screenshare

Input

Screen Share

By using the Share Screen function of Zoom, you can pivot away from the camera image to other sources of input — PowerPoint, internet sites, Word files, or any other source that’s open on your computer screen.

The Share Screen function in Zoom replaces the grid of participant images (Gallery View) or the large image of whoever is speaking (Speaker View) with whatever file you choose to share. This could be PowerPoint slides, a Word document, or an internet source (YouTube, L2 media, Canvas). It does this in such a way that the file fills the participants’ screens (unless they have disabled this function in their settings), but with a much-reduced grid showing the participants (or rather: a subset of the participants) visible in one corner of the screen.

Using the Share Screen function allows you to move back and forth from “teacher-fronted” input to media-based input of many kinds, including student-generated content.

In an L2 class, the Share Screen function is akin to an F2F instructor’s choreographed moves from teacher-fronted input, to writing on the board, to passing out slips of paper with instructions or information — in short, to all of the varied formats of input that typically make up an interactive L2 class.

Creating an analogous input flow in Zoom is possible, but it requires careful preparation (and a little practice) to make it work quickly and seamlessly. Even if you’re familiar with using Share Screen in Zoom, please keep in mind:


If you need basic information on using the Share Screen function, you can consult that topic in Zoom → Screen Share and the YouTube tutorials below.

Resources

Zoom's basic tutorial: [1:11]

Additional details and suggestions: [14:10]