Using the Technology

Equipment and System Requirements

To participate in a virtual session with learners, you will need: 

• Computer, tablet, or smartphone with access to a fast internet connection
• Browser: Google Chrome (recommended), Firefox, Safari, or IE 10 or above
• Microphone, video capability, and speakers (external or built-in)
• Zoom (see info below; for all technical requirements for Zoom, visit https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us)

Checking Your Technology

Please follow these steps prior to your session to help make sure connecting with learners goes smoothly. If you're unable to complete a step or have questions, click here to schedule a quick tech setup session or email support@pathful.com.

1. Install Zoom. If you've used Zoom before on your computer or device, you can skip this step. If you need to download or make sure you have the latest version, you can download and install it here: Zoom Download Center or Chrome Extension

     2. Check Your Connection. Go to http://zoom.us/test to get a 5 minute test meeting.

     3. Test Your Speaker and Microphone. Click on the audio menu and select Test Speaker & Microphone. The test screen will walk you through the steps for testing both your speaker and microphone.

4. Test Video. Click on the red slash to make yourself visible. If you need to check your video settings, click on the arrow to the left of the camera icon and select “Video Settings“. You should be able to see yourself in the test screen. If there is no camera icon, this means that Zoom is unable locate a camera on your device.

You also have the option to chose virtual background or blur your background.

5. Share your Screen. Select the “Share Screen” button in the bottom middle of your window if you would like to share your slide deck or videos.

Next,  select whichever screen you wish to share, the screen will be outlined in blue once selected. If you would like to share audio (e.g. you would like to play a video with sound), be sure you select the “Share Sound” option on the bottom left of the screen. Then, select share.

Note: When you no longer want to share your screen, there is a red “Stop Share” button on the menu at the top of your monitor. This menu is also movable, if the menu is in the way of a tab that you need to select, you can grab it and move it to the bottom or the side of your screen. 

More Useful Information

Is your bandwidth quick enough?  Slow bandwidth can cause latency, frozen screen, poor audio, or getting disconnected.  If you want to test your speed, go to http://www.speedtest.net/.  Be sure your upload and download speeds are consistently greater than 1.5 Mbps.  If your test shows you are below this, please schedule an appointment with tech support so we can briefly meet and assist you.

A little about mobile apps

If you haven’t used a mobile device before with a Pathful session, please click here to schedule a quick technology setup session or email support@pathful.com.

Some things about the mobile app:

• You will join a Pathful session from a web page (through the Pathful site) on your device. You will be passed off to the Zoom app when joining.
• You cannot share applications from iOS. If you want to show slides, you can upload them to a web-based platform like http://slideshare.com and then input the Website URL on the Share Content menu. You can also export slides to images and then share images from the iOS app.
• If you use mobile, take advantage of the front and back camera and think of ways to leverage the mobility (show something in real-time from your office, assembly plant, warehouse, etc.)