Relevant to: faculty, staff, and students
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Introduction
Meeting organizers are able to create Breakout Rooms, moving participants from the main meeting into separate rooms for small group work. This article reviews how to use the advanced communication and management settings available to the organizer during the meeting.
Please Note: Organizers are the only users who can create breakout rooms and must remain in one of the meeting’s rooms throughout the meeting when rooms are open. The organizer is the individual who created the original meeting, and this role cannot be re-assigned or switched to another.
Set how participants will be sent to rooms
Participants can be provided the choice to join or forced into Breakout rooms. By default, users are automatically moved to open rooms. To adjust that setting:
- Click the “more actions” icon at the top of the Breakout Rooms panel (ellipsis). A drop-down menu appears.
- Select the “Rooms settings” option.
- Check or uncheck the “Automatically move people into opened rooms” box.
- By checking the box, attendees see a countdown before being sent to the room.
- By unchecking the box, attendees see a pop-up asking if they want to Join or Deny the request.
- Please Note: Organizers can see who joined in the Breakout Rooms panel.
Add a Breakout Room after initial setup
- Click the “Add room” button in the Breakout Rooms panel. A new room will appear (closed by default).
- Assign participants to the new room (see “Switch or remove participants between Breakout Rooms”).
Delete a Breakout Room
- Click the “more options” icon (ellipsis) next to the room you want to delete.
- Select “Delete room” from the drop-down menu.
Switch or remove participants between Breakout Rooms
You can only move participants into breakout rooms from the main room. Close the current room before moving participants to another.
- Click the “more actions” icon next to the breakout room, a drop-down menu appears.
- Select “Close room”.
- Expand the participant list in the Breakout Rooms panel.
- Check the box next to the participant you want to move.
- Click the “more options” icon, then select the new room.
Recording in a Single Breakout Room
Organizers can start recording each room separately. There is no universal setting to record all rooms at once.
- Click the “more actions” icon in the room’s meeting toolbar.
- Select “Start recording”.
Please Note: Repeat these steps to stop recording or close the room to end recording.
Sharing and Accessing Files/Room Chat
Participants in a Breakout Room have a separate chat for sharing and accessing files.
Please Note: Files and messages shared in a Breakout Room are visible to the organizer and participants of that room. After closing, only the organizer can post to the chat; participants can view history but cannot add to it.
- Click the “Chat” icon in the Breakout Room’s meeting toolbar.
- Click the “Attach” icon (paperclip) below the chat box to select a file.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Click the Send icon to post the file.
What participants can and cannot do in a Breakout Room
Participants in a Breakout Room:
- Can share their screen and start a Whiteboard.
- Can start and stop a recording.
- Cannot invite additional participants.
- Will not see suggestions of people to join (only organizers can).
- Cannot get meeting details or dial out.
Recreate (Reset) Breakout Rooms
Restart the breakout rooms process to set up new rooms and assignments:
- Click the “more options” icon at the top of the Breakout Rooms panel.
- Select “Recreate rooms.”
- Follow your breakout room creation process to set up new rooms.
Re-open Breakout Rooms
Organizers can re-open Breakout Rooms. Participants who were previously in the room will regain access to the chat and shared files. New participants will only see chat and resources shared after they join.