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MCC Daily Tribune

New feature for proctoring your exams through Zoom

As final exams quickly approach, we in the Virtual Campus wanted to let you know about a feature that Zoom rolled out in the most recent version updates that we feel will be of particular use when you're doing any proctoring through Zoom. It's called Focus Mode, and here are some basics of how it works:

  • How you turn it on: As host or co-host of a Zoom Meeting, look in the "More..." button on the bottom of the interface, and you'll see "Start Focus Mode".
  • What your students will see: Students will see your video feed (if you have it turned on) and any other co-hosts' video feeds, along with any students' video feeds that you turn on the Highllight feature for. They won't see any of their classmates' non-Highlighted video feeds, but instead will see their Display Name (and not even their thumbnail image). The students will also still see their own webcam feed, unless they choose to hide it.
  • What you (and your co-hosts) will see: You'll still see all of the students' video feeds (that they have turned on) like you normally would.
  • What about screen sharing: Your screen will share to all the students like normal, but when individual students share their screen with you, only you will see it (unless you decide to share with it with the class)
  • Does this depend on what Zoom version you have: As the Host, you'll need to be at version 5.7.3 on your computer or 5.7.6 on your mobile app. However, one of the nice things about this feature is that it still works correctly even if your students don't have their Zoom version updated to the right version. Here are the full technical details: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360061113751-Using-focus-mode-
  • Situations where we feel this might be useful:
    • Proctoring, where you want to be able to see the students, and them to see you, but don't want them to be able to see each other to avoid distractions and potential cheating
    • Shy students, where they feel self-conscious about being seen by their classmates, but you still want to be able to see them to make sure they're "present" (both literally and figuratively!)
    • Students with visual distraction issues
    • General lecturing situations, where you want to ensure that students are focusing on the content rather than each other
    • Students showing you their answers individually, which you can do by having the student share their screen in Focus Mode, since only you will then see their screen share

As ever, if you have have any questions on the technical, logistical, or pedagogical implementation of this, be sure to contact the Virtual Campus Instuctional Design Team (Andrea Gilbert, Tom Capuano, Kate Robinson and myself), either through our Open Zoom hours (https://monroecommunity.zoom.us/my/virtualcampus Mon-Thur 10am-Noon and 1pm-3pm, or Fri 10am-Noon) or by contacting us directly.

Have a great end of semester, and let us know what you figure out playing around with this!

Jeremy Case
Virtual Campus
12/02/2021