MyLO - My Learning Online
Zoom: Tips and Tricks
Zoom Settings Best Practice
Cloud Recording Best Practice Settings
If from within your MyLO unit you have added an Echo360 link and are creating recordings that go directly into your Echo360 section, there are some personal Zoom settings you can update to ensure that your recordings are in the best format.
Press on Zoom and select My Profile.
Scroll down to Settings and update the settings below.
- Press on Settings
- Scroll down to Cloud Recording Section
- Choose which recording you want sent to Echo360. We recommend the Active speaker and Shared screen option.
- Untick the timestamp option. This is not necessary as the date of the recording appears with in your Echo360 Section. Removal of the timestamp also allows for easy reuse of the recording in other units.
- To create a transcript of your recording select Audio transcript. If your recording is then being sent to your Echo360 Section, you can edit the transcript there.
- Press Save
Adding Alternate Hosts to Zoom
When scheduling a meeting, the host can designate another Licensed user on the same account to be an alternative host. This means they need to be a University of Tasmania staff member. The alternative host can start the meeting on the host's behalf. This user will receive an email to their UTAS inbox notifying them that they've been added as an alternative host, with a link to start the meeting. They can also access the link via the Zoom link in the unit.
Limitations
- The alternative host can start the meeting using the join link in the email or calendar invite sent to them by the host. The meeting will not display in the upcoming meetings list in the desktop client, mobile app, or web page for alternative hosts.
- If the original host joins after the alternative host, the original host will always regain control of the meeting and become host. In addition, the alternative host will change roles. If the co-host feature is enabled for the meeting, the alternative host will become a co-host. If the co-host feature is disabled, the alternative host becomes a normal participant.
Designating an alternative host
There are two ways in which an alternate host is added to Zoom within a MyLO unit.
- Any lecturer, tutor or Support person within the unit will be added as an alternate host once they press on the link to Zoom in the unit.
- You can add Alternate hosts manually. This can be done in two ways:
- Add an alternate host to a specific Zoom Schedule. Add a UTAS email address. You can add more than one user, just separate by a comma. Press Save when complete.
- Add Alternative hosts so that these auto populate in every scheduled Zoom meeting. To do this press on the three dots next to Schedule a Meeting at the top of the Zoom screen. Press Manage alternative hosts.
Enter a UTAS email address. You will see any users email addresses here if they have pressed on the Zoom link and are in the unit as a lecturer/ Tutor etc.
- Add an alternate host to a specific Zoom Schedule. Add a UTAS email address. You can add more than one user, just separate by a comma. Press Save when complete.
Note: If you need to add a user outside of UTAS, you will need to copy the Zoom invitation and send it to them via email. Once they are in the meeting you can make them a co-host.
Security Options
If you have scheduled your Zoom session within MyLO, then only the students and staff within that unit will have access to this. These users will have had to authenticate already to access MyLO, therefore the session will be secure.
However there are further security measures you can put in place when scheduling your Zoom session.
If you wish to use these measures you can.
This includes:
- Setting a Passcode. Your users will need to enter this code in order to enter the meeting
- Have your users go into a Waiting Room. You will need to admit them yourself.
- Require your users to sign into Zoom as well as MyLO to access the meeting.
Creating and using Polls
While an Alternate Host of Co-Host can start polls they cannot create them. The Host of the conference needs to.
In order for any instructor within the unit to be able to launch polls we advise that the host creates the Polls well ahead of the start time. This ensures if they are absent an alternate host, or co-host can use polling within Zoom.
To do this the Host should Start the meeting early and create all the polls required for that session. This can be done at any time before the conference begins. Press Start when accessing Zoom from within your MyLO unit.
Once in the Room select Polls from the navbar at the bottom of your screen. This will open a pop -up window.
Pressing on Add a Question will open up a tab in your browser where you can create and save your polls for this session.
Add a title for your Poll, then add as many questions and answers as needed for that poll. Press Save.
Create any other polls you require for the conference then exit the Zoom session.
Now the host or alternative host/ co-host can run the polls during the conference.
You also have the option to upload a csv file with all the Poll questions available. We would advise downloading the csv template file to use before uploading your Poll questions via the Import option.
Please note that if you upload more that one csv file, it will overwrite any existing questions already uploaded by csv. It will not affect any Polls created by starting the meeting early.
Using Break Out Groups
Breakout rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting into separate rooms. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate rooms automatically, manually or via pre-assigning participants. Once the meeting is split into these smaller rooms the host or co-host can switch between the rooms at any time.
NOTE: Co-hosts need to be allocated to and join a breakout room before they have the ability to move between rooms.
As a Host:
Note: For further information on setting up Breakout Rooms, refer to the Managing breakout rooms guide by Zoom.
Press on Breakout Rooms - depending on the size of your screen this may show on your bottom navigation or be in the More section.
Create your Breakout Rooms. Select how many rooms you will need and how many participants per room
Press on More Options for your Breakout Rooms. Once you have set any other options press on Open All rooms.
