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Zoom

Zoom is an online meeting tool recommended for teaching-related web conferencing, especially if your classes comprise more than 100 people. All staff, faculty and teaching assistants have licensed Zoom accounts at this time. 

  • Features: screensharing, breakout rooms, annotations, chat, record meetings, and more.
  • Room capacity: 300 people per room.
  • Delivery method: Zoom desktop app (preferred) or Chrome web client (limited features).
  • Meeting length: Up to 4 hour meetings.

Getting Started 

 For your safety: some meetings require you to authenticate with your my.ryerson credentials. Before joining a meeting, we recommend you sign in to the Zoom desktop or mobile app using Single Sign On (SSO).

Faculty, teaching assistants, and staff

All faculty, teaching assistants, and staff have licensed Zoom accounts. Simply go to ryerson.zoom.us, external link and sign-in.

How to host a meeting
Additional features for hosts
Record lecture components
Accessibility in Zoom

Students

Your instructor may require you to login and authenticate with your Ryerson credentials to join the meeting room. Doing so requires a Ryerson Zoom account. Click on "Sign In" on the ryerson.zoom.us, external link portal to create a Ryerson Zoom account, and then sign in to the Zoom desktop or mobile application using the Single Sign On (SSO) option. For instructions, please read the Continuity of Learning Guide.

Privacy

Please review privacy recommendations intended for holding online classes. Please note, different settings may be required for confidential virtual meetings.

Please share the following with your students along with the meeting room details. You can make adjustments to this to reflect the needs of your course.

Code of Conduct

During this online session it is the responsibility of all of us to create and maintain a welcoming and accepting learning environment. All students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct as outlined in PDF fileSenate Policy 61.

The Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct reflects the expectation that students will conduct themselves in a manner consistent with generally accepted standards of behaviour, University regulations and policies, departmental policies, and in compliance with federal, provincial and municipal laws, as well as professional standards and codes of ethics that govern students who are members of some regulated professions.

Privacy

This session will be recorded so that it can be made available to students who are not able to attend this session. If you do not wish to be seen or heard, please keep your camera or microphone turned off. Participants joining by phone will have their phone numbers masked for privacy.

Engagement

All questions should be asked through the chat panel unless otherwise stated. Inappropriate or disrespectful language in the chat panel will not be tolerated. The host/co-hosts (TA/GA, Faculty, or Instructor) reserve the right to remove anyone who does not behave accordingly.

By entering the meeting, you acknowledge that you have read and accept the terms above.

Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy and Sexual Violence Policy

During Zoom sessions, it is the responsibility of all members of the Ryerson community, including students, faculty and staff, to create and maintain an online learning and working environment free from discrimination, harassment and sexual violence. All Ryerson community members are required to conduct themselves in accordance with the Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy and Sexual Violence Policy.

  • If you believe that conduct that constitutes discrimination, harassment and/or sexual violence has occurred on Zoom, contact Human Rights Services: humanrights@ryerson.ca or 416-979-5349
  • If you have been affected by sexual violence and are seeking support, contact Consent Comes First, the Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education: osvse@ryerson.ca

Ryerson has conducted the privacy impact assessment and security assessment on Zoom. Please review the recommendations from the assessments:

  1. Before you start using Zoom, please review Zoom’s Privacy Policy, external link.

  2. When you are going to record the meeting:

    1. you need to let the participants know the meeting is recorded prior or at the start of the meeting,
    2. you should not discuss sensitive topics as discussed in the privacy policy, and
    3. the host is responsible for the retention and deletion of the recordings in accordance with Ryerson record retention schedule.

For questions about Zoom privacy, please email us at dmp@ryerson.ca and we will consult with the Privacy Office accordingly.

Not sure if this is the right tool?

For teaching-related web conferencing, we recommend using Zoom, especially if your classes comprise more than 100 people.

For administrative and other web conferencing, we recommend using Google Meet. Google Meet is an online meeting tool that you can access with your Ryerson G Suite account - no download required.

Program Google Meet Zoom
Recommended use Best for smaller meetings and administrative staff. For teaching-related web conferencing and online lectures.
Room capacity 250 people per room or livestream up to 100, 000 people (faculty and staff can only host livestreams). 300 people per room.
500 people per Webinar (by request only).
Delivery method Any web browser. Zoom app (preferred) or Chrome web client (limited features).
Ability to chat with other participants ✓ ✓
Supports desktop sharing  ✓ ✓
Whiteboard No ✓
Break-out sessions No ✓
Attend or host meeting from mobile ✓ ✓
Password enabled rooms ✓ No
Recording capabilities ✓ ✓
Dial in by phone (Long distance & international call charges may apply) ✓ ✓
Closed captioning Automatically generated.  ✓
Screen reader accessibility Compatible with most screen readers. Compatible with most screen readers.

Support 

  • May 30: Beginning May 30, 2020, all Zoom clients must be on 5.0+ in order to join any meeting, as GCM Encryption will be fully enabled for all Zoom meetings.
  • April 27: Zoom 5.0 is released. Update features enhanced security controls, including support for AES 256-Bit GCM encryption. To update, click on your profile picture in the desktop client, and then click "Check for Updates."
  • April 8: New feature! Access meeting room security features more easily with the Security toolbar.
  • April 6: By default, only meeting hosts (including co-hosts) can share their screen. Learn more about Screen sharing.
  • April 4: Please update your desktop client (version 4.6.9) when prompted to fix a security vulnerability.
  • April 3: All newly scheduled and instant meetings will have a meeting room password by default. Only authenticated users can view cloud recordings.
  • March 26: The following features and settings have been disabled by default: Annotations, Virtual background, File transfer, Whiteboard, Remote control, Private chat.

Zoom video tutorials  

Created by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching