Zoom for online teaching

About five years ago, while doing online teaching using Skype, I have started to play around with Zoom. However, I stopped using Zoom because Skype already had had a screen sharing facility, and I was more experienced and functional with Skype. So, I never bothered to carry on with Zoom and kept on using Skype for online teaching and to talk to people overseas. Since the arrival of WhatsApp, it is obviously my first choice for overseas calling. So, things change a lot and we easily move from one app to another as needed.

Although there are various similar services, Zoom currently gets a lot of attention due to the high demand for online support of learners. I take it for granted that many of my readers are up to date with Zoom, but if some of you have not yet familiarised yourself with Zoom by now, it might be good to do so to keep yourself involved in this technological development. Zoom is a very good platform for online teaching, meetings, one to one conversations, etc., and it is very easy to use!

To get involved with Zoom, head over to https://zoom.us/docs/en-us/covid19.html where you will find a myriad of details in terms of signing up, support, guidance, demonstrations, tutorials, etc. At the top right, under Resources, you find the page from where you can download the necessary software and apps for your laptops, devices, etc.

A very helpful YouTube channel is dottotech, run by Steve Dotto (with 280 000 subscribers) and he gives professional advice across the technology spectrum. His YouTube channel's address is https://youtube.com/user/dottotech. Lately, he has published various very helpful videos about Zoom. Have a look at his website as well for exciting material. The address is https://dottotech.com!

Apart from dottotech the internet obviously has many other resources to help. Just search for them. So, go and get yourself updated on Zoom.

To conclude, I have seen an article about Zoom security matters on ZDNet. Security should always be kept in mind and here are ten tips from ZDNet to help you with your security while using Zoom. Click here to read the full article; ensure you do. Some of the tips might be handled differently depending on a specific situation, but in general, here they are:

• Password protect your meetings.
• Authenticate users.
• Do not allow others to join before you as the host.
• Lock down your meeting.
• Turn off participant screen sharing.
• Use a randomly-generated id.
• Use waiting rooms.
• Avoid file sharing.
• Remove nuisance attendees.
• Check for updates.