Information Technology Services

All current Brandeis faculty, staff and students are eligible to have a Zoom Pro license. Visit the Brandeis Zoom information page to log in to your account and access helpful resources.

Zoom sessions can be recorded to the cloud or locally to a computer. It is generally recommended to record to the cloud to then easily share the recording. Simply click on the record button in your meeting and choose "Record to cloud." Read more information about recording with Zoom.

Zoom cloud recordings are automatically copied to the Echo360 platform to allow videos to easily be posted on LATTE. Simply create an activity in LATTE, such as a "label" and then click on the Echo360 button on the LATTE activity toolbar to access your Echo360 library. Read more information about the Echo360/LATTE integration. Please see the helpful video tutorial on sharing Zoom recordings.

Recordings will remain in Zoom's cloud storage for 180 days, however, recordings copied to Echo360 will remain for 18 months. Please download a local copy of any content that you need to archive permanently.

It can be useful to assign a TA or other participant(s) as a co-host to allow them to help with Zoom controls and settings during a meeting. The co-host must also have a Brandeis Zoom account. When setting up the meeting, there is a field to enter the co-host's email address. You can also promote a participant to co-host during the meeting by clicking on "participants," hovering your mouse over the desired co-host and assigning them when prompted. Read more about assigning co-hosts.

Zoom offers a live automatic transcription feature that will present the audio of the session in text form. The host must start the auto transcript feature at the beginning of the call by clicking on the "Live Transcript" button on the meeting toolbar. It is also possible to bring in a professional captioner and allow them to type during the meeting. This type of service would typically be arranged through the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) office. Read more about all of Zoom's accessibility features.

Zoom offers an integrated whiteboard feature within the Share Screen settings. If you are looking for a solution that has more features such as a collaborative whiteboard, consider using Google Jamboard. In Zoom, you will simply share your full desktop and then bring up Google Jamboard in a browser window. The advantage of using Google Jamboard is that since it part of the Google suite, you can make the link accessible and editable by anyone at Brandeis.

It is important to be aware of Zoom's security features to keep your meeting secure while also ensuring that students are able to join easily. Features such as meeting passcode and waiting room should be considered. As a best practice, ensure that the screen share feature is only enabled for hosts, and consider temporarily promoting students to co-host when they need to share their screen. There is a "Security" button on the meeting toolbar that includes easy access to all of the in-meeting security controls. Please become familiar with this tab to help keep your Zoom sessions safe. In addition, please read Zoom’'s Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom.

The waiting room feature allows the host to control when participants are able to join the meeting. This can be especially useful during office hours if you are having a private conversation and want to prevent others from joining until it is their turn or to ensure that only authorized participants are able to join your class or meeting. Read more about the waiting room feature.

You can take attendance in a Zoom meeting by accessing the meeting report after the meeting has ended. Attendance reports are available approximately an hour after the meeting has ended. Follow the steps below to access a meeting report to take attendance.

1. Sign in to your Brandeis Zoom account at brandeis.zoom.us. Click Reports on the left and then Usage on the right.
2. Ensure the date range at the top includes the meeting you want. A list of meetings in that range will appear below. Locate the meeting and click on the number in the Participants column. You may have to scroll the frame to the right if the Participants column is not visible. A new window will appear with the meeting participants list.
3. The meeting participants report will show multiple instances of a participant if someone leaves and re-joins the meeting. If you want to show each participant only once, check Show unique users.
4. To export this information as a CSV file, check Export with a meeting data box. This includes important information including the date of the meeting. Then click Export. You can open this file with Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, or import to your Google Drive and open with Google Sheets.

Gallery View displays up to 25 participants per screen by default or up to 49 participants per screen if enabled in the settings. The active speaker is highlighted in Gallery View. If there are more than participants than the per-screen limit, an arrow displays next to the icon. Tap the right arrow to display the next group of participants on the screen, and tap the left arrow to display the previous set. This view is not available in a Zoom Room with one screen when screen sharing is active.

By default, participants can customize their view including the ability to move video windows around. The host can force all participants to follow the same display as the host. Read more about customizing the video order in Zoom.

The host can share their screen by clicking on the "Share Screen" button on the meeting toolbar. Read more about Zoom's Screen Sharing features.

The host has the ability to control if others can share their screen. For security, it is recommended that only the host shares their screen. The host can promote users to co-host to allow them to share their screen OR the host can toggle the setting to allow all participants to share their screen within the "Security" button on the meeting toolbar.

Hosts have three options for configuring breakout rooms:

• Automatically (randomly) assign breakout rooms
• Allow participants to choose their own breakout rooms
• Manually assign breakout rooms
• Pre-assign breakout rooms

If groups are pre-assigned, the simplest solution creating the breakout rooms is to allow participants to self-assign their own breakout rooms. If the students already know their group number, they can then enter the appropriate room without any configuration by the host.

Anyone who is not assigned to a breakout room can remain in the main meeting room.

Zoom may be used in a Hybrid Classroom environment to bridge students who are physically in the classroom with students who have joined remotely. Please refer to the guide on Using Zoom as a Classroom for best practices on using Zoom in a physical classroom environment.