Our site license to the Zoom web conferencing software allows you to create a synchronous Zoom web conference within your Canvas course site. Zoom is much more robust than Canvas' built-in Conferences service, not only because it can be used on mobile devices, but also because recordings can be save for however long you wish.
Enable Zoom in Canvas
A good reason to use Zoom within Canvas is you do not have to email out meeting links to every student on your own. You can message students in Canvas like you always do—either via the Canvas Inbox, an Announcement, or however—and alert them there will be synchronous Zoom web conference at a specific time.
Enabling Zoom is easy. Head to Settings (the last menu item in your course) and then be sure to click on the Navigation tab:
Next, scroll down through the inactive course menu items until you come to Zoom, which will likely be near the bottom. Enable it by clicking the options icon for it and selecting Enable. Be sure to click Save at the bottom of that screen:
(While you are on your menu items, we recommend you disable the Conferences menu item if you have it enabled. This will prevent students being confused with Canvas' built-in web conferences system.)
Scheduling a Synchronous Class Meeting
Once the Zoom menu item is enabled, click on it and over at the far right of the ensuing screen will be a Schedule a New Meeting button:
Most of the screen will be easy to fill out, and generally the default options are fine. You may want to consider enabling the option to Record the meeting automatically. Otherwise, you will have to remember to click Zoom's Record button on your own once you start the meeting. Once you click Save at the bottom of the scheduling screen, your meeting will be saved. Optionally, you can click the Copy the Invitation link to send the meeting information to someone outside of your class that you want to have attending the meeting, or the various calendar buttons to embed the meeting time/date in your computer's calendar.
Joining Your Meeting
When the meeting time arrives, head back to the Zoom menu item in your Canvas course site and click the Start button that you will see on the far right of the meeting name you created. That's it! Your own knowledge of Zoom kicks in from here on. It will be like any other Zoom meeting outside of Canvas.
To end a meeting, we recommend you click the End Meeting link that you will see towards the bottom of your Zoom screen. Otherwise, it will take longer for the recording to process if you chose to record it.
Viewing the Recording
Your students (and you) will have access to the recording of the conference—if you decided to make one—via the Zoom menu item once the recording is ready. In your case, it will be available from the Cloud Recordings tab:
There will be multiple files because Zoom has separate files for the chat transcript, the audio (only) recording, and the video recording. If you wanted to save the video recording for archival purposes, either of the links shown on the screen will allow you to download it. If you had someone else you wanted to share the recording with, each will also have a Share link.
Your students will access the recordings in a similar manner, via the Zoom menu item in your Canvas course. In their case, it will be under the Previous Meetings tab. Unlike you, however, students will not be able to download the recordings.