LibAnswers: Instructional Design

You can pre-assign breakout rooms in Zoom through both the web portal and Canvas. For pre-assigned breakout rooms to work correctly, all students must sign in to their TCNJ Zoom account. Important: If you want to use these groups in multiple Zoom meetings, create your first Zoom in Canvas as a "Recurring" meeting (such as weekly synchronous classes, for example). Doing so allows you to apply the breakout room settings to all meetings.

Update Zoom settings

1. Sign in to Zoom.
2. Navigate to "Settings" in the Zoom navigation menu.
3. Select the "Meeting" tab.
4. Scroll to the “In Meeting (Advanced)” option.
5. Select "Breakout Room."
6. Check the box for "Assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling."

Update sessions in Canvas

1. Log in to Canvas.
2. Navigate to "Zoom" in the course navigation menu.
3. Select the first “Topic” link under your scheduled sessions.
4. Click "Edit this Meeting."
5. Check the box for "Breakout Room pre-assign."
6. Click "+ Create rooms."
7. Add breakout rooms and manually assign participants.
   • You can also upload a CSV file or import Canvas groups to use as Zoom breakout rooms. If you import a CSV file, it must have the following columns: Breakout room # and student email address. Canvas Zoom provides you with an Excel template file to add this information.