Upcoming District Wide Zoom change : 12/21/2020 9PM : ATTENTION REQUIRED

What is happening to your Current MiraCosta Zoom Account: 

ConferZoom will migrate your current ConferZoom/MiraCosta Zoom user account and saved recordings to the MiraCosta College District Zoom account 12/21/2020 starting at 9 PM. All Zoom user accounts should be fully migrated after approximately 4 hours. 

Why is this happening: 

Currently all California Community College Zoom user accounts are hosted together, causing issues when individual districts require capabilities not appropriate for the entire CCC population. For example, Canvas can integrate directly with Zoom, providing Zoom Canvas calendar access and the ability to create and manage Zoom meetings directly from within Canvas, however with the combined CCC account this integration has been limited and prone to problems. 

How to Access your Migrated Zoom Account: 

Starting 12/22/2020 you will access Zoom via a new login link and with your MiraCosta credentials. 

  1. To access your Zoom account via the web, please click https://miracosta-edu.zoom.us and log in with your MiraCosta College employee account and two-factor authentication (2FA). We will be updating links on the MiraCosta website to reflect this new link. 
  2. To log into the Zoom app(s) both desktop and mobile: 
    1. Open the installed Zoom app. 
    2.  Select the ‘Sign in with SSO’ button or option at the app login screen 
    3. Enter our ‘Company Domain’  miracosta-edu 
      1. The full domain will show as “miracosta-edu.zoom.us” 
    4. You will be directed to our MiraCosta login portal where you will enter your MiraCosta credentials and 2FA. 

What you need to do after the migration: 

  • Re-apply any custom ZOOM security settings that you had previously applied. 
  • Convert any external embedded links, see below. 
  • If you used your ConferZoom account with multiple institutions, please check with them to verify their Zoom requirements and offerings.  

How to Convert your Current Zoom Meeting and Recording Links: 

If you have shared Zoom recording links or meeting links on a website or within Canvas, you will need to adjust each Zoom link on those pages as follows, although please note that Zoom is working on an update that will automatically redirect old links with an anticipated release date of Feb 2021. If you need people to access your recordings and/or meetings before the update is ready, please follow this step. 

In an existing meeting OR recording link replace the prefix  https://cccconfer.zoom.us with https://miracosta-edu.zoom.us 

Current Link Example 1

https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/12345789

Modified Link Example 1

https://miracosta-edu.zoom.us/j/12345789

Current Link Example 2

https://cccconfer.zoom.us/rec/share/G3yfMk5CtzHxhUkieEZWd2K7Abnc.x7ZwjNtbdrgt

Modified Link Example 2

https://miracosta-edu.zoom.us/rec/share/G3yfMk5CtzHxhUkieEZWd2K7Abnc.x7ZwjNtbdrgt

MiraCosta Zoom Resources: 

If you have any questions comments or concerns about this change please feel free to contact me,  

Thank you 

Anthony Ginger 
Infrastructure Systems Engineer 
MiraCosta College 

Important Zoom News / Updates

If you use Zoom for meeting and/or teaching (and don’t we all?), please review the updates and guidance below!

Participants self-selecting Breakout Rooms is now A THING!

I’ve heard from so many of you about this need. Zoom has finally come through! The latest Zoom app update, 5.3.0, includes this ability. Meeting hosts now see this option when setting up breakout rooms: Allow participants to choose room. Please note that in order to have your Zoom meeting participants use this feature, they must be on the latest Zoom mobile or computer app – browser-based Zoom does not support this. Make sure your students/participants have updated their app or downloaded the latest from http://zoom.us/download .

Forcing Passwords on all Meetings is NOT a thing (yet)!

At the end of August, TechConnect sent out a notice saying that by the end of September, all ConferZoom meetings which were not set up with passwords would have passwords imposed upon them by Zoom. However, information on the ConferZoom site now states that Zoom has delayed this change. (By the way, TechConnect email notices are ending up in my Outlook junk. If you aren’t checking your Junk email once in a while, you may want to do so.) (Also by the way, Zoom is apparently going to start calling passwords “passcodes”.)

