Zoom activity and attendance tracking

This feature is planned to be released in fall 2024.

The CN Pathway LMS now supports instructors to create Zoom meeting activities via integration with Zoom. Whether instructors have a paid or free Zoom account, they can track activity completion and grade students in their Pathway courses based on the Zoom meeting attendance data.

Note: Creating Zoom meetings via integration is also available in Classic courses, but attendance-based completion tracking and grading are not currently available in this LMS type. 

Instructor creates a Zoom meeting via integration 

Step 1. In your Pathway course, choose to add a new activity. 

Step 2. Under Virtual Meeting, select Zoom. 

Note: Currently, CN supports creating a Microsoft Teams meeting via integration, but only supports attendance tracking and grading for Zoom.

Step 3. Enter the activity name and description. Click + Create a new Virtual Meeting - Zoom to set up a new meeting. 

Note: If you have previously created Zoom meetings via integration, they will be listed on the dropdown. You can select one to connect it with the activity. 

Step 4. If you choose to create a new meeting, this window will pop up. Make sure to select the second radio button, then click the button "Connect Zoom Account" to grant CN permission to access your Zoom account. 

Note: If you have previously connected your CN account with Zoom, the Zoom account will be displayed under the button for your reference. You may click "Disconnect Account" to disconnect your current Zoom account or connect to another Zoom account. 

Step 5. After connecting to your Zoom account, the Zoom Meeting Details window will pop up. CN uses the activity title, description, and time to automatically populate the Zoom meeting title, description, date, and time. Please review the information and make any necessary edits before submitting the form. 

Step 6. Now, the meeting has been created under your Zoom account. The grayed-out data fields cannot be directly edited in CN anymore. But, you can edit some of them (i.e., Meeting Title, Meeting Description, Date, and Time) from the Zoom account. The updates will then be automatically reflected in CN. 

If you record the meeting to Zoom Cloud, the recording link will be automatically entered at the bottom of this form after the meeting. Otherwise, you may edit this form and manually input the meeting recording URL once the recording becomes available. 

Step 7. Now, let's finish setting up the activity. 

• You have selected the connected Zoom meeting - See #1.
• Select an activity completion setting, for example, "By attending a percent of the meeting (graded)" - See #2.
• Define the minimum attendance percentage for students to complete this activity - See #3. 
• Select a connected GradeBook item if you choose to grade students based on their meeting attendance - See #4. 

Step 8. If you choose to add a new GradeBook Item, you need to set up the GradeBook item by defining a total point value. You may adjust the default grading scale based on meeting attendance percentage. 

Step 9. Now, you are ready to save the activity. 

The newly created Zoom activity will appear on the course path like this:

Instructor reviews and manages the meeting via Zoom

After creating the Zoom meeting in CN, you should log into the corresponding Zoom account to review and manage the meeting. Click "Edit" to review the meeting information and make any necessary updates. 

You may edit the meeting topic/title, description, time, and duration. The updates will be automatically sent to CN. 

Note: If you are using a free or non-admin Zoom account, the Attendees field only captures the CN email addresses of course members when the meeting is initially created. Any new members who join the course afterward will not be automatically included. To ensure their attendance data is recorded correctly and passed back to CN for marking activity completions and grading, you must manually add the CN email addresses of these new course members to the Attendees field before the meeting.

When the meeting time arrives, you click "Start" to initiate the meeting. 

Students attend the meeting

Students should join the meeting by clicking the Zoom link button on the activity in your CN course.

Note: To ensure students will connect to the right Zoom accounts, please have them log out of Zoom before they click the button. 

If the meeting is created under a paid or an admin Zoom account, students will be prompted to register before entering the Zoom room. They must enter an email address associated with their CN account for their attendance data to be successfully received by CN. 

If the meeting is created under a free or non-admin Zoom account, students will see this message below. They must sign in to Zoom with an email address associated with their CN account for their attendance data to be successfully received by CN.

After logging in, students will enter the Zoom room. Meeting invitees can view who has and has not joined the meeting from the Participants list. 

CN marks Zoom activity completion and records attendance grades

The formula for calculating student meeting attendance percentage in CN:

Meeting attendance percentage = (Total participation time / Total meeting time) * 100%

CN calculates a student's meeting attendance percentage by considering only the actual time a student participates in a meeting. This accounts for situations where a student may leave and rejoin, or when an instructor pauses and restarts the meeting. The calculation excludes inactive intervals, focusing solely on the active participation time and the actual duration of the meeting.

For example, if a meeting is split into two one-hour sessions with a 10-minute break in between, and Student A attends 40 minutes of the first session and 50 minutes of the second session, their attendance percentage would be:

(40 + 50) / (60 + 60) * 100% = 75%

Note: The activity completion is not marked until 60 minutes after the last Zoom session. This is to make sure the system does not mark completion too soon if the meeting will be resumed. On the other hand, once the completion is marked, it will not be removed even if the meeting is resumed and the student's attendance percentage is decreased.

Similarly, CN automatically records students' attendance grades in GradeBook. 

Instructors may adjust the GradeBook item settings and leave students a comment from the GradeBook. 

Note: The attendance grades in the GradeBook reflect real-time attendance data. 

If you want to check detailed, user-based attendance records, you can find them under the Zoom link button.

Note: This exported data spreadsheet reflects real-time attendance data. 

Important reminder: Due to the sophisticated attendance tracking and calculation logic, instructors should avoid re-using an integration-created Zoom meeting for multiple activities. Always create a new meeting for a new activity to ensure the accuracy of activity completion tracking and attendance grading.

If you need assistance using the Zoom meeting feature, feel free to reach out to the CN Team at help@thecn.com.