Preassigning Breakout rooms

Breakout rooms can be used for collaborative or group work during Zoom meetings. Pre-assigning these breakout rooms can save time during the Zoom meeting such that participants are automatically sorted into the appropriate rooms without further action from the host. 

Note that breakout rooms pre-assignment can only be done through the Zoom web application. Pre-assigned breakout rooms cannot be set up on D2L. Breakout rooms can be created by editing the scheduled meeting made on zoom D2L.

1. Sign into your UCalgary zoom account using  ucalgary.zoom.us and click on Meetings on the right-hand pane. 

2. Click on the course meeting created on zoom D2L. 

3. Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Edit this Meeting. 

4. Click on All to edit all recurring meetings. 

5. Scroll down to Meeting Options and check the Breakout Room pre-assign and click on Create Rooms option. 

6. A new window opens up. 

1. Add as many rooms as you want (maximum of 50 rooms). 
2. Scroll through all rooms created and Add Participants. Use the University of Calgary email address of students to add them into the breakout rooms. 
3. Use the import from CSV option to add pre-created groups through a CSV file. 
4. Click on Save when done. 

7. (Optional) Use these options to edit your breakout rooms and participants: 

1. Click and drag a participant’s email address to change the order. 
2. Hover over a participant’s name to see options where you can move them to another room or remove them from the current room. 
3. To delete a breakout room, hover over the room name in the left panel and click the trash bin icon.  

* IMPORTANT NOTE TO HOSTS & PARTICIPANTS – Pre-requisites & Limitations:

In order for a student or participant to be pre-assigned to a breakout room and be able to join it successfully, they will need to sign up for a UCalgary licensed Zoom account and log in preferrably using the Zoom desktop client. For further information, please see https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360032752671-Pre-assigning-participants-to-breakout-rooms

As the host, you may want to consider enabling the “Require authentication to join” option for the meeting as that will prompt the user to enter their UCalgary IT credentials and increase the likelihood that they are logged in to the session as the pre-assigned individual rather than a guest. (Note: Most Continuing Education students do not have UCalgary IT credentials.)