Education using Zoom Rooms

Zoom Rooms can be utilized for engaging educational scenarios. By augmenting the experience with robust hardware and features, the education scenarios may be elevated to a new level. In distance learning and hybrid designs, we see three different scenarios for distance learning, incorporating existing designs and augmenting them with additional hardware as needed.

See the different Zoom Rooms designs to apply to your education facility.

This article covers:

• Education features
  • Companion whiteboard
  • (Dry-Erase) whiteboard capture
  • Document camera
• Zoom Rooms Designs
  • Virtual learning designs
  • Blended learning designs

Related Links

• Zoom for Education
• Getting Started with Zoom Rooms
• Recording in Zoom Rooms
• Screen Sharing with Zoom Rooms
• Pin or Spotlight video

Education features

Here we will discuss some augmentations to the typical Zoom Rooms experience to elevate your meeting experience with software based features, bringing a more immersive and exciting learning and teaching experience.

Companion whiteboard

A touch display with computer can be set up as a companion device in the room to allow whiteboarding or content markups via touch.  For more information, check out the setup guide to review the software configuration as well as the hardware guide to see some recommended physical setups and devices.

Whiteboard capture

With a whiteboard capture camera, a device is mounted above a physical whiteboard to capture what is being written and translate it into a digital format to be viewed on the Zoom Rooms displays and in the meeting virtually.  Some examples of whiteboard cameras that can be used in the Zoom Room environment include Huddly Canvas and Kaptivo.

Document camera

As a shared USB camera, a document camera can be used when reading books or showing physical objects, while utilizing the sharing capabilities of a Zoom call. This can be done both on the desktop application or in a Zoom Room.  For a USB experience, we recommend the Hovercam Solo 8+ or Aver M11-8M.  If you are using a Zoom Rooms Appliance, USB connectivity may not be an option, but the Aver camera does allow sending the video content to the HDMI content input of the appliance such as Neat or Poly StudioX devices

Zoom Rooms designs

Here we will show relevant design scenarios for education, including some that may be best suited to  address social distance concerns, with the teacher being solo with the technology and the students connected remotely.  We also provide some designs for blended learning environments to allow in-person learning alongside distance learning in a synchronous fashion.

Virtual learning designs

Huddle (2-7 People)

With a Huddle design, a single- or dual-display can be used with an appliance device, such as a Neat Bar and Neat Pad controller, to allow a great video experience with students as well as an isolated sharing experience from personal devices, such as personal laptops or tablets, to convey concepts.

Touch huddle (2-7 People)

The Touch huddle variant allows for the same experience as the Huddle design, but adds a layer of touch-capability with the all-in-one device from DTEN running Zoom Rooms for Touch.  The added benefit is that whiteboard sessions or markup on top of shared content can take place, as well as the ability to control the meeting experience without (or with) a controller on the table.  

ProAV production studio (2-5 People)

For a ready-to-use system with high-quality video and audio, the production studio is a great design, providing the ease of walk-in-and-use while also functioning as a high quality stage for the Zoom experience with large virtual lectures or broadcasts.  The design contains a dual-display configuration with dedicated outputs for content and video participants, as well as a high-quality production camera and production level audio.  An optional green screen can also be installed to elevate the experience in the space by using Virtual Backgrounds. 

Blended learning designs

Hybrid Classroom / Cart (DIY)

In a blended learning classroom, it is very important to be attentive to all communication paths, including on-site teachers, on-site students, and virtual students, all needing to effectively communicate and learn with each other. The dual-display stacked cart, leveraging a Neat Bar and Neat Pad controller, allows for a great meeting experience in the space for all participants or presenters, especially remote presenters. This allows educators to break down the walls of the classroom with virtual teaching from different locations around the world.

ProAV hybrid classroom 

For a high-quality learning and teaching experience, the ProAV hybrid classroom is essentially a bi-directional Zoom Rooms experience, providing a display, camera, and audio experience for both the teacher as well as the students to really bring an immersive experience to the students as well as the teacher.  Large displays at the front and an associated audience camera are dedicated to the student experience, while a dedicated tracking camera for the presenter with dual confidence monitors allows the teacher to maintain eye contact with their virtual audience alongside the physical audience.  An optional companion whiteboard or other additions can be installed to further create an incredibly immersive and engaging teaching and learning experience for both remote and in-person attendees.

Configurations

• Zoom Rooms Getting Started Guide