Zoom is a tool for digital meetings, lectures and group discussions that is now a daily part of life at the University.
Parts of your course’s teaching may be held via Zoom, in which case you need to download the application and log in via the University in order to participate. If you log into Zoom with your student account, an LU account is automatically created in Zoom. There is also a free version of Zoom, but your personal details will not be protected in the same way. Not only that but Zoom teaching sessions are often closed to all but those who are logged in through LU.
Download and log in to Zoom – canvas.education.lu.se
If you feel unsure whether everything is working as it should when you are logged in, try joining a test room. If you get in, that means everything is working and you are ready for a Zoom meeting that requires you to be logged in.
Zoom is not only useful for in-person teaching, but as a student you can also use your LU Zoom account to work in groups, record material for your studies or conduct interviews for a paper. As a student, you have the same usage rights in Zoom as your lecturers. Read more below about different uses for Zoom.
Lectures and lessons in Zoom
There are a host of features in Zoom that can be good to know about in order to participate in meetings and lessons. The most common ones, such as sharing a screen or going in and out of a breakout room, can be found in the student guide.
Read more about using features in Zoom in the Canvas student guide – canvas.education.lu.se
You can choose in Zoom whether to appear on screen via your camera, to participate with audio only or to listen without participating. Different teaching situations require different types of participation. If attendance is compulsory, you may need to have your camera on to let the lecturer or exam invigilator know that you are you. But even if your lecturer does not demand it, there are good reasons to show your face on screen, such as feeling more engaged in the class.
Five reasons to turn on your camera in Zoom
Critical reviews or oral presentations via Zoom
If you are taking a course where all or a large part of the teaching is online, it is possible that you will also be asked to do an oral presentation in Zoom. If you are writing a paper remotely, the critical review might take place via Zoom.
You must take extra care with your microphone and speakers if you are doing a presentation via Zoom. Being able to hear and be heard is essential. Sometimes you might need a set of headphones with a microphone to ensure good sound quality.
It is also a good idea to try out the Share Screen feature in Zoom in advance. This allows you to share what you can see and hear on your own screen with other participants in the Zoom room. For example, you can share a PowerPoint presentation or a Word document that you write in while everyone watches. You can also show a video or use the Whiteboard feature, which allows both you and the other people in the meeting to write on a blank screen as if it were a physical whiteboard.
You can try out some of the features in the University’s test room linked above, but the best way to understand how they all work in practice is to start a meeting with some classmates or friends and test them out together. That way you can understand what everyone else sees when someone shares a screen and try writing on a digital whiteboard inside Zoom, for example. It is much harder to get a full sense of how to use them if you try these features all on your own.
Group work in Zoom
As a student, you have the same usage rights in Zoom as your lecturers. This means you can create and schedule your own meetings, invite others to join, share screens and create breakout rooms. This means you can do group assignments in Zoom without a lecturer being present, as well as meet in a study group before or after lectures to discuss and revise.
Start a meeting in Zoom, Canvas guide – canvas.education.lu.se
Zoom features, Canvas guide – canvas.education.lu.se
Doing group work in Zoom can have several advantages over meeting in person. For example, everyone can see the same thing at the same time on their screens without needing access to a projector or a whiteboard. Everyone can participate on equal terms even if, for example, someone lives far away and does not have the same access to campus. Click on the link below for tips on how to structure group work online.
Effective group work with digital meeting technology
Recording in Zoom
On some courses, you may be asked to make a recording in Zoom and upload it as part of an assessment. You can record whatever appears on the screen in Zoom, whether it is a presentation, a group discussion or your shared screen. If the recording is to be submitted via Canvas, you can upload it to your media library in Studio, which you can find in Canvas, and submit it from there. You can read more about this in the Studio student guide.
Studio guide – canvas.education.lu.se
The recording feature in Zoom can also be used, for example, to record interviews for a paper or an assignment. But remember, you must always inform the participants of a meeting that they will be filmed. Zoom sends out an automatic notification when a recording starts, but you must also tell everyone in advance.
Exams in Zoom
You can find information on how Zoom kan be used for a remote supervised exam by clicking Digital exam supervision in the menu.

Technical support
Contact LU Servicedesk if you need technical support when using our digital tools.
LU Servicedesk
servicedesk [at] lu [dot] se
+46 (0)46 222 9000