How to Zoom the Right Way: 10 safety Tips to follow every time you do Video Conferencing
With online platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Classrooms, Google meets, etc, Taking over
the real classrooms and meeting rooms, there is a new book of manners that needs to be followed. With classrooms have adopted a new form of teaching the ‘ Etiquette Rule Book‘ too had to go on a revision tour.
From getting familiar with apps/websites to keeping the meeting ID and password secret a lot more is being taught to students other than the regular syllabi.
Safety Guide for Video Conferencing in the Right Way
1. Be on time – Nobody likes a late comer whether in a real classroom or a virtual one. Also, teachers get a notification whenever somebody joins in on most platforms so don’t forget that you are being watched. It is ideal to log in about 5 minutes before the class starts.
2. Join meeting only using a link shared by your teacher because at times parallel meetings are going on and this can create a lot of confusion ( I speak with experience ☺). And don’t share the meeting ID and password or the link with anyone because having these details in the public domain just increases the risks.
3. Keep your mobiles on silent if kept near your laptop/tab – Of course, you don’t want to be the one who starts a random music session between momentum and force ;). Plus if your teacher is a tough one then I don’t need to tell you that there can be consequences…bad ones.
4. Take the session seriously and follow the instructions given by the teacher – Don’t be a passive listener (who is rather lost in his thoughts) take part to make it an interactive session so that actual learning takes place. Be attentive and use this time wisely.
5. This is probably the most important rule – Mute your mic because at times students (and even teachers) forget to mute their mic while speaking to somebody else ( could be their family/classmates /colleagues) which can result into you leaking some personal information to 40-45 people which can be dangerous (depending upon the information). Switch on the mic only if you have a question by seeking permission from the teacher. You can “raise your hand” or write in the “chat box” if you want to unmute your mic.
6. Please don’t forget to turn off your video because it is extremely distracting for others and in the end it’s extremely embarrassing for you. It’s a good idea to stick an opaque piece of paper on the webcam to be assured that your privacy is not being streamed online.
7. Use a chat window to post your questions – It is not a good idea to interrupt the teacher in between a lesson. It is better to drop your queries in the chat window and wait for the teacher to answer them. Also please don’t indulge in posting irrelevant messages (like jokes, random chatting with your classmates) on the chatbox because everything on the internet is being recorded so make sure you use it responsibly.
8. All resources used during the session are mostly posted by the teachers on the WhatsApp group or the school’s official website or some other platform. So, it’s better to stay patient and focus on the concept rather than copying the entire document/ ppt on your notebook and asking your teacher to ‘go back to the previous page’.
9. You should hang up once the session finishes because this is an online session where everything is being recorded. Talking with your friends after your teacher has left the call can get you under trouble.
10. I understand that boredom has taken over everything but please don’t create any act of mischief during the session. Don’t annotate (even by mistake), meddle with the teacher’s ppt or modify or even worse delete any content that the teacher has uploaded.
Also, please make sure that you don’t (even by mistake) take control or share your screen. And as much as you would want the teacher to be silent just for 2 minutes, don’t even try to mute the teacher if you made the host/presenter by mistake because…[ I don’t think I need to cover the because part, you probably know that better than me 😉 ]
Finally, I would like to say that it is essential to follow these rules and use these online platforms responsibly because after all these arrangements are for our good. These are rules aren’t different from the ones followed in the classroom, the core values remain the same it’s just that with changes in the teaching platform, the same rules have to be followed with a different way of execution. The entire idea is to ensure productivity while being conscious that everybody is operating under limitations.