LSE Zoom - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is Zoom and how can I use it?

Zoom is a video conferencing tool that allows you to host online lectures and meetings. To use Zoom, you will need to first download the Zoom Client application, and you’ll need to sign in using your LSE email address and password (your LSE Microsoft 365 account). Note: It’s not possible to sign into Zoom using a shared LSE email address (e.g. eden.digital@lse.ac.uk).

Please see our our other Zoom guides for more information. Zoom also offer an excellent set of support resources. 

Q2: I want to use Zoom for lectures. How do I do that?

You can use Zoom from within a Moodle course. For detailed instructions, please visit the How-to Guide: https://lse.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MG/pages/44302423

Q3: I would like to pre-record some teaching materials to make them available to students. Can I do that with Zoom?

Yes, it is possible to use Zoom to pre-record teaching materials, however Zoom recordings will be automatically deleted after 90 days. If you are an LSE teacher and have an Echo 360 account, your Zoom cloud recordings will be automatically copied to your Echo 360 library from where you need to publish them to be made available via Moodle.

We recommend that pre-recorded teaching materials are made using the Echo360 Universal Capture application, which can record your voice, your PC’s screen, and video from webcam, but does not need an Internet connection to make recordings, only to publish. We also advise you keep your recordings short. We recommend any video content shared to your course is through Echo360 - it's also possible to upload media from other sources to Echo 360. Please see our guides on creating media for education.

For more information lecture recordings please visit this page: https://lse.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/LREG .

Q4: Can students host their own Zoom meetings? 

Students can log into Zoom with their LSE credentials – they do not need to request access or permission to create meetings. They can use Zoom independently to schedule group meetings, collaborate on group projects, for self-convened study groups, etc.  

Q5: How many participants can take part in a Zoom meeting? 

In a Zoom meeting, you can host up to 300 participants. However, it is not the capacity but the nature of your session that determines the ideal number of students. For a more interactive, dialogic seminar or class, a smaller number of students, 15-20 – the capacity of a typical LSE seminar or class, works best. Having said that, there have been cases at the LSE where highly interactive sessions for 60 students have been successfully run. However, such sessions are more resource-intensive and complicated to design and run. There is guidance on how to run a seminar-style session in Zoom, or you can attend an online workshop in Zoom on how to use Zoom, or discuss your course or class plan with your Eden department adviser for a one-to-one consultation. 

If you need to hold a teaching session for more than 300 students please contact the Eden Centre. We have a limited number of licences for teaching sessions of up to 1000 participants (see FAQ 8). Enquiries regarding Zoom Webinars and non-teaching events should be made to the DTS service desk (see FAQ 7).

Q6. How can I ensure the privacy of my Zoom meetings and prevent what is known as Zoom-bombing?

Zoom-bombing refers to uninvited or unwanted guests joining a Zoom meeting and attempting to disrupt it in some way, often through sharing their screen with the other members of the meeting. To learn how to guard against such an occurrence, read our guidance on Zoom-bombing and Privacy.

Q7. Can I use Zoom for my department event? Does LSE have a Zoom Webinar licence that I can use?

Zoom Webinar is a separate product to Zoom Meetings and is suitable for non-teaching department events, especially those events where members of the public may be attending. Also see Zoom’s comparison of Meetings vs. Webinar. While LSE has a site licence for Zoom Meetings to enable the School to move some of its teaching provision online, LSE has a limited number of Zoom Webinar licences for use by academic departments.

Departments wishing to run online events should contact DTS who will be able to allocate Zoom Webinar licences to named individuals. You will need to let DTS know the number of participants likely to be attending your events. Individual staff members should contact their department manager in the first instance.

Q8. I teach on a course with more than 300 students. The standard Zoom licence only has a capacity for 300 students, what can I do?

LSE has procured a limited number of Zoom Large Meeting licences. This licence allows a teacher to run a standard Zoom meeting for up to 1000 students. Please contact eden.digital@lse.ac.uk if you teach on a large course and you need a large capacity Zoom licence. Please note that large meetings are not the same as a Zoom webinar. See FAQ 7 for more details on Zoom Webinars.

