Continuum College Instructor Resources

Zoom Breakout Rooms

The following instructions require that these Settings have been enabled in the Host’s Zoom Online Profile: 

  • Breakout room: ON
  • Allow host to assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling: ON

For your course meetings, select the meeting security option “Only authenticated users can join meetings.” This is essential if using Pre-assigned Breakout Rooms.

Using Breakout Rooms 

Both Hosts and co-Hosts can start Breakout Rooms and move participants between rooms. If you are working with other Instructional Team members, communicate who should manage the Breakout Rooms. 

Zoom Guide: Managing Video Breakout Rooms

Using Pre-assigned Breakout Rooms

Zoom creates and populates Breakout Rooms once the Host enters the meeting room. This likely means that not all pre-assigned participants have entered the room and only participants who are in the room when the Breakout rooms are created are given their rightful assignment. This means that before you use your pre-assigned Breakout rooms, you need to click to open the Recreate dropdown menu and then select Recover to pre-assigned rooms to get all Participants in to their pre-assigned Breakout room. 

Pre-assign Breakout Rooms

There are two ways to pre-assign Breakout Rooms when creating or editing your Zoom meeting: 

  1. Use Zoom’s CSV template to create rooms and assign participants by their @uw.edu email and upload that file to the Meeting room(s) that will use these Breakout Rooms; or 
  2. Manually create all needed Breakout Rooms and then populate them by adding each participant by their @uw.edu email.

Recommended Workflow 

This video walks you through this recommended workflow starting at Step 2:

  1. Download your course list CSV file and make sure every student has their @uw.edu email address in the Email column (read Populating the Zoom Template CSV file for full instructions).
  2. From the Zoom Meeting profile, click the Edit button by the meeting you want to edit.
    • If it is part of a series of meetings, click the Edit all occurrences button in the popup to include the same pre-assignments for every meeting date.
    • If you have not yet created the meeting/series of meetings, start by clicking the Schedule a Meeting button and creating the needed meeting(s).
  3. Under Meeting Options, check the box next to Breakout Room pre-assign. Options to +Create Breakout Rooms and Import from CSV should appear.
  4. Click the Import from CSV option. This brings up a popup window.
    Breakout Room Upload Popup
  5. Use the download link to download the Zoom template.
  6. Copy the contents of the column with students’ @uw.edu email addresses in to the Email Address column of the Zoom template.
    • If you’ve used a formula to create the email addresses, you need to right click and select the Paste as values option when copying emails in to the Zoom template.
    • Make sure that you do not change the header of the Zoom template column. It must be Email Address
    • If you want instructional team members who will be supporting one or more breakout room to start in a given breakout room, add their @uw.edu email to the list. 
    • Assign everyone to a named Breakout Rooms in the Pre-assign Room Name column. Make sure room names are clear enough so that you can keep track of them. 
  7. Save the Zoom template file, maintaining its CSV file type. 
  8. Upload the Zoom template file to the popup window. This will display the breakout rooms with the assignments that you have made. You can make changes if needed. 
  9. Save the Breakout room assignments. 
  10. Save the meeting information. 

Populating the Zoom Template CSV file 

These instructions assume that you have already downloaded the Zoom Template CSV file.

  1. Sign in to MyUW.  
  2. Go to your Teaching page. If you are unfamiliar with this page, check out this MyUW for Faculty and Instructors orientation video.
  3. Find the relevant course section. 
  4. Download the class list. The information you need is in the Email column.
  5. Open the CSV file and double check that each student has an @uw.edu email. Any missing emails can be created using the information in the UW NetID column. You can either:
    • manually copy the value from the UWNetID column, paste it into the Email column, and add @uw.edu to the end of it; or
    • create a new column just for @uw.edu emails by pasting =CONCATENATE(B2,”@uw.edu”) in to the second row of the first empty column, selecting the corner of that cell, and moving your selection down until the last row is selected. 
      NOTE: If you use this method, you must right click and choose Paste as values when copying into the Zoom Template CSV file. 
  6. Copy and paste the Email column (minus header) in to the Email Address column of the downloaded Zoom Template CSV file, using Paste as values if needed.  
  7. Assign a Breakout Room name to each student. Any room named in the CSV file will be created in the Zoom meeting with the appropriate student assignments. 
  8. Add any instructional team member who needs to be in a Breakout Room and assign them to that room.

Breakout Room Tips 

  • No more than 200 participants can be pre-assigned to breakout rooms.
  • It is useful to have a class list handy that includes the Breakout Room assignment for each student/participant. 
  • The Host can only join one Breakout Room at a time.
  • When returning to the main meeting room, presentation materials may need to be re-shared. 
  • Both Hosts and Co-Hosts can manage breakout rooms.
  • Breakout Room participants can ask the Host to join their Breakout Room at any time for as needed assistance. The Host will receive a pop-up that enables them to go to their Breakout Room. 
  • Anyone can leave their Breakout Room and return to the main meeting at any time. 
  • The name of the Breakout Room may not be visible to its participants. 
  • The Host can also allow meeting participants to Self-select a breakout room by selecting “Let participants choose room.” This allows meeting participants to select from a list of breakout rooms and freely enter/leave their self-selected rooms.

Updated 02/22/22