Once all participants have entered their room, Click on the Join button nest to a room to enter that room.
To move between rooms, Press on Breakout Rooms in the Nav bar and select to Join a New room
Press on Leave Room to exit the room altogether.
As a Co-host:
Note: As a co-host, you will only have the ability to move between breakout rooms after you have joined an initial breakout room allocated to you by the host.
Once the Host has created the Breakout Room you will get an invitation to Join.
As with the Host, a Co-host you can leave one room and enter another.
Deletion of upcoming Meetings and Past Sessions
As the host of the meeting you are able to delete both upcoming sessions that are no longer needed, as well as meetings that have taken place and have been recorded.
Note - if you do require to delete a Zoom Meeting it is best to do it from the place you created it- so that these changes then also flow through the Zoom App and Outlook.
To Delete an upcoming Meeting:
Login to MyLO and access Zoom. Search for the meeting and press Delete.
To Delete a Recording:
Login to MyLO and access Zoom. Press on the Cloud Recordings tab. Search for the recording you no longer need to be shown within Zoom in your unit. Press Delete.
You will get a confirmation message.
If you have chosen to record to the Cloud and have a link to an Echo360 section in your unit, the recording may already be there and will need to be unpublished if you do not wish this to be seen by your students. To do this, access Echo360 via the link in your unit, press on the Green Play icon to open up options. Select Make Unavailable.
If you delete a recording in error and it is not in your Echo360 library or Section, or filed on your PC, place a job with the Service Desk. Deleted recordings are kept for 30 days before total removal.
Editing Created Zoom Schedules
Only the Host is able to edit the Scheduled meeting.
You can do this in two ways.
Via MyLO:
This is the preferred option.
Log in to MyLO. Access your unit and press on the link to view the Zoom schedules.
Press on the link to open the meeting. From here you can change settings , add other alternate hosts, edit the time or copy the invitation if you need to send this to someone outside of the unit to access.
Via Web App:
You are also able to edit the meeting via the web app. Any changes to the time made here will flow through to the session in MyLO.
Open the Zoom web app. Press on Meetings. Select Edit.
From here you can change the date and time, add a Passcode and within the Advanced options add an Alternate host. Press save and the changes will be made and updated within your MyLO unit.
Note that Alternate hosts can only be UTAS staff members.
Create a Semester Long Meeting
You can create a Zoom meeting which is open for the entire semester. To do this Select Recurring meeting and the Recurrence field to No Fixed Time to create a permanent meeting in your unit.
This type of Zoom Meeting will not appear within the calendar tool in MYLO and is only accessible if you share the link within content, or students access the link to Zoom in your unit.
Sharing a File through Chat
If you wish to share a file with participants (e.g. a document, PDF) you need to enable the function in your profile settings prior to the session.
- Go to https://utas.zoom.us (Zoom web interface NOT the desktop client) and sign in with your UQ credentials.
- Select the Meetings Settings tab.
- Scroll down to locate the File transfer setting (Under the In Meeting (Basic) options).
- Set the button so that is turn from grey (off) to blue (on).
- Within the Zoom room, locate the Chat window
- Select File.
- You can then browse and upload the file which will load in the chat box.
Hosts Without UTAS Credentials
If an external participant without a University account is required to host a Zoom session within a MyLO unit this can be achieved by the following steps:
- Send a meeting invitation to the external participant using the "Copy Meeting Invitation" functionality within Zoom
- Ensure a UTAS host (or alternative host) starts the Zoom session
- Once the external participant joins the meeting the UTAS host (or alternative host) can then assign the external participant as host
- The UTAS host (or alternative host) can then leave the meeting if required
Creating and Hosting Multiple Sessions at the Same Time
It may be necessary to schedule multiple Zoom meetings for your unit which will take place at the same time
This can be achieved by creating the meetings within your MyLO unit following the normal scheduling process .. the same person can create all sessions and will be the host for all sessions
Ensure alternative hosts are assigned to the sessions (and that all staff within the MyLO unit have accessed Zoom via clicking the link within the MyLO unit)
Each of the alternative hosts will be required to start one of the Zoom meetings .. this will need to be decided and communicated in advance
Once the alternative host has started the meeting they may assign another host or co-host as required, or continue as host themselves for the entire meeting
If the person who has scheduled the meetings joins a meeting, they will automatically be allocated the host role and will need to reallocate it prior to leaving the meeting
Chat Files within Zoom
Within Zoom if you and your students use Chat and you record the session to the Cloud, the chat will be available within MyLO to view both when playing back the file, and as a separate downloadable file.
It is important that you update your personal Zoom settings to tick the option to Save chat Messages from the meeting/ webinar for this to occur. Information on how to update your Zoom settings can be found here.
Once your Cloud recording has been processed, in MyLO you will see that there are two files associated with the recording.
Pressing on the files or the topic will show you the recording and chat file.
When you play the recording you will also see the chat with a timestamp against it.
Please note that the Chat file will not load into Echo360 , but can be downloaded and attached to the recording within the Echo360 class.
