A thread with some advice on videoconferencing - I'm focusing mainly on using Zoom. Firstly, why Zoom? Many of the safety worries have been resolved and the stability, resilience and breakout rooms features are great. (More on safety: tidbits.com/2020/04/03/eve…)
When presenting to colleagues, look at the camera, not your screen!
Simple thing: clean your camera and/or invest in a new one - you can plug in an external one.
Get the lighting right - don't sit with your back to a window or with a big light behind you.
Remember to mute when you're not speaking, but also use @krispHQ to block out background noise.
Consider a better microphone. I use this £20 one from Amazon: amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07…
Here's some advice I made previously about how to smoothly present full-screen slides in Zoom.
Here's a little tour through some of the background settings for your Zoom meetings - we use Zoom Pro account here. Video 1 here covers audio, muting and password settings.
Video 2 of the settings in Zoom Pro covers chat, chimes, co-hosts, screen share permission, whiteboards
Video 3 of the settings in Zoom Pro covers breakout rooms (my favourite feature of Zoom!), backgrounds, waiting rooms.
Here's some advice on basic screen-sharing...
... and how to share audio (either with slides or separately)...
... and finally how to share video clips and how to pause sharing.
Here's some advice from Zoom themselves on managing breakout rooms and broadcasting messages into them. (more details: support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/artic…)
I'd add that you should set key facilitators and guests as co-hosts so that they can move in and out of meeting rooms and support.
Here's a useful set of notes on security:
Here's that article again on why I now trust Zoom for security, if you take the right precautions. Much of the advice that suggested not using it was written before these updates. tidbits.com/2020/04/03/eve…
Worth saying, I'm saying here that it's worth considering Zoom for training teachers. I'm certainly not qualified to make a recommendation on platforms for teaching children and safeguarding.
