A Complete Guide to Online Education through Zoom

Platform
Dr Mahesh S
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce
Jain Deemed to be University, Kochi.
maheshs.phd@gmail.com,
Mobile number: 7012850036
 
Abstract
Education is one of the fast-growing sectors in the world. The present scenario of education is
mainly through digital or online mode. Online education has a wide scope than the traditional
model of education. In the online mode of education provide a variety of facility to both
teacher and students. The present COVID-19 (corona) condition enlarges the importance of
the online teaching and learning process. The higher education sector fully damages through
the impact of coronavirus, the survival of the education sector possible through start lectures
through the virtual form.  Now the most of the higher education institutions try to incorporate
online mode of teaching and learning process in the future plan of action. Among various
online platforms for the teaching and learning process, the Zoom application has more
popular and user friendly. This paper discusses online teaching and learning through the
zoom platform, what extent the zoom application is useful, and what extent it helpful for this
pandemic condition.

Keywords Online - Teaching and learning, zoom application,

 

Introduction
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow, belongs to those who prepare for it
today.” It is one of the popular proverbs about education, this proverb gives importance to
education. In the ancient time the education, the knowledge, shared through orally later the
education happened in schools, orally, written and other modes. The massive change
happened in the education sector during the past decade and presently reach online education
mode, and also a victim for a lot of new changes that happened in the teaching pedagogy. The
development of online education happened along with the development of the internet in the
world. The compared to traditional education mode, the online has some limitation but also
its have a lot of advantages also.
Presently large the number of online communication software and application are available in
the market. Some of the online platform providing application or software is Zoom, Connect
Wise Control, Blue Jeans, WebEx Meetings, Team Viewer, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Google
Hangouts etc. The selection of an online platform for teaching and learning process consider
the number of factors like quality, availability, installation, security, etc. Among these online
platforms, one of the famous application is Zoom.us.
Online Teaching and Learning
The online education mode started in the world during the nineties initially it a have number
of problems but later the growth of internet facility, rapid growth happened in this field.
Presently a lot of students are beneficiaries of this facility and participation of various online
courses are also enlarged. Online education means, the teaching and learning process done
online or with the help of the internet. The teachers and students do not have physical
presence in a place like traditional mode of education. The online learning is also called e-
learning or the electronic learning process. The earlier time e-learning has happened only in
distance education courses, but now all modes of education courses including regular classes
happened through this mode. The definition of online teaching is changing day by day, in
terms of platforms or format.it does not have any face to face meetings in a physical location.
Which can be accessed from anywhere.
The present COVID 19 situations adversely influence every sector, including the education
sector. The colleges and schools are closed and examinations are postponed due to the spread
of this virus. In that situation, the only way to come out of the condition is to start classes in
online mode. The present opportunity take up by various companies and introduced new
software or applications for online platform along with a lot of innovative features. The
notable factor is online teaching and learning give a new experience to both teachers and
students.
Benefits of Online Teaching and Learning
Online education the mode has a lot of benefits than the traditional education model. Some of
the benefit is
  It is the most convenient mode of education. The online classes can be arranged at
any time of the day or it can say that 24*7 service. For example, if we want to conduct
an interaction section with an industry expert at midnight or early morning, it can
possible through online mode.
  More resource full people can bring into the teaching-learning process. The
physical classroom we have a lot of constrain such as money, time, convenience, etc.,
but an online section help to bring high profile people into the classroom very easily.
  Technological advantages can use during teaching time. The one example is screen
sharing facility, it helps to display everything to the participant, and it helped explain
the concept as well.
  The online class section can store as a Permanent record in the cloud or local
storage space. This facility can take up any classes at any time if somebody missed
the section, they can use this facility.
  The online section can attend by the student from any corner of the world.
ZOOM - An innovative platform for online education
In the modern world a lot of innovative online platforms have, for conducting virtual classes.
Zoom.us platform is like a platform, it has all features of an online platform compared to
other applications. Zoom is a cloud-based or web-based video or audio conferencing
application, it helps to set up webinars, meetings, conferences, etc. Few months before it has
