Zoom is one of the leading services for hosting online meetings. Bryn Mawr provides licensed Zoom accounts for all students, faculty, and staff. As a result, you may need to use it to access class sessions, academic events, club programs, and internal meetings.
Before you begin, you will need the following:
- a laptop, desktop computer, or mobile device with Internet access.
Before your first Zoom meeting
- Install the free Zoom app on your devices or log in to Zoom's website. For the latter, make sure to use the SSO option.
- Join a test meeting to test your connection and familiarize yourself with the participant interface. Make sure to do the following:
- Test your audio and video set-ups. For the best experience, use headphones to cancel out ambient noise and avoid audio echos.
- Practice using the participant controls in a meeting.
- Practice showing and using chat.
- Practice using nonverbal feedback and meeting reactions.
- If you are on a computer, try out options for taking notes in a different app/window while viewing a Zoom meeting:
- Switch back and forth between Zoom and your notes by pressing Alt+Tab (Windows) or Cmd+Tab (MacOS).
- Quickly open them side-by-side with Windows snap (the keyboard option is fastest) or MacOS split view.
- Close the test meeting.
- Go to the home screen of your app and click New Meeting.
- Click Share Screen to practice sharing different types of content. This feature can be used to share content from different windows, applications, and connected devices.
Join a Meeting
- You can access a Zoom in one of the following ways:
- Open the Zoom app on your device and select Join. Enter the meeting ID and password, if there is one. Contact the meeting's host if you don't have these.
- Log in to Zoom through their website (make sure to select SSO as your login option). Once on the Home screen, click Join. Enter the meeting ID and password, if there is one. Contact the meeting's host if you don't have these.
- If the meeting was shared by the host via Outlook Calendar, open the event and click on the meeting link provided.
- If the meeting is for a class and your instructor shared details via Moodle, log in to Moodle and enter the relevant course. Then, find where your instructor posted the individual session link or the Zoom activity in Moodle.
Attention: Meeting hosts may choose to record Zoom sessions. Zoom will always notify participants that a meeting is being recorded. The host should also inform you how the meetings will be shared. Furthermore, all recordings made by Bryn Mawr Zoom accounts are governed by the college's data handling policy. Always remember that you can set your virtual background and/or mute your video camera or microphone if you want to limit your presence in a recorded meeting.
Videos & Further Reading Zoom
- Zoom’s Help Center
- Getting started with Zoom
- "Show Me" Videos
- Learning Zoom (LinkedIn Learning - Requires BMC Email to Access)
Questions?
If you have any additional questions or problems, don't hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!
Phone: 610-526-7440 | Library and Help Desk hours
Email: help@brynmawr.edu | Service catalog
Location: Canaday Library 1st floor