This page explains how instructors announce the online class URL (the URL of web conference rooms such as Zoom) to students.
Faculty members used to announce the online class URLs to their students differently, which had caused confusion. It was hence decided to unify the announcement method among all faculty members. The “Guideline for Using Online Tools for AY2021S Semester Classes” was also established following the decision.
Below is the announcement method based on the aforementioned guideline. Your cooperation to adopt the specified method is kindly appreciated.
For students, please refer to “How to Obtain the Online Class URL (for Students)”.
Important Rule: Use the UTOL’s “Online course information” section
- Add/edit the online class URL only on the UTOL course page and only under the “Online course information” section. (Example of an UTOL course page)
- Please note that only entering the URL will not create a link. Click the
icon on the “Online Course Update” screen and bring up the “Create Link” screen to complete the link creation process. - It is helpful to input the meeting ID and passcode along with the online class URL, so that students can also easily join from applications on tablets.
- Please note that only entering the URL will not create a link. Click the
- Avoid adding the online class URL to sections other than the “Online course information” (do not add URL to sections such as “Information”, “Forums”, etc.) for the following reasons:
- In students’ UTOL, the “Online course information” section appears as a column in their list of registered classes. By adding the online class URL to the “Online course information” section, students can check the online class URL by just looking through the list and not having to open each course page.
- Information added to the “Online course information” section is automatically synchronized to the “UTokyo Online Class Search (UTAS Lite2, UTIL Lite)”. By adding the online class URL to the “Online course information” section, students will also be able to see the online class URL in “UTokyo Online Class Search”.
The procedure to add the online class URL in UTOL is as follows.
How to Add the Online Class URL in UTOL
- Demo Video (Captions in Japanese only)
- For details of the procedure, please check the page “Setting up courses in UTOL (for lecturers / TAs)”.
Supplementary Information: Announcing the Online Class URL using Systems other than UTOL
UTAS
UTAS has its own “Online Class URL” and “Online Class Information” section, where you can add your online class URL and other related information. However, these sections may be left blank since students are informed that the UTOL course page is basically where they should check any online class-related information.
If you wish to fill in these sections, it is suggested that you fill them with the UTOL course page URL. By clicking this URL, students can easily locate the corresponding UTOL course page. (It is recommended that you add the UTOL course page URL instead of the online class URL in these sections. By adding the course page URL, you can, for example, avoid having to manually update both the UTOL and UTAS pages when you change the online class URL during the semester.)
Please also remember NOT to add your online class URL to sections in UTAS other than “Online Class URL” or “Online Class Information”. Information added to the other sections are fed into the “UTokyo Online Course Catalogue”, which is open to the public. While we do our best to avoid leaking sensitive information to the public, please help ensure that online class URLs are safe.
”UTokyo Online Class Search (UTAS Lite2, UTIL Lite)”
The “UTokyo Online Class Search (UTAS Lite2, UTIL Lite)” is a system mainly used by students to obtain online class URLs when it is difficult to access UTOL or UTAS. Information added to UTOL’s “Online course information” section and to UTAS’s “Online Class URL” and “Online Class Information” sections are automatically added to this system. There is no need for faculty members to add/edit the online class URL in this system.
Changing the Online Class URL
It is NOT recommended to change the online class URL for every class you hold or change the URL multiple times during a semester. Keeping the online class URL unchanged helps avoid confusion and reduces the possibility of students missing their class.
Related Pages
- “How to Obtain the Online Class URL (for Students)”: The student’s page on online class URL announcement
- “Restricting Access to Zoom Meeting Rooms for Online Classes”: A page explaining when and how to restrict meeting room access to UTokyo members only when scheduling a Zoom meeting.