Zoombombing, sadly, is STILL a thing

While not extensive, I have heard several faculty report “Zoombombing” incidents this fall. This generally consists of an unwanted participant disrupting a Zoom meeting. It’s clear that most incidents of Zoombombing aren’t random “hacks” preventable through passwords on meetings, but rather cases where invited participants are sharing access information with outsiders. Waiting Rooms can help but even those aren’t foolproof (take that word literally), and they do add overhead to running a Zoom meeting. Check out our 2-page Zoom tips which describe a variety of strategies to try to reduce the likelihood/impact of Zoombombing. Most important may be the Security button on the Zoom toolbar to allow you to quickly deal with a disruptor by kicking them out, reporting them to Zoom, and/or shutting off access to certain tools. Also, if you experience Zoombombing, please fill out the Maxient CARE form to report the incident, which will help the college to centrally track this issue.

Privacy Guidance when using Zoom with students from multiple class sections

The college is continuing to explore issues related to privacy regulations and live online interactions with students. For now, please abide by the following:

  1. Recorded Zoom sessions should only be shared back with the participating class section
  2. Regular instructional sessions for Zoom classes should only be held with one class section (except for true cross-listed classes)
  3. Optional/supplemental Zoom sessions that combine students from multiple sections are ok (do give students the option to participate anonymously)

Weird issue with ConferZoom recordings in Canvas modules, on Chrome         

A ConferZoom cloud recording shared as a singular linked item in a Canvas module, set to open within Canvas rather than in a new tab, for unknown reasons now fails to play back properly in the latest version of the Chrome browser. If you share ConferZoom recordings this way, the simplest fix is to set the link to open in a new tab.

Zoom support info

  • If you are still using a free account from Zoom.us, please switch to a fully licensed account through CCC TechConnect. Details about how to do that, along with lots of other Zoom tips and recorded trainings by MiraCosta faculty, are available at https://tic.miracosta.edu/conferzoom
  • CCC Tech Connect provides 1 hour training sessions every day on using Zoom. Learn more including how to sign up.

Zoomily yours,

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education

FAQ Followups to Zoom security advice for MiraCosta faculty

Some quick FAQ follow-ups to all recipients of yesterday’s message:

Q: I am confused. What exactly am I supposed to do and not do if I use Zoom?

A: At this point, there are few absolute requirements. You are getting a variety of recommendations to consider. If you are comfortable with the way that you and your students use Zoom, nobody is requiring to you to use extra security measures or change your practice. However, if you use the ConferZoom LTI tool inside of Canvas for scheduling meetings, passwords are automatically imposed upon your meetings, and you do not have the option to use the Waiting Room.

Q: Waiting Room sounds good, but won’t it take a long time to check my roster and admit students? And be a big pain to manage once class starts?

A: This definitely adds time to your use of Zoom. Thus, the recommendations yesterday to try to get students to show up early and be sure to provide their real names as they access your Zoom meeting. Via the Participants window, you have the option to admit everyone in the Waiting Room at once if you can tell that everyone there is legit. Another recommendation was to consider adding a trusted student as a co-host, to help you screen and admit participants from the Waiting Room.

Upon reflection and input from a number of you, I know that not everyone is a master of the class roster. So here’s a shower thought: there could be some creative and fun ways to manage your student names so the admission process is easier (and Zoom becomes more interesting!). Work with your class to decide on a new naming scheme. Be creative but here are some ideas:

  • If everyone is comfortable providing their pronouns, include those. (e.g. Jim Julius (he/him) ).
  • Have everyone pick a descriptive and alliterative adjective to precede their name with. (e.g. Jolly Jim Julius)
  • Have everyone pick something neutral, such as a favorite color, to precede their name with (e.g. Green Jim Julius)

I’m sure you and your class can come up with something! If everyone accesses Zoom with a consistent naming scheme, it will be very easy to tell who can be admitted to the meeting without having to reference your class roster.

Q: I liked using the scheduling tool for online office hours that is built into the ConferZoom LTI. Should I stop using that?

Yeah, that probably was the best thing about the LTI. I am not sure what impact the changes to the way Zoom operates via the LTI will have on that feature, but you could continue to give it a try and see. As an alternative, the Canvas calendar has a pretty great feature for booking office hour time slots. You could use that Canvas scheduler for students to book their times to meet with you at a Zoom meeting link that you set up via conferzoom.org and post inside Canvas.

Q: Did you leave anything out of your message yesterday?

