Teachers may choose to use methods such as Zoom breakout rooms and/or polling to engage students synchronously online. The following recommendations should be considered in order to ensure students have the best possible experience with Zoom:

Edit your Zoom settings before you create the Zoom meeting

1. Go to sfsu.zoom.us and login with your SF State credentials.
2. In the left navigation menu, select Settings.
3. To enable Polling:
1. Select In Meeting (Basic)
2. Scroll down to Polling and select the toggle to enable (blue).
3. Note: You’ll need to create polls in advance of creating the meeting.
4. To enable breakout rooms:
1. Select In Meeting (Advanced)
2. Scroll down to Breakout room and select the toggle to enable (blue).

 Sign into Zoom from two devices

• For example, a computer and a mobile device. This provides a Plan B if you experience technical issues on one device, you’ll still have the other one connected.

 Be prepared to be flexible

• For example, one issue that arises occasionally is having one or more students who don’t get placed into a Breakout room; they remain in the main room with you. There is no known fix for this. Recommendation: Conduct the activity with that student(s) yourself.

 Set expectations

• Tell students in advance about the format of the session (e.g. a brief presentation, small group work in breakout rooms, large group discussion via chat).
• Let students know in advance that it might seem a little chaotic at first, but that it will get better with practice.

 

For additional assistance, contact the Teaching and Learning with Technology team: (415) 405-5550, iteach@sfsu.edu, LIB 240