Skip to main content
It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

2020-21 COVID-19 Guide to Hybrid & Online Teaching at JMU

Zoom at JMU


This guide was updated until June 30, 2021. Some of the content may be outdated starting in July 2021. We will redirect pages to current/updated content as we are able.

Zoom is one of the synchronous conferencing platforms licensed by JMU.

On this page:

How to activate your Zoom account

JMU faculty & staff need to log in with their JMU eID, password & Duo to access Zoom at JMU. Follow the steps that apply to you:

If you have a personal Zoom account connected to your @jmu.edu email address (or a @dukes.jmu.edu address), you must transfer that account to JMU’s license:

  1. Go to https://zoom.us 
  2. Click SIGN IN
  3. Sign in with your personal Zoom account & password
  4. Click Join Domain
  5. From now on, sign in to your JMU Zoom account at https://jmu-edu.zoom.us

If you never had a personal Zoom account, follow these steps to activate your JMU account with Zoom:

  1. Go to to https://jmu-edu.zoom.us
  2. Click Sign in
  3. Sign in with your JMU eID, password & Duo
  4. From now on, sign in to your JMU Zoom account at https://jmu-edu.zoom.us

If you use Zoom software that you've downloaded to your computer:

  1. Open Zoom on your computer
  2. Click Sign In with SSO (log out if you don't see that option)
  3. Enter jmu-edu as the domain name
  4. Click Continue and sign in with your JMU eID, password & Duo

Questions? Contact the JMU IT Help Desk.

What do I need to know about Zoom at JMU?

  • The maximum Zoom meeting size at JMU is 300 people. If you need a license for a larger meeting, submit a request form through the IT Service Portal.
  • If you need to use Zoom for meetings that include individually identifiable health information protected by the HIPAA Privacy Rule, submit a Technology Solution Request (TSR) through the IT Service Portal and include a justification.
  • For more info, see the Zoom page from JMU IT.  

How do I launch a Zoom class meeting from Canvas?



Step 1. Visit jmu-edu.zoom.us to sign in


If you haven't used Zoom yet, activate your JMU Zoom for Education license by selecting Sign In - Configure Your Account. See 1 on the screenshot below. Sign in with your JMU eID, password & Duo. 

If you already hold a Zoom license tied to your JMU email, your profile & scheduled meetings will transfer to our enterprise license after you select Sign In from https://jmu-edu.zoom.us. See the 1 on the screenshot below. Please note: If you plan to use breakout rooms in Canvas, you will need to make sure your JMU Zoom account at jmu-edu.zoom.us has been edited with the Breakout Room option. Read ON in the next step about your Zoom account settings!

screenshot of JMU Zoom Sign In Page

 


Step 2. Update your profile & adjust your settings


Once you sign in, you may want to update your profile picture, name, etc. on Zoom. You can also adjust personal settings on this page (see arrows on screenshot below), including virtual backgrounds, closed captioning, polls, and more.

screenshot with arrows showing where to adjust many of your personal Zoom settings



Step 3. Navigate to your Canvas course


If you already had Canvas open, you may need to refresh your browser for the new settings to become active.  Zoom should now be available within your course in the left menu.



Step 4. Schedule class meetings in Canvas


Select Zoom within your Canvas course. Select Schedule a New Meeting. See 2 & 3 on the screenshot:

screenshot showing Zoom tab in Canvas and Schedule a New Meeting button


A new window will open. You can add course details. If the class meeting will recur, click the checkbox for Recurring Meeting & select the times for your course. See the arrow on the screenshot:
 

screenshot of meeting settings, including "Recurring Meeting" box to check

 

Scroll to the bottom of that page and adjust settings for the course meeting (see screenshot below). We highly recommend selecting these checkboxes in the settings:

  • Passcode
  • Waiting Room 
  • Require authentication to join
    • After selecting the authentication checkbook, click on the dropdown arrow to change “Sign in to Zoom” to JMU and Dukes only (see screenshot below). However, if you're hosting a guest speaker who does not have a JMU eID, you will need to leave the authentication dropdown box on Sign in to Zoom. 