A: Thanks for asking! Yes, one important tip: Please make sure your Zoom client software is up-to-date! If you’re not certain if you have the latest version of the Zoom client, look for a Security shield on the Zoom toolbar when you start your meeting (it has some quick controls for altering security settings during your meetings). District computers should have this software automatically updated. But if you don’t have the latest version of Zoom, you can get it from http://zoom.us/downloads

Q: You’ve given me some great tips on how to use Zoom technically, but how can I make my Zoom sessions more inclusive and meaningful for students?

Great question – just today the Chronicle ran a good article on 8 Ways to Be More Inclusive in Your Zoom Teaching!

Q: Thank you!

A: You are very welcome!

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
Faculty Director, Online Education
jjulius@miracosta.edu

Zoom security advice for MiraCosta faculty

To: All MiraCosta faculty and deans

Quick takeaways for Zoom-using faculty from this email:

(1) Use Waiting Rooms, not passwords;

(2) If you use the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas, discontinue that and use conferzoom.org directly.

Details:

As you are likely aware, “Zoombombing” has been in the news. A few incidents have even happened at MiraCosta. Though some, including Zoom, have recommended or required passwords for Zoom meetings in response, it’s also increasingly clear that many or most of these incidents are occurring when students share Zoom meeting access information with others who are looking to cause mischief or worse. Passwords will not stop intruders like this.

Therefore we recommend that you:

  • ask students to access your Zoom meetings using their real names;
  • remind students that it is a violation of student responsibilities to share Zoom meeting access information with others outside of their class;
  • use Zoom’s Waiting Room feature to screen participants.

Please review some tips (with links to tutorials) about how to use the Zoom Waiting Room. If you haven’t already checked it out, please also see our 2-page Zoom tips document, which includes lots of recommendations for running a secure and smooth Zoom meeting.

ALSO: If you have been using Zoom through the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas:

  • Passwords appear to have been imposed upon all your meetings this week. We do not understand why this occurred (and it hasn’t happened to anyone who uses ConferZoom direclty), but it is causing problems for many students.
  • If you create new meetings through the ConferZoom LTI, passwords are included.
  • You are not able to use the Zoom Waiting Room for meetings created through the ConferZoom LTI.


Therefore we recommend discontinuing use of the ConferZoom LTI tool in Canvas. Rather, schedule and manage your ConferZoom meetings and recordings directly through http://conferzoom.org and share the links to your meetings/recordings with your students inside Canvas.

If you have any questions about any of this, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

– Jim

To: All MiraCosta faculty and deans

Quick takeaways for Zoom-using faculty from this email:

(1) Use Waiting Rooms, not passwords;

(2) If you use the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas, discontinue that and use conferzoom.org directly.

Details:

As you are likely aware, “Zoombombing” has been in the news. A few incidents have even happened at MiraCosta. Though some, including Zoom, have recommended or required passwords for Zoom meetings in response, it’s also increasingly clear that many or most of these incidents are occurring when students share Zoom meeting access information with others who are looking to cause mischief or worse. Passwords will not stop intruders like this.

Therefore we recommend that you:

  • ask students to access your Zoom meetings using their real names;
  • remind students that it is a violation of student responsibilities to share Zoom meeting access information with others outside of their class;
  • use Zoom’s Waiting Room feature to screen participants.

Please review some tips (with links to tutorials) about how to use the Zoom Waiting Room. If you haven’t already checked it out, please also see our 2-page Zoom tips document, which includes lots of recommendations for running a secure and smooth Zoom meeting.

ALSO: If you have been using Zoom through the ConferZoom LTI in Canvas:

  • Passwords appear to have been imposed upon all your meetings this week. We do not understand why this occurred (and it hasn’t happened to anyone who uses ConferZoom directly), but it is causing problems for many students.
  • If you create new meetings through the ConferZoom LTI, passwords are included.
  • You are not able to use the Zoom Waiting Room for meetings created through the ConferZoom LTI.


Therefore we recommend discontinuing use of the ConferZoom LTI tool in Canvas. Rather, schedule and manage your ConferZoom meetings and recordings directly through http://conferzoom.org and share the links to your meetings/recordings with your students inside Canvas.

If you have any questions about any of this, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Jim Julius, Ed.D.
jjulius@miracosta.edu

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