute’ button, the teacher/host can mute all other participants’ microphones so that their voice is the only one the students hear when teaching a lesson

6.   Set up text chat rules

7.   Archive class recordings (if you choose the option to record your classes/meetings, you can make them available for future viewing in a school management software’s Curriculum Manager, in your Google Classroom, or via the link Zoom provides to the recording)

8.   Explore Zoom’s help center

 

Contact Us:

Sycamore Education

https://sycamoreeducation.com/

105 E 6th Street, Fremont, NE 68025

USA

PH: 866-757-4968

Email: info@sycamoreeducation.com

 

 

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