Best Practice with Recordings
You can set your scheduled Zoom session within MyLO to record automatically - however if you do wish to automatically record your session you should ensure that you untick the option to Enable join before Host to avoid students entering early and starting the recording. You could also tick the option for your students to go into the Waiting Room before the host if you wish to keep Enable join before Host ticked.
The other option is to not tick the option to record the meeting automatically. The Host or Alternate host can then press record when everyone is in the room.
Cloud Zoom Recordings pushed into Echo360
As per the guide here if you have both a link to Zoom within your unit and a link set up to point to your Echo360 section any scheduled Zoom recordings made within your unit will also appear in your Echo section, provided that they are longer than 5 minutes.
NOTE: the Echo360 section for your unit must be linked to the MyLO unit by adding the Echo360 LTI link before your Zoom Schedule begins. An Echo360 space should be requested via MyLO Manager, and this staff guide details how to add the Echo360 LTI link to your units space within your MyLO unit
The Cloud recordings may take a few hours before being made available within Echo360. This will depend on the size of the recording, the length of the recording and how many other recordings are being processed by Echo360 at the time.
Zoom transcriptions will take a few hours to appear within the Echo360 section . The host will receive an email from Zoom when the transcription is ready and able to be edited within Echo360.
Zoom Transcripts
Zoom offers audio transcription of your scheduled meetings if you record to the cloud. After the transcript is processed, it appears as a separate VTT file in the list of recorded meetings within your Zoom app or within the recordings in MyLO. In addition, you have the option to display the transcript text within the video itself, similar to a closed caption display
The transcript is divided into sections, each with a timestamp that shows how far into the recording that portion of the text was recorded. You can edit the text to more accurately capture the words, or to add capitalization and punctuation, which are not captured by the transcript.
Note: If you are using Zoom within your MyLO unit and have your Echo360 section set up as per guide here:https://www.utas.edu.au/mylo/staff/staff-resources/web-conferencing/zoom/zoom-items/sharing-your-recordings you will be able to edit the transcripts within Echo360 once they are available.
To enable your Zoom audio Transcripts:
1. Sign in to you Zoom web portal.
2. Press on your name and select My Profile. A new window will open.
3.Select Settings then Recording. Scroll down and tick the Audio transcript.
It can take several hours for the Zoom transcript to be ready. You will receive an email from Zoom when the transcript is available to edit.
Zoom Reporting
After a scheduled meeting has run, you can see a report for it from within MyLO:
- Go to the Zoom module in the MyLO site, and select the Zoom Web Conferencing link
- Select Previous Meetings — and then select the Report for a meeting
- The meeting report will display with . . .
- List of participants who joined the session at any point during the meeting
- The time they joined
- The time they left
- The duration of time they spent in the meeting
If needed, select the Export button to download this data in a CSV (excel spreadsheet) format of the Zoom meeting attendance.
NOTE: If you’re the Host for any Zoom meeting (not only meetings in MyLO), you can also access an attendance register via your Zoom web portal. If you need to, here’s how:
- Visit https://utas.zoom.us/meeting to access your Zoom web portal
- If required (I didn’t need to do this, as I have already automatically authenticated into Zoom)
- click Sign In with SSO
- Type in UTAS into the Enter Your Company Domain field
- Click the Continue button.
- Type in your University email address and password if prompted.
- Select Reports.
- Select Usage to view all your previously hosted meeting sessions.
- You will be presented with a list of your meetings including:
- The Topic
- Meeting ID
- The time each meeting started and ended
- The duration of the meeting
- The number of participants in each meeting.
Tip: You can filter the listed meetings to a particular time period by adjusting the From and To fields.
- Select on the number of participants (under the Participants column) in the row of the meeting you wish to track attendance for to generate a Meeting Participants report.
More information can be found on the Zoom website here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/216378603-Generating-reports-for-registration-and-polling
How to allow Participants to record in breakout rooms
Once you have sent participants in the breakout rooms, as the Host, click Breakout rooms.
Click Join for the breakout room you would like to join to allow recording.
Once in the breakout room, click Participants.
Select the participant you would like to do the recording and float your mouse over their name.
Click More and click Allow Record. The participant will now be able to record in the meeting by clicking Record.
While recording the participant can pause or stop the recording at anytime.
Importing Zoom schedules between units
It is possible to schedule a Zoom session in one unit and share this to another unit using the Import function. This allows both cohorts of students to access the same Zoom session from within their own units. The Zoom recording is available in both units within Zoom, and if you are using Echo360 within your unit, the Zoom cloud recording will go to the unit from which the recording is started.
Create your Zoom schedule within your unit as per this guide. Copy the ID as shown in the image below.
Enter your other unit in which you wish to share the Zoom schedule with. Press on the link in your unit to access Zoom. In the top right hand corner press on the three dots and then select import meeting.
Enter your copied meeting ID and press Import.
The meeting will be imported into the new unit.
Students in both units can access the Zoom schedule via their unit calendar, or via the link to Zoom in content.