General Tips:

• Open any content you will be sharing on the computer you are using.

Do not minimize this content to the taskbar (Windows) or dock (Mac), rather keep the window(s) open and visible on your desktop.  This makes it very easy to quickly select the window you want to share when the time comes. 
OPTIONAL: The Acer secondary monitor (found in most classrooms) can be used as a place to “stage” content - open and ready to go. Simply drag the content window(s) onto that screen.  Learn more about the Acer secondary monitor.

Basic distinction: content for in-person students vs for online students

If you will share content with in-person students, you'll likely use the projector or possibly the secondary Acer monitor.  If you will share with online students, share your screen through Zoom.  (Here are the basics of screen sharing in Zoom, but read on below for more specific scenarios.)  You can definitely share content using the projector, the secondary Acer monitor, and Zoom at the same time!

Powerpoint Tips:

To prepare a PowerPoint or similar slide show presentation for sharing, simply open the file to Normal view (i.e. editing view).  Do not launch the presentation until after you click on screen share in Zoom. 

FYI: The 3 views of Powerpoint are:

• Normal View is the main editing view, which is used to write and design a presentation. The view has three working areas: on the left, tabs that alternate between an outline of slide text (Outline Tab) and slides displayed as thumbnails (Slides Tab); on the right, the slide pane, which displays a large view of the current slide; and on the bottom, the notes pane.

• Slide Show View fills up one of the computer screens like an actual slide show presentation. In this full-screen view, the presentation is shown the way it will be seen by the audience. Graphics, timings, movies, animated elements, and transition effects are shown how they will look in the actual show

• Slide Sorter View is an exclusive view of the slides in thumbnail form. 

Learn more about presenting Powerpoint and Zoom in the “Use cases” section of the Secondary Acer Monitor page.

Audio or Video clips through Zoom:

To prepare audio/video content (i.e. a film or audio clip) for sharing, open the clip, start playing it and then pause the clip just before the section you want to share.  This cues the content so that you can resume playing as soon as you start sharing that window during your class. It also allows any ads that may play (in YouTube, for instance) to run their course and not play during your sharing session.

IMPORTANT: When sharing audio and video content via a Zoom screen share, be sure to select the following two options (located on the bottom of screen selection window that appears once you click on the Share Screen icon): 

• Share sound (shares the audio playing with the remote participants)

• Optimize for video clip (plays the video as smoothly as possible)

TIP: When sharing content from YouTube in Zoom, you can show video clips using theater mode, or full screen mode. 

• Theater mode shows your video on a black background with no suggested videos or ads on the side.  To enter this mode, press “t” on your keyboard, or hover your mouse over the bottom right corner of the video and click on the rectangle.  

• Full screen mode plays the video in full screen on the monitor (it also has the unfortunate effect of covering up/hiding anything that may be present on that monitor), and it is activated by either pressing “f” - or hovering over the bottom right corner of the video and clicking on the dashed square.

DVDs are only screen share-able through classroom computer’s DVD drives.  Classrooms no longer have independent DVD players in them.

Learn more about presenting in Zoom in the “Use cases” section of the Secondary Acer Monitor page.

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