Zoom is an online, real-time, video-conferencing tool for interacting with your students.

When your students cannot come to campus to visit with you in your office because of time, location, or transportation constraints, students can certainly send you an email. Sometimes, though, questions and issues can be resolved much more quickly and clearly if you could just have a synchronous conversation or if you could just show students something in real time.

For one-on-one meetings, Zoom provides synchronous communication with a personal touch. Online students get a sense of who you are, and you don't have to read and send multiple emails to sort out a question or an issue.

In an online class, it's easy for students to feel disconnected from their instructors. Providing virtual face-to-face interaction can help students feel more connected (see this article for example).

Hold online office hours using Zoom. Open your room, and message all of your students to let them know you're available to chat.

Schedule a weekly meeting just for students to drop in and ask questions. Vary the time by week so different students have an opportunity to participate. Record the session. Post the recording to your class afterwards to be viewed by students who couldn't attend the Zoom meeting.

By holding a weekly group session for your students, you can address the questions of several students at one time. Students who have questions but know they won't be able to make it can it send you their questions in advance. Record the session to make it available afterwards to students who weren't able to attend.

FERPA word of caution: If you are teaching different sections of the same course, it's better to invite students from each section to their own Zoom session. Students can expect to be seen and heard by students in their own section, and students can expect that they will not be seen and heard by students in another section.