Related toolsOffice hours are always a challenging part of teaching—they are a valuable tool for promoting student success, yet it's difficult to get students to show up. Offering online office hours in addition to or even instead of meeting in-person removes the space and transportation barriers, giving you and your students more flexibility.
Key suggestions
Here are some key issues to consider when developing online office hours using Zoom:
Develop a schedule and signup system
Establish set office hours, and advertise them to students along with the Zoom meeting room information. While some instructors prefer drop-in office hours, you can also offer a way for students to sign up for a meeting time, including something as simple as a Google doc that lists available time slots they can claim.
If you use a Google doc, make sure access is limited to your class to comply with FERPA guidelines. You can create a shared Google Doc only accessible to students within the course via the Collaborations tab in Canvas:
- On the left-hand navigation panel, click "Collaborations."
- From the drop-down, select a file type (spreadsheet, doc, presentation).
- Add collaborators by selecting all students.
- Scroll down and click Submit.
Use a waiting room to ensure privacy
While some conversations about problem sets or complex readings don't need privacy, many office visits can veer into feedback on a student's work or grade. To ensure privacy, be certain to set up a waiting room in Zoom (and don't set it to allow IU-verified people to bypass it), so no one else can appear during a private conversation. See Enable the waiting room for more information.
Start a FAQ based on office hour visits
Consider writing up questions and answers, particularly about procedures or assignments, to create a Frequently Asked Questions page in Canvas. Remind students to check there before making an appointment.
DO NOT record meetings with students due to privacy issues.
Setting up Zoom for office hours
Hosting class sessions and office hours requires that you use two meeting rooms: one for class sessions using a passcode and one for office hours using a waiting room.
The following guide will help you through the steps to ensure that your meeting rooms are properly configured.
Using a password for class meetings will allow you to admit your students, but prevent others from joining.
- Log in to https://zoom.iu.edu.
- In the sidebar, click Meetings.
- To schedule a new meeting, click Schedule a New Meeting.
- Fill out this form to your liking and make sure to use the following options:
- Use the Recurring Meeting settings to add all your class dates/times.
- Meeting ID:
- check Generate Automatically
- Security:
-
check PasscodeNote: Write down the passcode for this meeting as you will need to communicate it to your students later.
- uncheck Waiting Room
-
check Passcode
- Meeting Options:
- check Require authentication to join
- select Only authenticated IU Zoom users can join.
- Scroll down and click Save.
- Log in to https://zoom.iu.edu.
- In the sidebar, click Meetings.
- To schedule a new meeting, click Schedule a New Meeting.
- Fill out this form to your liking and make sure to use the following options:
- Use the Recurring Meeting settings to add all your class dates/times.
- Meeting ID:
- check Generate Automatically
- Security:
- uncheck Passcode
- check Waiting Room
- Meeting Options:
- check Require authentication to join
- select Only authenticated IU Zoom users can join.
- Scroll down and click Save.
Note: You may see a "Registration" option in the meeting setup area. This isn't useful for scheduling time blocks within your larger office hours meeting, so we recommend you leave it disabled.
Once you have your two meeting rooms put together for class meetings and office hours, make sure you publicize the meeting information to your students. Adding an announcement in Canvas will help students stay informed and find the appropriate information when they needed it.
For example:
This class meets Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9:00-10:15 am at https://iu.zoom.us/j/1234567890?pwd=WPW0bGr2OWdjMlhndXlLVlVYVHpDZz09 (meeting ID: 1234567890, password: 444555); Please arrive five minutes before class begins so we can start on time. You must be logged in to https://zoom.iu.edu first to join this meeting.
Office hours for this class are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:00 pm at https://iu.zoom.us/j/0987654321 (meeting ID: 0987654321). You must be logged in to https://zoom.iu.edu first to join this meeting. To protect everyone's privacy during meetings with me, you will be placed in a waiting room until I admit you. Please be patient. I encourage you to schedule a meeting in advance by...