Panopto or Zoom: Which should you use for teaching online?
Zoom and Panopto allow you to create recordings of online meetings, but they have different strengths and meet different needs for online work and teaching.
Using Zoom for synchronous remote teaching activities
Zoom is a multi-party, video conferencing application that allows you to meet with students online when you cannot meet in-person. It is best suited for interactive discussions and can be used for one-on-one meetings such as office hours, small classes, and even large classes. Instructors can share the Zoom recordings via a direct link or upload to Panopto.
Using Panopto to upload, record, edit, and manage teaching videos
Panopto is a video management solution available through Canvas. The tools are best suited for pre-recorded lectures, flipped classroom, or live webcasts. Instructors can use Panopto to record themselves and/or their screens and easily share the recording back out to students through announcements, assignment/quiz instructions, discussion posts, and pages in modules.
Review the feature comparison below to determine how and where to best use each tool. Both tools are available at no cost to faculty, students, and staff.
Learn more about Panopto and Zoom.
Feature / Tool | Zoom | Panopto |
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Join by phone | Yes | No |
Interactive discussions |
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Easy sharing of recordings | Zoom recordings stored in the cloud are available to meeting participants in their Previous Meetings. |
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Playback features |
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Display control |
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User view |
| Users can view two screens. By default, the main screen (PC/Mac), but users can choose which source is larger, or display a full screen of one source. |
Chat | Each user can post a question or comment during the meeting to everyone in the meeting or to an individual participant. This chat conversation can be saved to the local computer when the meeting ends. |
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Assessment use | No |
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Breakout rooms | Yes, meeting host can create. | No |
Mobile friendly | Yes. Download the Zoom mobile app. | Yes. Panopto is available via mobile browser or app. |
Recording lifespan |
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Students can schedule and start study sessions | Yes, students can use free Zoom license. | No |
Analytics | Only for Administrators. | Yes, each video has analytic report for Creators. |
Page updated 2/01/2023