My Iona

Zoom Videoconferencing

Zoom Videoconferencing for Faculty and Employees

Videoconferencing allows multiple participants from disparate locations to communicate with each other via audio and video over the Internet.  

With the free version of the Zoom videoconferencing software, a meeting facilitator can host up to 100 participants for uninterrupted periods of up to 40 minutes. In the virtual environment, meeting hosts will have the ability to speak directly to attendees, see attendees via their webcams, share and annotate their PowerPoint presentations and other files, utilize a white board, share web pages and video, and chat directly with specific attendees via the chat box.

Once you create a meeting, Zoom will generate a web link for entry that can be emailed to all attendees. Attendees will be asked to click on the meeting link and, at that time, a small piece of software will unpack to their machines. They will simply follow the on-screen prompts. Attendees do not need to have a Zoom account to join the meeting. Please have your attendees check that they have a working webcam, microphone and speakers in advance of the session.

For Faculty. For faculty currently teaching a course in Blackboard, there is the option to generate a Zoom meeting for the virtual classroom environment. There is no need to sign up for a separate Zoom account if using the feature within Blackboard. In the Blackboard course site, navigate to Course Tools and select Zoom meeting. 

Step 1. Sign Up for Zoom (Blackboard Users Can Skip This Step)

  1. Navigate to zoom.us/signup
  2. Enter your Iona email address
  3. Once you click on the blue button to “Sign Up” you will receive the following message: Click the confirmation link in that email to begin using Zoom
  4. Check your Iona email for a message from Zoom to activate your account.
  5. Once you click on the “Activate Account” button in your email, you will be taken to a form where you enter your first name, last name, and a password.
You are now ready to start using Zoom for videoconferencing. .

Step 2. Start Zoom and Schedule Meetings

  1. Navigate to www.zoom.us (or faculty accessing through Blackboard navigate to Course Tools, Zoom Meeting in their course instead)
  2. For those entering via zoom.us, click on the link to Sign In on the upper right hand navigation bar
  3. Once you sign in successfully to zoom.us, you will see a left hand navigation bar
  4. Click on the option for Meetings on the left hand navigation bar
  5. Both Blackboard and zoom.us users, click on the blue button that says Schedule a New Meeting and complete the form
    • Title your meeting
    • Enter the date and time for your meeting
    • Leave the time zone “as is”
    • A Meeting Password is required ​and your students should receive a copy of the password with the link you share - Zoom will automatically create this password
    • Under Meeting Options you'll notice that the Waiting Room is enabled
    • When you are done entering your meeting options, click the Save button
Note that these meetings can be scheduled in advance of the actual Zoom session. The meeting will not “open” until the date and time specified. You can send out your meeting invitations at any time after you schedule the sessions. 

Step 3. Invite Your Meeting Participants

  1. When you are ready to send out email invitations, navigate back to the Meetings option on the left hand navigation bar
  2. By default, you will see a list of the upcoming meetings scheduled
  3. Click on the name of the meeting to which you wish to invite attendees
  4. About midway down the page you will see the heading Join URL with a URL
  5. To the right of the URL, there is a link to Copy Invitation – click on that link
  6. Paste the meeting invitation, along with the meeting password, into an email message for your participants

Step 3. Invite Your Meeting Participants in Blackboard (Faculty Only)

If you created your Zoom meeting via the Zoom meeting link in the course tools in Blackboard, you can generate a link from within Blackboard and post the link for your students.
  1. Under Course Management in Blackboard, navigate to Course Tools
  2. From Course Tools, click on Zoom Meeting
  3. You will see the meetings you scheduled in Zoom
  4. Click on the name of your Meeting to see the meeting details
  5. Copy the Join URL
  6. Click into a Content Area in Blackboard to post the link
  7. Navigate to Build Content
  8. From Build Content, select Web Link
  9. Paste the URL you copies into the URL field
  10. Give your meeting a name
  11. Click Submit
You may wish to send an Announcement out in Blackboard to alert your students as to the location of the Zoom meeting link.

Step 4. Enter Your Meeting and Configure the Software

  1. Log into your Zoom account at www.zoom.us or navigate from Blackboard through Course Tools -> Zoom Meeting
  2. Navigate to Meetings on the left hand navigation bar if you logged in through zoom.us
  3. Find the Meeting you wish to begin and click on Start
  4. Once Zoom loads, you will be asked to check your audio – test your speakers and your microphone and troubleshoot if you cannot hear either your speakers or the mic
  5. Once your sound equipment has been tested, select the option to Join with Computer Audio

Step 5. Manage Participants

  1. When you start your meeting, you will only see 1 participant, yourself/host
  2. As meeting participants enter the meeting or the virtual waiting room, you will hear a ding and the number of participants will increase – you will see the number of participants on the bottom of your Zoom session’s navigation bar:
  3. You will be asked if you want to admit the participants in the Waiting Room
  4. You can see how many participants are active by looking at the Manage Participants button
  5. Your participants will appear in boxes across the screen – doubleclick on the image of the participant you want to see in full-screen

Step 6. End Your Meeting

  1. When you have completed your videoconferencing session and are ready to end your meeting, navigate to the red End Meeting button located in the lower right-hand corner of your Zoom session

Features Within Your Virtual Meeting

Share Screen

You have the ability to share your screen with your participants. This allows your attendees to see any applications you wish to share like a PowerPoint presentation or a web page. There is also a white board feature that you can use for your meetings. To share your screen, follow the steps below:
  1. Open any programs you wish to share with your participants and minimize the files or web pages in your task bar
  2. Click on the Share Screen Option at the bottom of your Zoom session’s navigation bar
  3. Once you click on Share Screen a window will open and show all the open applications running on the desktop
  4. Doubleclick on application you wish to share