some technical issues and security concerns, but the application has now come with several
new tools and new security measures to competent the market place. The security measures
includes up-gradation of AES 256 bit GCM encryption standard, provides high speed
authenticated encryption and data integrity.
The major features of zoom applications are it can join from anywhere in the world, it can log
in through mobile application or software can directly download. The security measure of
users is another feature of this platform. The teaching and learning process the very helpful
and useful option is sharing the screen of teachers to the students. The zoom platform provide
this services with a lot of control tools for the smooth conduct of classes. The quality of video
and audio differentiate the zoom application from other types of online platforms. It can
popular because of some other reason also, it can participate in 1000 people at a time, but for
this feature, the application needs to be upgraded. All these innovative features attract all
stakeholders for using this application.
The starting of the zoom application
The first step for using a zoom application is, it should be installed in the computer for that
open a browser and typed as zoom, the result navigate to the Zoom website https://zoom.us/.
The page shows various link and information about zoom application among them we can
identify a bottom "Download", just click on that button. The application normally
downloaded in the selected folder, automatically the installation process started, and the
internet connection is necessary for that. After completing the installation process, we can use
the zoom application.
The various versions of zoom application
There are three types of versions available in zoom application- Basic, Licensed, and On-
prem. In basic version, the user cannot have a paid license, but the user can also host up to
100 participants. The licensed version is a paid account and the user can host unlimited
meetings on the public cloud. In the on-prem version, the user can host unlimited meetings
with an on-premise meeting connection.
Procedures for joining a class
Normally the teachers will schedule the meeting and students join that particular meeting.
This section discussed the procedure to joining a zoom class. The first step for this is either
click on the Zoom link you may have been provided with (it will look something like this:
https://otago.zoom.us/j/123456789) or go to https://zoom.us/join and Enter the Meeting ID
that you have been provided within the appropriate field and click ‘Join’. The meeting ID
normally will be a 9 or 10 digit number and some cases a password also there. If joining from
a mobile device like Android smartphone/tablet, Apple iPhone/iPad then the participant will
download the Zoom Cloud Meetings app from the App/Play Store. When the installation
completes the login first and joins the meeting using a meeting ID and password.
In the meeting joining window ask about your name. The participant enter the name before
entering the meeting. This name is simply to identify you in the meeting. The participant
have option to select how to wish to join audio. If participants wish to join audio via the
telephone or Join Computer by Audio. It is possible to use a combination of computer for
video and phone for audio. If you use this option, then enter by computer first and select the
Join by Phone tab when the audio pop-up window appears. In this manner easily a participant
can join the meeting. The following options also have the participants
 Raising Your Hand
In a meeting normally the speaker speaks about the agenda of the meeting. As the non-
speaker, if you wish to ask a question during a meeting, there is a hand raising option is there.
It is good protocol to use the ‘Raise Hand’ facility in the teaching-learning process.  If the
toolbar is not showing at the bottom of the Zoom window, place your cursor over the Zoom
window so it appears and select the ‘Participants’ icon. A window listing other participants
will appear, there is also a ‘Raise Hand’ icon, click the icon to make it known to the Host that
you would like to raise your hand. After clarifying the doubt the participant can lower your
hand, click the ‘Lower hand’ icon that will have replaced the ‘Raise hand’ icon.
Using Chat
During the discussion time the participant have any doubt or clarification they are raised their
concern through the chat option. The participant can use the ‘Chat’ facility to send text chat
to all participants or privately to specific participants or host.
Audio and video
It is possible that during the conference participants will be asked to turn off their cameras
and move to audio-only, particularly if there are problems with the available bandwidth. The
host has full control over the video and audio of the zoom meeting, any time host can enable
and disable video an audio of participant as well as a host
Schedule a meeting
 The zoom application provides an online platform for meeting various users. The scheduling
a meeting is the first step for that. In Zoom there are several methods to schedule a meeting.
The person scheduling a meeting is called host of the meeting. A host has overall control over
the scheduled meetings. Mainly the methods for scheduling a meeting are the Zoom desktop
client or mobile app and Zoom web portal. The procedure for scheduling a meeting is open a
Zoom client and sign in to zoom. Then click on the Schedule icon, automatically a pop up
opened it is called scheduler window. The next step is select your meeting settings and save
the schedule. Note that some of these options might not be available if they were disabled and
