Policies
Some basic Zoom class etiquette if it’s been a while . . .
Please mute your mic when you are not talking. Background noise compounds and is distracting.
Feel free to wear earphones. Earphones can make it easier to hear audio and prevent feedback.
Please share your video if you feel comfortable. We’re striving for an interactive classroom community, and seeing and being seen contributes to the sense of being, however virtually, in the presence of others.
Feel free to add your own background to your video.
If you need to step away for a few minutes, please change your status (coffee cup or clock icon) and send a chat note to the instructors or designated facilitator about how long you expect to be away. This way we’ll know when we can expect you to return and involve you in activities.
How we plan to handle Zoom and what you might expect
Chat function is only for participants to send private messages or questions to the co-hosts or facilitators. In a group this large, multiple people sending multiple messages to everyone can be too distracting as we are trying to have verbal discussions. Ditto no side chat during the main sessions. We’ve set aside plenty of time to talk with instructors and colleagues more easily in groups, breakout rooms, lunch time, and during workshop times.
In large discussions please use the “blue raise hand” gesture or send a note via chat to the designated facilitator/moderator. Please don’t just unmute your microphone and start talking. Also, please don’t raise your physical hand on the video. We have 24 people participating in whole class/main sessions, so it can be hard for instructors or facilitators to manage people talking at the same time as well as difficult to see your physical hand.
In breakout rooms and in small group discussions, please try to keep your view on “gallery view” so you can see all the participants’ videos. Feel free to unmute your microphone and start discussion or jump in, but try to be aware of others who might want to talk or haven’t talked yet. Gallery view is not the same as being face to face in a live classroom, but in a small group, you can actually often tell when someone wants to jump into the discussion. In the event of multiple voices, the group moderator/leader will organize discussion.
Before presenting or sharing your screen you might want to turn off notification sounds, close applications with pop-up notifications or otherwise tidy up your desktop. It’s uncanny what you can learn from someone’s open browser tabs, background images, email notifications, etc.