Optional: Editing meetings & adding polls


After clicking Save, your course meeting will be available to you and your students. 

You may want to share Polls prior to class. See the arrows on the screenshot below. Find more info on Polls on the Polling page from Zoom. 

screenshot showing how to add polls to meeting

 


Step 5. Start your meeting


Go to your Canvas course. Click the Zoom link on the left menu. You'll see all of your meetings within Zoom, including meetings not related this class (your students in this class will not see the meetings not related to this class). If you want to see only course meetings, use the checkbox to Show my course meetings only. When ready, click Start. See 5 on the screenshot:

screenshot of "show my course meetings only" option and "Start"


After clicking Start, the Zoom website will launch & may ask you to download Zoom. Click Open zoom.us. See the arrow on the screenshot:
 

screenshot of pop up window to Open Zoom.us


Now you'll see the Zoom program. Click Join with Computer Audio. See the arrow on the screenshot:
 

screenshot of button that says Join with Computer Audio



Optional: Recording & retrieving course meetings


You may want to record your course meeting. The Record button is in the menu at the bottom of the screen. You'll see 2 options: Record on this Computer & Record to the Cloud. See 6 on the screenshot below. Saving the recording to the cloud via Zoom will allow you & your students to find the recording within Canvas for 60 days, without you manually uploading the video after class. Due to an institutional storage limit, your Zoom recordings will be automatically deleted 60 days after they were created. If you want alternate ways to keep recordings longer than 60 days, see the Zoom Cloud Recording Storage guide from JMU IT.
 

screenshot that highlights button that says Record to the cloud

 

After class is over, you and your students will be able to access your recordings in Canvas under the Zoom Cloud Recordings tab after the video processes. See the arrow on the screenshot:

screenshot that highlights Cloud recordings

How do I create breakout room sessions in Zoom?


Step 1. Configure your account

If you haven't used Zoom yet, configure your JMU Zoom license account settings. If you've already configured your account, move on to step 2.
 

Step 2. Activate breakout rooms

Go to Zoom Settings. Go to In Meeting (Advanced). Toggle ON the Allow host to split meeting participants into separate, smaller rooms setting. Check the Allow host to assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling setting, as shown in the screenshot: 

screenshot that shows settings described above

 

 

 

 

 

 


Step 3. Decide the type of breakout room to use

You have 4 options for breakout rooms (click one to jump to instructions):

  1. Randomly assign students to breakout rooms
  2. Pre-assign students to breakout rooms
  3. Allow students to choose their own breakout rooms
  4. Edit the settings of pre-assigned breakout rooms & allow students to choose their own


Randomly assign students to breakout rooms:

First, ensure your students are using their JMU accounts in Zoom. For breakout rooms to work, students must be using Zoom with their dukes.jmu.edu email address. Please note: Make sure to turn on Always show meeting control toolbar in your account settings, for students to join a breakout room. 

Then, create or schedule a Zoom meeting. Click the Breakout Rooms option in the control panel. Enter the number of breakout rooms you want to create. You will see automatic or manual options. Choose Automatically if you want the breakout rooms to be created randomly and automatically, then click the Create Breakout Rooms button, as in the screenshot below: 

screenshot of Create Breakout Rooms button

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please note: Students will also need the updated Zoom desktop/mobile client on a computer or a phone to be able to join a Breakout Room or choose to join with the Web portal. 

Optional: You can make a Teaching Assistant or Team Teacher a host.  Hover your mouse over the name of the person in the participants' list, click Make Host.

Once you're viewing the Breakout Rooms panel, you can assign participants to rooms and set a timer. You can also Recreate breakout rooms, or Add new rooms. See screenshot:

screenshot of breakout rooms and settings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-assign students to breakout rooms:

If you've scheduled recurring meetings, pre-assigned breakout rooms will work only if applied to all meetings in the recurrence. You cannot edit a single meeting in the recurrence and apply a unique pre-assignment.  