locked to the off position at the account or group level. The major content of schedule
window is
Topic: the first particulars ask about the topic. The host must enter a topic or name for your
meeting. Example financial management section for B.Com 2nd batch
Start: here asked about date and time, the host will select a date and time for your meeting.
You can start your meeting at any time before the scheduled time. You can also manually
enter any time. For example, if I schedule a meeting at 4 o’clock, I can start meeting at 2
o’clock.
Duration: the meeting normally planed with an agenda and time duration. This section asks
about the duration of the meeting, the host will choose the approximate duration of the
meeting. It is only for scheduling purposes, the meeting will not end after this duration of
time.
Time Zone: time zone can set in the scheduled meeting by default, Zoom will use your
computer's time zone. But the host can change it through click the drop-down menu and
select a different time zone.
Recurring meeting: another feature option of zoom application is recurring meetings can
schedule.  The advantage of this is the meeting ID will remain the same for each session.
Video:  the host has control over the video, in scheduling the meeting they are asking the
video option of host and participant. The host can choose if you would like the host video on
or off when joining the meeting. Even if you choose off, during the meeting the host will
have the option to start their video. The host can also control the participant’s video.
Audio: in this section ask permission for audio, the host can choose whether to allow users to
call in via Telephone only, Computer Audio only, both, or 3rd Party Audio.
The above discussed particulars are normally seen in the schedule window. The bottom of
this window shows a link that is Advanced Options. In the advanced options, menu shows
some other additional meeting options. They are discussed below.
Require meeting password: as part of security measure we can input the password for
scheduled meetings. It help to avoid unnecessary entry in the meeting. The participants will
be required to input the meeting ID and password before joining your scheduled meeting.
Enable join before host: this option helps to allow participants to join the meeting without a
host or before the host join.
Mute participants on entry: in a large number of participant program, the audio disturbance
is there. In this option help to avoid this problem, if enable this option, the participant
automatically mute participants as they join the meeting. Participants can unmute themselves
after joining the meeting if the host permits.
Record the meeting automatically: these additional options help to the meeting to be
automatically recorded. Select if you want to record your meeting, it can be recorded locally
(to your computer) or to the cloud.
Alternative hosts: the host has the option to add an alternative person as host. If the host has
absent from the meeting, the alternative host can start the meeting. The process of enabling
this option is to enter the email address of another Zoom user who is licensed, on your
account to allow them to start the meeting in your absence.
Calendar: Select a calendar service to add the meeting too and send out invites to
participants. The calendar option like Outlook, Google Calendar and Other Calendars are
available.
After the filled data on the scheduled window host will click Schedule to finish bottom. A
non-recurring meeting ID will expire 30 days after the meeting is scheduled for. A recurring
meeting ID will expire 365 days after the meeting is started on the last occurrence. Scheduled
meetings can be started at any time before the scheduled time. An instant meeting link will
expire as soon as the meeting is over.
Conclusion
Zoom is a web conferencing tool and provides a lot of important functionalities for the
teaching and learning process. This online platform is able to connect the student video,
audio, screen sharing, poll, and text chat. The details given under the heading of online
Teaching & Learning and benefits of Online Teaching and Learning explained well about
online education in the present day. The ZOOM is one of the most suited applications for the
implementation of the online education model. The installation and running of the zoom
application and various versions available are mentioned. The core important section of
scheduling a meeting and how to participate in a meeting are also explained well. This
information is surely useful to teachers and students.  
References
Garbett, C. (2011). Activity-Based Costing Models for Alternative Modes of Delivering
Online Courses. European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-Learning, 1, 1-14.
Reushle, S., & Mitchell, M. (2009). Sharing the Journey of Facilitator and Learner: Online
Pedagogy in Practice. Journal of Learning Design, 3, 11-20.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic
Books.
ZOOM.US (2020). Zoom-Rooms-User-Guide. Retrieved JULY 25, 2020, from
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/204772869-Zoom-Rooms-User-Guide
ZOOM.US (2020). Getting-Started. Retrieved JULY 25, 2020, from
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697-Getting-Started
ZOOM.US (2020). Quick-start-guide-for-new-users. Retrieved JULY 25, 2020, from
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360034967471-Quick-start-guide-for-new-users
ZOOM.US (2020). Help centre. Retrieved JULY 25, 2020, from
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
ZOOM.US (2020). Zoom-video-tutorials. Retrieved JULY 25, 2020, from
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials