Filters, Captions, and Other Zoom Features You Might Have Missed

A few weeks ago I published an article in which I mentioned that Zoom didn't have a native transcription or captioning feature. Within minutes of hitting publish on that article, people emailed me to point out that I was wrong. I'm thankful for that because it opened my eyes to a feature that I was overlooking because it's buried in the settings of my Zoom account. That's an example of how tools like Zoom are constantly evolving. 

Another feature of Zoom that I recently started using, and discovered quite by accident, is filters and frames. These let you place fun borders around yourself during your Zoom meetings. These can also be used to virtually place things like party hats on your head. 

In this short video I demonstrate how to enable captions, frames, and filters in Zoom meetings. 

Applications for Education

The captions and transcripts in Zoom make it easier than ever to make your online instruction accessible to more students. Previously, you needed either a third party service or someone to type captions for you during Zoom meetings. 

The frames and filters are fun to use, but aren't a significant update in the way that automatic captioning is. That said, after a long week of teaching online it can be fun to let students play with the filters and frames to break-up the usual routine of a Zoom class. My students liked using them on Friday.