Zoom

Zoom is a video and web conferencing tool that unifies cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and group messaging into one easy-to-use platform. Zoom offers video, audio, and wireless screen-sharing experience across Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Blackberry devices with campus-affiliated and unaffiliated users. This tool can be used by Rice faculty to remotely connect with your class via a web conference.

Do I Need Zoom Meeting or Webinar?

Zoom Meeting and Webinar are similar, but different products.

Meetings

  • Recommended for classes with fewer than 75 students.
  • Facilitates collaboration with all participants being able to screen share, turn on their video and audio, and see who else is in attendance.
  • The Breakout Rooms feature is available in "Meetings" but not in "Webinars."

Webinars

These instructions will show you how to use Zoom in Canvas.

Guidelines for Recording Academic Classes in Zoom

Summary

Zoom is a third-party product that Rice is making available for course instructors to use for synchronous (real-time) video sessions with their students. Instructors can record these sessions and then share with students who are participating in the course session asynchronously.

Guidelines

The choice to record a Zoom session is a decision made by the instructor; recordings should only be made if there is a specific request (for example, as an accommodation) or if instructor determines there is a pedagogical reason to do so. Note: currently classes with students in 4+ hours outside the Central Timezone are required to record the class for remote student viewing. Like other course content created as part of university activities, these recordings are subject to applicable university policies. Zoom recordings should be treated as subject to federal student privacy law (FERPA) and university administrative regulations if students are personally identifiable in the recordings. Please contact the Registrar’s Office (registrar@rice.edu) with any questions.
When an instructor chooses to record Zoom sessions, please do so in accordance with the following guidelines:

  • Only the host (or meeting chair) is permitted to record the meeting.
  • Instructors should use the following Zoom settings (accessible by going to riceuniversity.zoom.us and navigating to Settings and then Recordings – instructors should consider reaching out to Learning Environments staff to assist with configuring these recording settings):
    • Disable Local Recording. For most instructors, recordings should be kept in the cloud and not downloaded to a local computer.
    • If video is desired, enable Record active speaker with shared screen
    • Disable Display participants’ names in the recording
    • Enable Require password to access shared cloud recordings
  • Instructors should notify students beforehand that they plan to record the Zoom session. There is an automatic disclaimer that appears in Zoom when a session is being recorded and the student must click Continue to join the meeting.
  • As with synchronous Zoom sessions, instructors should maintain the scheduled time(s) and day(s) that class meets as specified in their syllabus. Instructors should not reschedule their virtual classes for times and days that the class does not normally meet, nor extend class time beyond scheduled hours. This ensures that class meetings do not conflict with each other and students do not need to adjust their schedules to participate in their classes.
  • All class recordings will be automatically deleted on the official last day of each semester (per the university academic calendar) + 60 days. If an instructor wishes to maintain the recording longer, s/he needs to download it onto university approved devices, networks or platforms, but must do so in accordance with FERPA guidelines https://registrar.rice.edu/facstaff/ferpa_FAQs/