Zoom with iPad or iPhone (so your kids still see your face!)

I wanted a way for my students to still see my face when I worked problems in front of them on a Zoom call.  I think it’s important for them to see my facial expressions and it’s important for me to be able to “look” at them.  You already lose so much via a Zoom call--I wasn’t willing to lose what little interaction I had.  I have an iPad and Apple Pencil, so I used the first method below to write on my iPad and share my screen (while also keeping the meeting open on my computer so my kids could still see me).  See photo below:

If you don’t have a tablet/stylus, you can use your phone’s camera feature to share (for example) a paper that you’re writing examples on.  Think of it as a document camera.

With iPad

1. On your iPad, first add Screen Recording to your Control Center if you haven’t already (Settings>Control Center>Customize Controls. Push the green plus sign next to “Screen Recording”).
2. Open the Zoom app and start the meeting from your iPad (this is important so that you’re the host on your iPad and not your computer so you can share your screen).
3. Turn your video off (so you don’t broadcast an unflattering view of yourself…).
4. Mute yourself.
5. Click the “More” button on top right and select “Disable Audio.” 
   This will ensure you don’t have feedback/echo from having Zoom open on two devices open.
6. Now switch to your computer.  Open Zoom and start the same meeting from your computer.
7. On your iPad, let yourself into the meeting.
8. Run the meeting as normal now.  Keep in mind, you are currently hosting from the iPad, so you’ll need to let people in through the iPad.  To share your iPad screen, hit the green “Share” button, then select “Screen.” The first time you will need to select “Zoom,” and then push “Start Broadcast.”  You are now sharing your screen and can toggle through windows as normal.  A nice feature is opening your camera app so you can show whatever documents, books, etc are in front of you.

With iPhone

1. On your iPhone, first add Screen Recording to your Control Center if you haven’t already (Settings>Control Center>Customize Controls. Push the green plus sign next to “Screen Recording”).
2. Open the Zoom app on your phone and start the meeting from your phone (this is important so that you’re the host on your phone and not your computer so you can share your screen).
3. Tap anywhere on the screen to see menus.  Turn your video off (so you don’t broadcast an unflattering view of yourself…).
4. Mute yourself.
5. Click the “More” button bottom right and select “Disconnect Audio.” This will ensure you don’t have feedback/echo from having Zoom open on two devices open.
6. Now switch to your computer.  Open Zoom and start the same meeting from your computer.
7. On your phone, let yourself into the meeting.
8. Run the meeting as normal now.  Keep in mind, you are currently hosting from your phone, so you’ll need to let people in through your phone.  To share your phone’s screen, hit the green “Share” button, then select “Screen.” The first time you will need to select “Zoom,” and then push “Start Broadcast.”  You are now sharing your screen and can toggle through windows as normal.  A nice feature is opening your camera app so you can show whatever documents, books, etc are in front of you.

Happy Zooming! I hope this doesn't have to last too much longer...