Introduction
Zoom web conferencing is part ISU's suite of tools for collaborative online work and communications. Zoom complements and works with Canvas for collaborative learning. Zoom is an alternative to the online meeting/conferencing capabilities of Microsoft Teams.
Zoom is available to ISU faculty, staff, and students.
Estimated Time to Complete
Reviewing this guide should take no more than 15 minutes.
Vocabulary
| Term |
Definition |
| Meeting |
An event involving synchronous discussion and work. Up to 300 people can be included in a meeting (with a standard Zoom license). |
| Large Meeting |
An event involving more than 300 people and up to 500 or 1000 people. Large meetings involve active discussion by any and all participants, chat, sharing of screens for all members to see, the ability to create and use breakout rooms, etc. Large meetings require the use of a special Zoom license available by request. Examples of a large meeting might be a town hall discussion for an entire division, an online conference, or a large class. |
| Webinar |
An event involving up to 500 or 1000 people. A webinar is distinguished from a meeting in that one or a relatively few people will be actively engaged and/or presenting (host and/or panelists), with many people (participants) primarily observing or listening. Examples of a webinar might be a Board of Trustees meeting, a dean's address to their college, or a Faculty Senate meeting. In each of these cases, there is one or a relatively smaller number of active participants, but many people who may want to attend and observe without actively participating. |
| Meeting Security |
Zoom meetings can be set up to prevent malicious hacking and/or active intervention by an "unintended" participant. At ISU, meeting hosts are advised to follow meeting security best practices to prevent such occurrences - see item 3 in Steps section below. |
| Protected Health Information (PHI) |
Protected health information includes all individually identifiable health information, including demographic data, medical histories, test results, insurance information, and other information used to identify a patient or provide healthcare services or healthcare coverage. |
| Host |
The person who schedules a Zoom meeting or webinar, and who invites panelists and/or participants. The Host has the ability to speak and/or share materials; manage participants and meeting features (e.g. muting participants or letting them speak; polling participants; recording the meeting or allowing participants to record the meeting; etc.); start and end the meeting. |
| Panelist |
A person in a Zoom webinar who is actively engaging with others in the meeting, being observed by participants. |
| Participant |
In a Zoom meeting, one of the people invited to the meeting for active discussion and collaboration. In a Zoom webinar, a person observes the discussion and action in the meeting but does not actively participate. |
Special Concepts
1. Zoom can be used for discussions, meetings, classes, and other group-oriented activities. Small groups (even just two people) and large groups can use Zoom. With a standard ISU account, meetings can be conducted with up to 300 participants.
2. ISU also has webinar and large meeting licenses for Zoom. These licenses can be used for groups up to 500 or 1000 (webinar) and 500 or 1000 (large meeting). These must be requested for use here:
Zoom - Request a Large Meeting or Webinar
3. If a unit or group needs a webinar or large meeting licenses on a frequent/recurring basis, that group can purchase their own license for webinars or large meetings. See the software acquisition request form here:
Software Acquisition Request Form
4. ISU also has a different version of Zoom that must be used for interactions involving private health information (PHI). If you interact with others in your work at ISU and share or discuss PHI (even infrequently), you are required to use the Health version of Zoom. A few Zoom capabilities are restricted in the Health version. If this causes problems for the user, OIT can discuss the best approach.
Steps to Access Your ISU Zoom Account
All faculty, staff, and students at ISU have a Zoom account that is associated with their ISU email address.
Please Note! If you interact with others in your work at ISU and share or discuss PHI (even infrequently), you are required to use the Health version of Zoom. A few Zoom capabilities are restricted in the Health version. Call OIT at 812-237-2910 to find out how to use the more secure "Health" instance of Zoom.
- Open a web browser and go to: https://indstate-edu.zoom.us
- Click on Sign In
- Click on Sign Into Your Current Account
- Enter your ISU email address and your ISU password, and click Sign In
Additional Resources
Training tutorials and support documentation are located at the Resources link in the top right of your Zoom home page.
- Getting Started
- Secure your virtual classroom
- Set up your Meeting to Enhance Security
Conclusion
Zoom is an easy-to-use and highly accessible conference, learning, and meeting application that works with many different devices and in many different environments.