Get started with Zoom in Moodle

This page provides information on getting started with Zoom in Moodle for instructors. Zoom is a tool for hosting video conferencing, screen sharing, group messaging, and collaboration. You can now use this tool in Moodle. Before you begin, you must activate your Zoom account by logging into the UMass Amherst Zoom web interface at least once.

Create and Configure the Zoom Activity

Once you have activated your Zoom account, you can add the Zoom video conferencing activity to your Moodle course page. 

1. On your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon , top right). Editing links will apear on the page. 
2. In the section that you want the activity to appear, click +Add an activity or resource. The Activity chooser will open. 
3. In the Activity chooser, select External tool, then scroll down and click Add. The Adding an external tool page will open.  
4. On the Adding an external tool page, for Activity Name, enter a name for the activity. 
5. From the Preconfigured tool dropdown, select Zoom Video Conferencing. 
   Optional:  If you do not want a grade item to be created and associated with this activity, under Privacy, deselect Accept grades from this tool. 
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save and return to course. You will be returned to your course page. 

Schedule and Manage Zoom Meetings in Moodle

Once you have created the Zoom activity in Moodle, you can begin scheduling class meetings. You can schedule multiple meetings as a single occurence, in a recurring series, and even have multiple series. The Zoom activity will list the meetings all on one list with the meeting starting soonest at the top of the list. Using this interface, you can schedule more meetings, edit scheduled meetings, or delete a meeting or series of meetings. 

To schedule a single meeting:

1. On your course page, click the Zoom activity link you created. The Zoom activity will open. 
2. From the Zoom activity page, on the Upcoming Meetings tab, click Schedule a New Meeting. The Schedule a Meeting interface will open. 
3. From the Meeting interface, for Topic, enter the name you want to have. By default, the topic name will be your course name. 
4. For When, enter the date, time, and duration of the meeting. 
5. For Registration, select Required only if you would like to require registration for joining the meeting. This will create a Registration URL that you will need to send to participants of the meeting to enable them to register. The link will appear once you have saved your meeting. 
6. For Meeting Options, select each option that applies to you:
   • Require meeting password: Requires participants to enter a password you set up to join. If you select this, a textbox will be displayed. Enter your chosen password in this textbox. 
   • Enable join before host: Allows attendees to enter the meeting before the host joins. 
   • Mute participants upon entry: Mutes all participants upon joining the meeting. You can unmute during the meeting. 
   • Use Personal Meeding: Uses your Personal Meeting Room instead of generating a new meeting ID. 
   • Enable waiting room: Allows the host to manually admit participants individually or as a group. 
   • Record the meeting automatically: Allows you to record the Zoom meeting and save it to your personal computer or to the Zoom Cloud. 
7. Click Save. The page will refresh and display your new scheduled meeting. To return to the Zoom activity page with a list of all your Zoom meetings, click Course Meetings (top left below ZOOM, blue text), or, if you want to start the meeting select Start this Meeting (blue button, bottom right)

To schedule a recurring meeting: 

1. On your course page, click the Zoom activity link you created. The Zoom activity will open. 
2. From the Zoom activity page, on the Upcoming Meetings tab, click Schedule a New Meeting. The Schedule a Meeting interface will open. 
3. From the Meeting interface, for Topic, enter the name you want to have. By default, the topic name will be your course name. 
4. For When, enter the date, time, and duration of your first meeting in the series. Choose the Recurrence, Repetition frequency, and End date.  
5. For Registration, select Required only if you would like to require registration for joining the meeting. This will create a Registration URL that you will need to send to participants of the meeting to enable them to register. The link will appear once you have saved your meeting.
6. Select Recurring meeting. The Recurring meeting menu will apear. 
7. For Reccurence options, use the drop down menus to schedule how often the meeting will occur, and the end date of the series. 
8. For Meeting Options, select each option that applies to you:
   • Require meeting password: Requires participants to enter a password you set up to join. If you select this, a textbox will be displayed. Enter your chosen password in this textbox. 
   • Enable join before host: Allows attendees to enter the meeting before the host joins. 
   • Mute participants upon entry: Mutes all participants upon joining the meeting. You can unmute participants during the meeting. 
   • Use Personal Meeting: Uses your Personal Meeting Room instead of generating a new meeting ID. 
   • Enable waiting room: Allows the host to manually admit participants individually or as a group. 
   • Record the meeting automatically: Allows you to record the Zoom meeting and save it to your personal computer or to the Zoom Cloud. 
9. Click Save. The page will refresh and display your new scheduled meetings.  

To edit a scheduled meeting:

1. On your course page, click the Zoom activity link you created. The Zoom activity will open. 
2. From the Zoom activity page, on the Upcoming Meetings tab, click the name (blue text) of the meeting you want to edit. The meeting page will open. 
3. At the bottom of the page, select Edit this meeting. The Edit page will open. 
4. Once you have made your changes, at the bottom of the page click Save. 
   Note: If you are making changes to a meeting that is part of a series, any changes will be applied to all meetings in the series. If you need to edit only one meeting in a series, it is best to delete that occurence from the series and schedule a new meeting for the new time/date. 

To delete a scheduled meeting:

1. On your course page, click the Zoom activity link you created. The Zoom activity will open. 
2. On the Zoom activity, on the Upcoming Meetings tab, for the meeting you want to delete, click delete. The confirmation window will open.
3.  On the confirmation window, click Delete to delete your meeting. 
   Note: If the meeting is part of series, you can select Delete just this occurence to delete an individual meeting or Delete all of the occurences to delete an entire series. 
4. The confirmation window will close and the deleted meeting will be removed from the list. You will receive an automated email confirmation from Zoom that the meeting(s) have been cancelled. 

Start or join a Zoom meeting in Moodle

You can use Zoom in Moodle to begin a meeting you have scheduled for the course, or open your Personal Meeting Room to host impromptu meetings with students. Students will be able to use the interface to join a Zoom meeting. 

To start a Zoom meeting:

1. On your course page, click the Zoom activity link you created. The Zoom activity will open. 
2. On the Zoom activity page, on the Upcoming Meetings tab, for the upcoming meeting, click Start. The Zoom meeting launcher page will open.
   • If you have installed the Zoom desktop application, the Open zoom.us window will open. Click to open zoom.us to begin using the app.
     Note: If you have not yet installed the Zoom desktop application on your device, you will be prompted to open or save the installation file and follow installation instructions. Once you have downloaded Zoom. 
   • If you want to use your browser to host the meeting, click the start from your browser link.
3. Your meeting will begin. Select Join with Computer Audio to join the meeting. For more information on running a Zoom meeting, please see the Zoom Help Center.
4. When you are finished, click End meeting. If you record your meeting, you will receive a notification based on how you chose to save it.  

Viewing and Sharing Zoom Cloud Recordings

If you have recorded your Zoom meetings using the Cloud option, you will be able to access those recordings from Moodle. You can access the meetings as video, audio, and/or chat text. 

To view previous meeting recordings in Moodle:

1. On your course page, click the Zoom activity link you created. The Zoom activity will open. 
2. On the Zoom activity page, on the Cloud Recordings tab, click the name of the meeting you want to view. The Recording Details page will open. 
   • To download a file, click Download. The download will begin. 
   • To get a link to share the recording, click Share. The Share this cloud recording window will open. Click Copy to copy the link text to your clipboard. You can share this link via Moodle or email with students. 

How to View and Export Attendance Report in Zoom

Zoom records the attendance of your participants. You can use this to keep track of attendance, assign a grade, or reach out to students who are not engaged. 

To access the attendance list for a meeting:

1. Navigate to umass-amherst.zoom.us. Click Sign in and enter your UMass NetID and password. The UMass Zoom page will open. 
2. On the UMass Zoom page, on the left hand side, click Reports. The Reports page will open. 
3. On the Reports page, select Usage. The Usage page will open. 
4. On the Usage page, for the meeting you want to see the attendance for, click the number in the Participants column. The Meeting participants window will open. 
5. On the Meeting participants window, you will see a list of users. To export the report, click Export. The file will download.