Recordings of Zoom Meetings with Jamie regarding How to Teach Online Classes
In an effort to support teachers who suddenly find themselves needing to teach online classes, Jamie held free Zoom meetings for three weeks. These are the recordings of those meetings:
Helpful Information for Teaching Online Classes
- In the first meeting, I mentioned the cameras I use for my online teaching, but didn’t have further info. Here is the equipment I use:
- Logitech c270 webcam. Basic camera ($25) which I mount to my computer so that people can see me better.
- Logitech c920 webcam. Higher-end camera ($70) which I use so that students can see my desk chalkboard. It has autofocus, and adjusts for lighting. I have it mounted above my head.
- Logitech h390 audio headset. Basic headset (microphone and headphone) ($30) which greatly improves the quality of the audio so that my students can hear me clearly.
- Turcom Drawing Tablet. Basic tablet ($60) that I use for Zoom’s screen-share whiteboard.
- Regarding computer hardware requirements:
- Most of the issues I’ve experienced using Zoom are related to my students’ old computers or their poor wifi connection.
- The computer I use for my classes is a 5-year-old PC laptop, running the Windows 10 operating system.
- Try to make sure that your computer isn’t running other unnecessary applications that bog down the CPU, thereby compromising the quality of the video and/or audio.
- If possible, it’s best to have your computer connected via an Ethernet cable instead of using wifi. Also, it may be best to be sure nobody else in your house is using the Internet while your are doing a Zoom meeting – otherwise it could compromise the quality of the video and/or audio.