Zoom: 10 Frequently Asked Questions

We made a list with the 10 most frequently asked questions about the use of Zoom in virtual education and online learning

1. Should I use Zoom Meetings or Zoom Video Webinars to host a class?

Both meetings and seminars are great ways to connect and engage with large audiences and even gather information of interest when requesting registration. However, meetings and webinars have some differences:

• Meetings are designed to be highly collaborative, giving attendees the ability to use both audio and video, share their screen, and annotate in a live, interactive environment. Webinars offer more control over your audience.
• Instead of interacting via video and audio, attendees interact with the host and each other using chat and a Q&A panel.
• Meetings can be useful for collaborative classroom and practice environments where students can interact directly with the content being shared and with each other.
• Webinars are great for online conferences: learners can listen, view content, and submit questions using the Q&A feature.

2. What is the best way to set up a virtual classroom?

Here are some recommendations for creating a safe and productive virtual classroom:

• Require passwords: Create a password for your meeting or webinar and share it with your students to ensure that only those users who have the password can access it.
• Request a log: You can request a log to see who has joined your class in both meetings and webinars. You can also manually approve each registrant to control who accesses your class.
• Allow Waiting Rooms: Waiting rooms prevent participants from directly entering a meeting. These rooms are automatically activated in our infant to high school program. You can admit each participant individually or all participants at once. You can also admit all students registered in the school domain to avoid using the waiting room. Attendees not listed in the school domain will need to be admitted individually.
• Disable screen sharing: Screen sharing for educational users is set by default to only be available to the host. This prevents attendees from sharing unwanted content or distracting other attendees. To allow attendees to share content, change this setting or turn on sharing during meetings on the Security icon.
• Turn off private chat: The host can lock the chat so attendees can't send each other private messages. This does not affect messages between students and teachers.
• Manage Participants: If an unwanted guest has joined your class, remove them using the Security icon controls. You can learn more about how to manage participants, including the option to mute them, stop their video, and restrict name change, see our support page.
• Lock the meeting: You can also lock the meeting from the Security icon to prevent other attendees from joining once it has started. Not only does this feature keep out potentially unwanted guests, it's also great for preventing late arrivals.

3. How do I make sure my classroom is secure?

There are a number of features and default settings that can be used on the fly to ensure the safety of your classes at Zoom. On the Security icon in your meeting window you can find and enable all security features. This feature allows a host or co-host to:

• Lock the meeting.
• Enable the waiting room.
• Remove participants.
• Restrict participants' ability to share their screen, chat, change their name, and annotate.

As additional security information, waiting rooms and meeting passwords are enabled by default for free Basic accounts, paid Pro accounts, and our K-12 accounts. Passwords are required for Kindergarten through High School accounts.

4. How can I check who attended the classroom?

One way to check attendance at your virtual classes is to request a registration and check in the registration report who has registered and who has attended the classes. Another way to check attendance is to conduct surveys during classes. Once the class is over, you can export the result to see who has answered the survey and thus know who has attended.

5. How can I see all my students on screen?

In Zoom you have the possibility to see up to 49 people on the screen thanks to the gallery view. You just need to enable this feature in your video settings.

6. Do you have more than 49 students?

No problem: you can view up to 1,000 thumbnails by clicking the right or left arrow in the gallery view to show the next 49 participants.

7. How can I set up breakout rooms?

Breakout rooms allow you to break up your classes up to a maximum of 50 private sessions. This feature is great for group activities or assignments. Within each of the rooms, participants can use video, audio and screen sharing as normal. Each room can notify the host if they need help and the host can enter each room to help and answer any questions. To use this feature, make sure you've enabled breakout rooms in your meeting settings. Once done, you can assign students to a group manually or automatically.

8. How can I share my screen?

Screen sharing allows you to share slides, videos, and other content of interest with your students. You can also allow students to share their screen to present their work. To share your screen, you just have to click on the “Share Screen” icon and select what you want to share. If you want to share video, make sure you have selected the “Share computer audio” option. Screen Sharing also allows you to share images from a secondary camera in a Zoom. This means you can use a document camera, similar to an overhead projector.

9. How can I make an annotation? Who else can do it?

When you share your screen you can draw, write and add stickers to the information you are sharing. The host can also allow participants to annotate on their screens. This is a great way to interact and collaborate with your students. By sharing your screen you can add a whiteboard. This whiteboard is similar to the one in a classroom: it is a blank digital page that you and your attendees can use to work and solve problems.

10. Can I host and join meetings from a mobile device?

You can use Zoom from your mobile device for seamless and reliable meetings just as you would on any other device. However, some controls in the meeting window—such as creating and sending polls, creating breakout rooms, and controlling screen sharing—are not available on mobile devices. Gallery view is also limited on smartphones and tablets.

For more information on Zoom licensing, please go to the following link: Zoom licenses