Zoom
Name of Tool
Website URL
Cost
Download or Web-based
1 sentence description of the tool
Zoom
Free or up to $20 a month
Download on Computer or Smart Phone
A Video Conferencing technology.
Description of the Tool
Zoom is a Video Conference Technology. Zoom give people the capabilities of meeting online rather than in person. Zoom can be used to present PowerPoints or presentations to individual that may not be able to be there in person. Zoom has a very professional feel to its setup.
How to Use This Tool
Getting Started
Create Account using Email of choice. You’ll need access to this email at the time of signing up.
Create Password for account
Invite people by email to become contacts in Zoom
Take down your personal meeting URL for future reference
Download on to Smart Phone if desired
Personalizing Account
Add a profile picture
Enter the local Time zone
Enter your language of choice
Personalize Meeting Settings (Select Options Best for you)
Turn Host and participants Video on or off
Decide if the meetings will have audio for computer, phone, or both
Decide if meetings will be protected with a password.
Decide if text chats are allowed during meetings.
Turn the file transfer on or off during meeting.
Scheduling a Meeting
Select Schedule meeting at the top right of the screen
Topic: Choose what your meeting will be about.
Description: Place a description and maybe even an agenda in the box.
When: Schedule a Date and Time for the meeting
Duration: If you have signed up just for the basic the max time is 40 minutes.
Decide if you want this meeting to be reoccurring.
Video: Decide who will be displaying video during this meeting
Audio: Decide if someone can use their phone or computer audio or both.
Joining Meeting
Must know the Meeting ID or the Personal Link Name
Enter the Meeting information into the box and select Join.
Hosting a Meeting
At the top right select host meeting
Pick the options for video and audio for the meeting
After the meeting has started invite other to attend the meeting
Share invitation on social media if you are hosting an open meeting.
Paid Plan Incentives
You can join webinars
Group Management. A group of people with similar interests.
Longer Meetings
Cost is $14.99 a month and up.
Help (On the bottom left of the My Account page is a help section)
Attend a live training. This is where you can sign up to attend a live Zoom meeting for help.
Video Tutorials. This is a page with numerous videos of help.
Knowledge Base. This is a page with all types of information for help.
Video Tutorial: Please follow this link to a short video on the Zoom app.
How Can This Tool be used by the Trainer/Teacher?
A trainer can use Zoom to become more proficient it their area of training. This can be done by attending scheduled trainings by other professionals. The Zoom technology allows user to schedule a specific time to do a training. A trainer would be able to use Zoom to find these times and attend the meetings that best fit their times. A trainer can also schedule or host meetings in order to get ideas of how other trainers teach a session and what has worked for them. Trainers can use Zoom as a technology to interact with each other. Zoom can have multiple participants in a meeting. These feature makes it so trainers can show each other different materials and different ideas. The Zoom application also has the ability to record meetings that has happened. This allows a trainer to attend meetings and trainings when it best fits the trainer’s schedule.
How Can This Tool be used by the Trainer/Teacher to Support Student Learning?
Zoom can be used to support learning in numerous ways. The first way is a trainer/teacher can use Zoom to teach a lesson from any location. An example of this is I have an Emergency Management Leadership Class and the teacher is from Kansas City. He can do all the teaching just as he was in person. He uses PowerPoints and lesson plans just as a normal teacher. Another big benefit is he has this class scheduled through Zoom, but he records the class, so a student can go back and reference the lesson. Also, if a student can’t make it at the exact time they can watch the recording when their schedule allows. Zoom can also be used by a trainer/teacher to set up office meetings to answer any questions. Zoom being free, easy to use, and convenient teacher/trainer can use it to be more accessible to students in order to clear up any information. A teacher/trainer can also use Zoom to get students to more information. If a teacher/trainer has a data base of good webinars or good speakers on Zoom they can give that information to a student to go watch past videos or participate in future presentation. If Zoom is a technology that a company uses, then a trainer can use Zoom as technology for workers to see how information is passed on. For example, if a company has a training Zoom can be used to show the trainees how it is implemented, and the trainees can watch a management meeting, so they understand the importance of the training. A teacher/trainer can also teach a lesson at any time and post it for the students to watch when their schedule allows them too. A trainer/teacher could use Zoom as an online classroom with little to no difference from the real thing.
How Can This Tool be used by Students?
Zoom can be used by students in order to improve themselves. The first way they can do this is by using Zoom to gather more information. Zoom has different meetings and different webinars that can be watched at any time. These can be watched on Zoom by a student to get more proficient or to get a better explanation of a lesson. This is incredible data base for students to have access too. Students can use Zoom as a group study technology. If students can eliminate drive time or travel time to a study group, it may be easier to facilitate the study group. During this study group students can share notes, ideas or any other information needed for the class. A student can also practice presentations with Zoom. This will make the student fill more comfortable for when they have to do the presentation in class. Doing a presentation over Zoom can get some instant feedback from other students that are watching. Zoom can be used in every aspect that a student could find in a classroom.
Training and Other Resources
As I looked for different resources and trainings to help with Zoom I found the very best one on the actual Zoom website. Zoom has created a help center and, in this help, center they have created videos on just about everything capable with Zoom. There are videos for scheduling a meeting, joining a meeting, and even the controls of a meeting. This is a huge benefit to anyone using Zoom. This is also a very good feeling if a company or someone is thinking about the purchase options for Zoom. Not only does this provide excellent training for anyone that needs to use it but it gives a good idea of the type of company Zoom is and the support a customer would receive when using Zoom. This link will take you directly to the videos.
There are so many different video conferencing technologies available it is always wondered which technology is better. Why should a teacher/ trainer use Zoom instead of something like Skype. This next link provide is a direct comparison between Zoom and Skype. This website does an awesome job gathering data and talking to actual users of both products. Follow this link to figure out why Zoom is the best technology for you.
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