Zoom Best Practices

• Mute your mic as soon as you join a call and whenever you are not speaking.
• If your audio is spotty, consider turning your video off if it is enabled.
• Use your spacebar to unmute your microphone when you want to talk on Zoom.
  • Click your profile, then click settings
  • Click the audio tab
  • Check the option “Press and hold space key to temporarily unmute yourself.”
• Maintain eye contact with the webcam.
• Turn your video off if you are doing something that may distract other people from your call.
• Keep movement to a minimum.
• Consider turning off the camera and microphone if you need to eat.
• Be courteous and considerate of those attending.
• Act and talk as you would if class were held in person.
• Try not to multi-task.
• Take advantage of the chat feature to ask a question when someone else is speaking.
• Raise your hand in the camera, use “raise hand” features or send a message using the chat or other messaging tool (Teams, Zoom, etc.) to indicate you would like to speak. 

While it is possible to run an online course without the use of webcams, there are instances where having Zoom attendees see each other is of pedagogical value. You can require students to have their webcams turned on, but you should inform them of this requirement as soon as possible. Restrictions on instructors requiring students to turn on their webcams is supported by MSU’s Student Rights and Responsibilities, Article 2.II.B 8 (The student has a right to protection against improper disclosure of their education records and personal information such as values, beliefs, organizational affiliations, and health) and Article 2.III.B 10 (The student and the faculty share the responsibility for maintaining professional relationships based on mutual trust and civility).

Related to requiring the use of webcams is the proper use of video recordings of the synchronous sessions and how to deal with these files considering the Family Educational Records Protections Act (FERPA), MSU’s Office of General Council recently put together this guide. 

These Zoom links have been curated in order of most important. Below, we provide a walkthrough.

• Enable Waiting Rooms
• Require Meeting Passwords
• Keep Your Personal Meeting ID Private
• Allow Authenticated Participants Only
• Mute Participants Upon Entry Default
• Mute Participants During Meeting
• Disable Participant Screen Sharing
• Disable Participant-to-Participant Chat (or Disable the Chat Altogether)
• Disable File Transfer
• Hide Telephone Numbers
• Enable Virtual Backgrounds
• Policy on Recording Classes