Charlotte Matthews is an Associate Professor in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. She has many years of experience teaching online in the School's Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program and discovered what works and doesn't work for her during that time. Charlotte shares a few ways that you can try to build community in your synchronous online courses.
This is possible, but a fairly involved procedure. If you don't feel confident in Zoom, Collab, and using Spreadsheets it might be best to make an appointment for a consultant to help you through the process (email [email protected])
Video instructions for those who want to try on their own are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4J6HFlak54&feature=youtu.be&t=60
There is no way to enter a breakout room undetected. If you disable video and mute your audio before entering, you will cause less disturbance.
All breakout rooms are not automatically recorded along with the main Zoom meeting room. The recording will follow the instructor so that if they join a breakout room, that room will also be recorded.
If you would like to have recordings of all breakout room sessions, you can designate one person in each breakout room to record locally (to their computer). Those designated recorders can then share that file with the instructor after the meeting.