---
title: "Web conferencing Platforms at Seneca"
type: "article"
space: "The Teaching & Learning Centre"
author: "Ashley Ribbel"
created: 2021-05-26T16:04:03Z
updated: 2025-12-11T17:41:01Z
tags: ["educational-technology", "educational-technology-tools", "microsoft-teams", "ms-teams", "teaching-and-learning", "teaching-and-learning-centre", "web-conferencing", "web-conferencing-main", "whats-new", "zoom"]
url: "https://employees.senecapolytechnic.ca/spaces/39/the-teaching-learning-centre/articles/press-release/10852/web-conferencing-platforms-at-seneca"
---

# Web conferencing Platforms at Seneca

**Please note:** BigBlueButton will be unavailable after the winter 2025 term. To learn more, please read the [BigBlueButton FAQ.pdf](https://employees.senecapolytechnic.ca/spaces/39/the-teaching-learning-centre/files/22549/bigbluebutton-faq-pdf "BigBlueButton FAQ.pdf").

Seneca supports the following web conferencing tools: **Microsoft Teams**and **Zoom**. These tools can provide enterprise-level functionality for online teaching. They have been vetted by Seneca’s Educational Technology Advisory Committee, the Teaching & Learning Centre, and ITS and meet Seneca's requirements for accessibility, privacy, and cost.

Please remember to always use Seneca provisioned tools \(i.e., Learn@Seneca, OneDrive, SharePoint, Seneca email\) when collecting and/or storing student’s identifiable personal information. ITS support is available to faculty using Seneca provided tools.

The  tips can help create a smooth and trusting learning environment.

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## Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a Seneca sanctioned office collaboration tool. It is more than a video conferencing tool – it also allows for file sharing, asynchronous chat, and collaborative group work. It is not integrated with Learn@Seneca, so you and your students will have to access Microsoft Teams through its own application \(available for desktop, mobile, and via the web\). It can be used as a one stop shop for both out of class collaboration and virtual class meetings, or can be strictly for collaboration in addition to another tool for meeting. The important thing to note, especially if you’re coming from Collaborate Ultra, is that Teams is more than a virtual meeting platform. It is unrivalled for collaboration and has many functions outside of meetings. The increased functionality comes with more complexity and so the big question for you, as a faculty member, is how you might utilize these functions in a pedagogically valuable way that makes the additional complexity worth it for your class.

## Zoom

Zoom is a robust web-conferencing tool that is licensed for all faculty and students at Seneca. Zoom is integrated into Learn@Seneca, meaning students can access links to classes and recordings within their Learn@Seneca course. Breakout rooms in Zoom can be used to facilitate collaboration and groupwork. Polls can be used to get immediate feedback from students during class discussion. Faculty can pre-record and share a short lecture for students to watch for a flipped class model. Live class meetings can be recorded and saved to the cloud for students to review.

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## Resources to learn more about each tool

[Teaching with Microsoft Teams](https://employees.senecapolytechnic.ca/spaces/39/the-teaching-learning-centre/articles/press-release/10862/teaching-with-microsoft-teams "Teaching with Microsoft Teams")

[Teaching with Zoom](https://employees.senecapolytechnic.ca/spaces/39/the-teaching-learning-centre/articles/press-release/10860/teaching-with-zoom "Teaching with Zoom")

## Attachments

- [Zoom-webinars-March2025-1(1).png](https://employees.senecapolytechnic.ca/attachment?file=162cHfcrAkPxTgFojEGLqA%253D%253D)