To pre-assign students to breakout rooms, first download this template from Zoom. Use it to create a csv file with your class roster (using @dukes.jmu.edu accounts). Then, create/schedule a Zoom meeting. In Meeting Options, check the Breakout Room pre-assign option. Select Import from csv. Upload the csv file you prepared. See screenshot:

screenshot of meeting options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The screen will look like the below screenshot. Click Save.

screenshot of breakout room assignment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the meeting starts, activate breakout rooms with the Control Panel. They will have pre-assigned participants in place. You can assign new participants or non-pre-assigned participants to existing rooms, as in the screenshot below: 

screenshot showing breakout rooms in progress and participants to move or assign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can Broadcast a message to all breakout rooms or set a timer to end the session.  


Let students choose their own breakout rooms:

If both the host (you) and all participants (students) are using the Zoom desktop software or the Zoom mobile app (iOS or Android), version 5.3.0 or later, you can allow participants to choose breakout rooms. The proper version of the desktop software or mobile app can be downloaded from https://zoom.us/download2. Students will not be able to self-select their breakout rooms with the web browser version of Zoom.

To allow students to choose breakout rooms without pre-assigned rooms: 

  1. Create or schedule a Zoom meeting
  2. Click Breakout Rooms in the control panel
  3. In the window that pops up (see screenshot below), enter the number of breakout rooms to create
  4. Select Let participants choose room
  5. Click Create

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you had already pre-assigned breakout rooms for your class, but you want to edit the settings so that students can choose breakout rooms instead:  

  1. Check your version of the Zoom desktop software. If you are not using version 5.3.0 or later, please uninstall your current version of Zoom and download and install the latest version of Zoom from https://zoom.us/download2
  2. Start the Zoom meeting that has the breakout rooms you had originally pre-assigned
  3. Click Breakout Rooms in the control panel
  4. Select the Settings icon (looks like a gear)
  5. Click the checkbox for Allow participants to choose room (see screenshot below)
  6. Click Open All Rooms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For questions about breakout rooms, see more information from Zoom on using breakout rooms or visit Utilizing Breakout Rooms.

What Zoom integration will my students see in Canvas?


You can see what your students see by going to Settings and then selecting Student View on the right side of the screen. See arrow in the screenshot:

screenshot of how to select Student View in Canvas

 

Navigate back to the Zoom page in Canvas and you'll see what a student sees, which will be a button to Join the meeting. See the arrow in the screenshot below. Students will also have access to Cloud Recordings. Click Leave Student View when done.

screenshot highlighting Join button in student view

I'm new to Zoom. Can I take a Zoom course?


JMU faculty and students have access to training videos from LinkedIn Learning, such as the Learning Zoom course. Log in with your JMU credentials.

JMU Libraries provides additional training for teaching and learning with Zoom.

I've used Zoom before, but I have a few specific questions:


If you’ve already used Zoom but want to know more, we recommend one of the top 10 training resources from Zoom.com:

How do I configure video for different computer operating systems?


Zoom provides information on how to configure video settings for Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS. Scroll down on this page and choose your operating system for video configuration instructions.

What is Zoom-bombing and how can I prevent it?

One way that you can prevent most zoom-bombing behavior is to adjust this security setting:

  1. Start in your Canvas course
  2. Select Zoom in the left menu
  3. Select the Schedule a New Meeting button
  4. Select the Passcode checkbox. Never share the session ID number nor the password on social media.
  5. Select the Require authentication to join checkbox
  6. In the dropdown box, click on the dropdown arrow to change “Sign in to Zoom” to JMU and Dukes only (see screenshot below).
  7. Scroll down and select Save

More information about managing student behavior in Zoom sessions can be found on our Managing Student Behavior page.