Apparently as of September 1, Zoom will no longer work in China without a VPN. Something about local restrictions. The only solution is to ask my students (who I teach privately) to buy a paid subscription to Zoom, which I am obviously not going to do. Wtf.
I tried using Voov, but my student said they can’t access the classroom because I have an international version of the program that won’t connect with the Chinese version. I’m at a loss. I need a screen share function to show them the slides from the separate curriculum I’ve purchased.
My student’s dad said Microsoft Teams has worked for his company, but it wasn’t great. That’s my only back up right now. Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
UPDATE: It’s been a year since I made this post! I’ve been teaching with Voov with no issues. I had some trouble with screen share at first on Mac, but I was able to find the right software version eventually that allowed me to do it.
If you came here by google, you can find the solution to the original problem in this comment:
Have you tried WeChat? I know there is a video function. Unfortunately I’ve not used it to sure my screen, so I don’t have full knowledge of the product.
A lot of students know how to use a vpn, now might be the time for them to practice unfortunately.
I use Classin. There’s a free version that allows 20 classes per month. Any more than that, the company charges. Classin is a Chinese platform so operating in China isn’t a problem, at least for now.
The Zoom of China is Tencent Meeting 腾讯会议. However, I’m not sure if there is an option to change it to English.
Also, can I have a source on Zoom being blocked? I use Zoom to teach online every day, from China too, and it’s been working great, like it always has.
I´ve been using VooV for my private Chinese students succesfully for the past 2 years. It definitely works! I think what went wrong is you sent the full meeting URL to your student, instead of simply the Meeting ID number.
Then they can download the Tencent Meeting app on their side (It´s exactly the same software, it´s called VooV outside China but it´s called Tencent Meeting in China).
The Chinese name is: 腾讯会议.
It is exactly the same app. You don´t need to send them a meeting URL or anything else (I suspect you sent the web meeting URL to your student; they don´t need that, they just need to download the app directly on their device, and then join your class using the Meeting ID you gave them. It´s super easy for them because it´s a very common Chinese app and they can all download it from their Playstore (equivalent) in China.
(So first you schedule/create a meeting, you will be assigned a meeting ID number, and that´s all they need! Then they click on ´Join a meeting´ and enter the Meeting ID code you gave them. I keep the same Meeting ID for each student, and just schedule recurring meetings (so they don´t need a new meeting ID each time). It works very well. The other options are ClassIn, or KoalaGo (which apparently works well in China too). But I like VooV because it´s free and easy, and pretty simple like Zoom.
Tell them to use Zoom otherwise they will not get to the course. Your students will find a way to use Zoom. VPN is not hard to get in China. Also you could go to download Voov’s Chinese version, Tencent meetings.
Has VooV become a nightmare for anyone else recently? I’ve been using it for a couple years without any trouble and as of the last month it makes my computer a laggy mess when I try to navigate google or share screens while using the app. If I end the class and exit out of the app, my computer runs fine again.
I’m gonna trying using a VPN to get Tencent meeting I think, at least as a back up. Possibly the only person ever to VPN into China instead of out of it but
Also re sources — this is the weirdest thing. Google brought up forum posts from April 2023 onward about this particular error code (error 13215) when I searched it last Friday. I found one post with 17 replies about this error code coming up since September 1, which is when it started for me. But as of yesterday, every post on the official zoom forum that I was watching for updates has been deleted. It’s weird as hell.
I am guessing that Zoom has been working with Chinese users via a legal loophole, since the software was technically banned a few years ago. I know they can’t start meetings, but being able to join them seems like a loophole that zoom might wanna keep quiet. That’s my partner’s theory… He works in a legally sensitive field that has to deal with international regulations for their websites, and he said it looked like Zoom might have run afoul in some way and now needs to cover their tracks.
But who knows. Maybe it’s a fluke. But it’s ALL my students, and I have a paid account, nothing has changed there.
I did have one student who managed to connect to our usual classroom today. I’m hoping this means the error was a fluke… but I know his Dad is really into American culture (he requested we read a book on Barack Obama in class) so I suspect he was able to get a VPN working. We had no issues.
Weird to hear your zoom is working fine. What area(s) do your students live in? Mine are mostly around Shanghai and Nanjing. It might be a regional thing?
This is so, so helpful! I can’t thank you enough! Hopefully this will solve the problem! I never would have realized the link is the problem, and every result that came up when I tried searching it made it sound like it was a firewall thing. You’re my hero!
I used to teach with vipkid. They stopped allowing foreign teachers a few years ago, but some of my students stayed on for private lessons. I hear vipkid is hiring foreign teachers again though so it might be worth checking them out.
