How do I schedule a Zoom meeting in Canvas?

The Canvas-Zoom integration allows instructors to schedule and manage online class meetings with their students. Students can join a scheduled Zoom meeting directly from the Canvas-Zoom interface.

  • We recommend using either Firefox or Chrome for Zoom meetings in Canvas .
  • Users may have to download the Canvas-Zoom plugin if it is not installed on their computer.
  • We strongly urge instructors to schedule a "Test" Zoom meeting, sometime in advance, to make sure all students have the Zoom plug-in installed on their computer, and that their microphone and speakers are working.
  • If the video quality is low, instructors may want to ask students not to use their webcams during the  meeting.
  • See notes on Canvas roles and Zoom meetings: Team Teaching with the Zoom Canvas Integration

Log into Canvas, go into a course, and click "Zoom" in the left-hand menu

You will see the Canvas Zoom Dashboard

To create a Zoom meeting, click "Schedule a New Meeting"

You will see the Schedule a Meeting form

Complete the items in the form

  1. Topic – Give your meeting a short, descriptive name.
  2. Description (Optional) – Provide a more detailed description of your meeting.
  3. When – Select a date and start time for your meeting.
  4. Duration – Estimate how long you think the meeting is going to take.
  5. Recurring (Optional) – Check this box if you plan on setting up a recurring meeting. More options will appear for you to set up the recurrence pattern.
  6. Registration (Optional) – Check the Required box if you want attendees to register for the meeting in advance.

Set additional settings for the meeting

  1. Video – Determine whether you want to start the meeting with video automatically connected for the host and participants. 
  2. Audio – This section is locked, with “Telephone and Computer Audio” selected. This gives participants the option to join the meeting with audio connected either over the phone or their computer (using VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol). 
  3. Meeting Passcode (Optional)  – Set a passcode for your meeting. As of 9/27/2020, Zoom will have increased security, and will require either a passcode or a waiting room on every meeting. We recommend a passcode for all Zoom class sessions.
  4. Enable join before host (Locked on) – This allows meeting participants to join the meeting before the host does. It also allows the meeting to keep going if the host accidentally leaves or gets dropped from it.
  5. Mute participants upon entry – Checking this box automatically mutes participants’ audio when they join the meeting. Participants will be able to unmute themselves at any time. 
  6. Meeting ID – We recommend to leave this unchecked so a unique Meeting ID is generated rather than using your Personal ID.   Unchecking is important if the instructor will be logging in on more than one computer for the same Zoom session.
  7. Enable waiting room (Optional) – If this is selected, participants will enter a “waiting room” before they can officially join the meeting. The host can then determine who is allowed to enter using the Participants Panel.  As of 9/27/2020, Zoom will  have increased security, and will require either a passcode or a  waiting room on every meeting. The waiting room can also be enabled/disabled during a meeting via the Security Icon or the Participants Panel.
  8. Record the meeting automatically - Select for recording then select "cloud"
    See: Recording a Zoom meeting
  9. Alternative Hosts (Optional) – Provide the email addresses of participants who you will allow to serve as hosts in your place if you are unable to join - NOTE: Currently this option is locked.

When done choosing meeting settings, click "Save"

After clicking “Save” a confirmation page is displayed, which includes buttons to add the meeting to a Google, Outlook, or Yahoo calendar.

There is also a Join URL that can be copied and pasted into a communication to students or others

Click one of the buttons to add the meeting to a calendar

To make the Outlook Calendar button work the instructor must first:

Log into Tufts Zoom

Log in at https://tufts.zoom.us/

Then go to Personal > Settings

Then turn on "Use HTML format email for Outlook plugin"

Zoom meetings in the instructor's Canvas-Zoom dashboard will look like this:

Zoom meetings in the student's Canvas-Zoom dashboard will look like this:

The student can click "Join" to enter the meeting at the appropriate time

NOTE: Canvas-Zoom sends out an email notification to the class informing them of the date and time for the online meeting IF the course has already been published at the time of scheduling. Notifications do not go out if the course has not yet been published.

Instructors may also wish to create a Canvas Announcement with details of the online meeting. Canvas announcements are both posted on the Canvas site and an email notification is sent to each student.

See: How can I invite my students to a Zoom meeting from Canvas or TUSK?

See: How to contact your students through Canvas