Q9. Can I link from my Moodle course to my lecture recordings directly on Zoom Cloud, instead of linking from Moodle to Echo 360?

Zoom recordings will be automatically deleted after 90 days. You should not link directly from Moodle to recordings held in the Zoom Cloud or use the Zoom Cloud for long term storage of meeting recordings. If you wish to keep recordings for longer please ensure that any recordings of teaching sessions have been automatically uploaded to Echo 360. For other meeting recordings, please download them to your local device/OneDrive.

Q10. Can transcriptions or captions be added to recordings of online teaching sessions?

Zoom recordings of online teaching sessions are automatically transferred to Echo 360 and Zoom automated transcripts will be transferred along with the recordings. The transcript will however need to be manually applied as captions, so that students can see the transcript as subtitles on top of the video. See our full guide on transferring Zoom transcripts to Echo 360.

Transcriptions will need to be uploaded manually for recordings uploaded to Echo 360 from any other source, such as OBS, Microsoft Teams/Stream. Please see our guide on Echo 360 automated transcription.

For 2022-23 the LSE Disability and Wellbeing Service (DWS) will be providing an enhanced transcription service for DWS registered students.

For guidance on how to view and download transcriptions see this Echo 360 transcription guide. Staff should contact Eden.Digital@lse.ac.uk if there are no transcripts available on a course where you think there should be. Students should contact the academic department concerned.

Q11. Can transcriptions or subtitles be added to my live lectures?

Yes, automated live transcriptions can be enabled for Zoom meetings. Please see this guide on automated live Zoom transcription for further details. High quality human authored live transcription is also available for students registered with the LSE Disability and Wellbeing Service. For further details see the high quality live transcription service guide.

Q12. Can a Zoom Marketplace app be pre-approved so that I can use it for my Zoom meetings?

The Eden Centre will not enable or ‘pre-approve’ third party Zoom Apps (a.k.a. third party integrations) that have not completed and signed the LSE cloud assurance questionnaire and/or those that have not been assessed by DTS cyber security. There is a risk that such apps/integrations import student and staff personal data from Zoom and by default we have no assurances from the third party service provider regarding the security and protection of this personal data.

If you wish to enter into a contractual arrangement with such a third-party service provider then please contact the DTS service desk for advice regarding cyber security and data protection before signing a contract.

Our guide on the use of unsupported third-party applications, although specific to teaching and learning, provides more information on the reasons for being cautious in this regard.

Q13. Why do I get an error when I try to sign into Zoom using my LSE account?

You must sign into Zoom via SSO using your LSE email address to access your LSE Zoom licence. If you have followed our ‘How to sign into Zoom’ guide and you are unable to sign in, please try these remedies.

First, delete your browser cache and if that doesn’t help then try removing any Zoom specific browser cookies or saved passwords. If that does not fix your problem please contact the Eden Centre digital education team.

Your LSE Zoom licence may have been deactivated if it is more than 12 months since you last signed into Zoom using your LSE account. Please contact us to request that your account be reactivated. Also, occasionally LSE network accounts may not be assigned to the correct user group. If that’s the case we will contact DTS who will be able to fix the problem.

Q14. Can Zoom AI Companion for meetings and chat be enabled?

Due to data protection concerns around the transfer and storage of meeting data (meeting transcriptions, participant names etc) from Zoom's EU located storage to Zoom's AI partners (Meta Llama 2, OpenAI, and Anthropic), the Zoom AI Companion feature is currently disabled for the LSE Zoom account. Last updated: Nov 15, 2024

Q15. Is an LSE account required to host a Zoom meeting?

An LSE account is needed to set up and own a meeting. However, it's possible for the meeting owner to start a meeting and then assign any meeting attendee as the meeting host when leaving the meeting (even if the new host does not have an LSE account). The new host will remain host as long as they do not leave the meeting. They will also have full hosting capabilities and the meeting length is unlimited.

A second option is to allow the meeting to start without the host present - please see the limitations section though, as these may present a security risk.