By: Fiona Sweet
I want to give a big thanks to everyone who responded to my survey.
When creating the survey, I thought that I would get around 20 responses. Nothing too fancy, you know. But I got over 300 responses!!
This means that you guys really want your voices to be heard on this subject, which is awesome. So this article is a place to showcase your opinions on this. Feel free to comment below if you have any ideas that you feel I didn’t touch on. I know that I didn’t get to everything, because honestly, I didn’t want to write a 10-page paper and I know you don’t want to read a 10-page paper.
This is a question that I have heard discussed by students and teachers alike. So how does Montgomery High School feel about it?
The resounding answer seems to be a no.
My initial thought was that teachers would feel differently; after all, it must be difficult to speak to only black boxes on a computer screen. However, I was incorrect.
Out of the 13 teachers that did answer this question, only 5 stated that cameras should be required.
Here are their feelings on why:
“Required is a strong word and I know there are some very limited exceptions. I have no chance of knowing my students without seeing their faces. Even at that, it will be difficult to match faces to names if/when I see them in class. When I teach presentation skills, I tell my students that a great deal of communication is visual. Not seeing faces hinders communication. When I first started using zoom I didn't like having my camera on. I also hate getting my picture taken. Now, I honestly don't care. I forget that it's on. Really, it's a small thing to do and it demonstrates your willingness to connect to other people.”
“I think it is really hard to help students when we don't see who they are, what they are going through, I struggle with knowing if they are there at all, I also struggle with social cues - are they there and still thinking/working on "it" or have they just left? With saying this, I think cameras can be aimed at the work they are doing (notebook) or they can be only in partial view. I also think to require this, virtual backgrounds would need to be available and because they are not available to all students I have not made cameras a requirement (though I'd like to). I want to respect student's privacy but there should be a balance.”
“It is next to impossible to teach without seeing who is being taught. When I am in front of my students, I am scanning faces to see who understands, who does not, who is engaged and who is not paying attention. It’s shocking the number of times I see a student accidentally turn in their camera briefly to see they are actually in bed and quite obviously not in learning mode.”
Here are some of the opinions of teachers that said no:
“Technically, not every student accesses a zoom with video capable technology. Secondly (and more importantly), all education is an invitation to grow, and I feel students should be encouraged to build a classroom (zoom room?) community through face to face interaction, but not required to. Even in a classroom setting, students will disengage and just fill a seat; disengagement is nothing new. As a teacher, I feel less connection with all my classes and less effective at getting students to engage and think than at any other point in my career. This is something that I struggle with weekly, but it is not something that can be fixed, or even helped, by getting into a battle over requiring students to turn their camera on. True education can only occur when the student takes an active role in his/her own development as a learner. Everything a teacher does should support this development, and I don't see how forcing students to turn on their camera supports this idea. I can see a place for giving students an incentive (points in the grade) to turn cameras on for younger students (to help them develop good student habits). All of that being said, I feel that as a teacher my job is to make distance learning as meaningful and engaging as possible; to get my students thinking and using their brains, all at a level that stimulates and motivates them, without burning them out. This can happen with the camera on or off. (All that being said, it is really nice to see my students :))”
“I respect the fact that various students have various scenarios at home. My only hope is that more students would be willing to participate with video to help the entire class feel like an actual class community.”
“I think high school students should be able to make their own choices. They will mature by making good and poor choices. School is a safe place to make mistakes and learn from those. Hopefully by the time students graduate they are making better choices that will help them deal with where it counts, in the real world.”
So how did students feel about requiring Zoom cameras to be on?
Well, overall, I had 47 people respond that they should be required. Subtracting the five teachers, 42 students out of the 293 total student participants (aka 14.33%) felt that Zoom cameras should be required.
So, why?
I had multiple of these students respond that if Zoom cameras were required, it would be easier to skip class, with one student admitting that he had used his camera being off as an excuse to tune out. (I admire your honesty.)
I also got many responses talking about how weird it felt to be looking at a blank screen, and someone who raised the very good point that in real school, you are always being seen.
Here are some of the more succinct quotes I particularly enjoyed from students who said yes:
“I think it’s the best for all involved. I have had teachers express that it is much harder to teach to a blank grid. I understand that other students can have good reasons for why they cannot have their camera on and I think that should be respected as well but also should be communicated.”
“It’s just really awkward to be one of the only people with their camera on - especially in breakout rooms.”
“I think this is one of the easiest ways we can stay connected. I want to see my friends. I don’t care what they look like or the background of their room. If the school gave instructions on how you can do that screen background thing I feel like more students would turn their camera on because you can set it to a white background.”
And my personal favorite:
“It makes life a little more normal being able to see my classmates faces.”
I completely agree with that; seeing others’ faces whom you haven’t seen since March can be a huge breath of fresh air.
The thing that shocked me the most after receiving the results of this survey are how many people turn off their camera due to peer pressure. Look at all these responses:
“For my other classes I turn off my camera because everyone else has theirs turned off.”
“If no one has it on I turn it off.”
“No one else has theirs on.”
“It’s awkward sitting there like 🧍🏻♀️, when no one else is turning their camera on.”
Peer pressure, then, is a big reason as to why teachers are seeing a plethora of black boxes on their Zoom. Peer pressure and anxiety go hand in hand as well, and I had a multitude of responses attributing anxiety to the reason why their camera was off.
I only received a handful of responses that stated their camera was off to tune out. The answer I am hearing from all of this is that these kids are present and they are there; they are just worried about their background or how they look that day. They get anxiety.
Here are some quotes I particularly enjoyed from students who said no to requiring Zoom cameras:
“It mainly depends on how the students feel because mental health is way more important than work. Plus many people live with others, so showcasing to your class your family member without permissions is kind of weird. Also, some students have anxiety which doesn’t allow them to have the strength to show their faces because of insecurities.”
“I understand teachers think students are not paying attention while having cameras off, but I like having my camera off just because it makes me feel more comfortable.”
“You never know what students are going through at home. If teachers want us to have our cameras they should say something like I would really appreciate it if you turned it on and that got some students in my class to do it. It also depends on the class because in all my honors class the cameras are on, students are motivated to learn because it’s a higher class. So it’s a tough concept but I say no.”
“I think a lot of students have a lot of things going on at home. I know a lot of kids also share a room with siblings or family members, so I think it’s a little unfair to make kids put their camera on because it could be inconvenient or weird for them. Students also have jobs or have to travel a lot, and they may feel uncomfortable turning their cameras on and having everyone see what they’re doing. That could be prevented by turning their camera off and just simply listening to the class.”
I know that this survey definitely suffers from Social Desirability Bias; that is, students possibly crafted their answers to look more socially acceptable to teachers. But, I think that my findings still mostly ring true.
The big takeaway here is that communication is key. The teachers of Montgomery High School are incredibly understanding, and I believe that the way to fix this miscommunication is by reaching out to your teachers via email or text and letting them know what’s going on. They are here to teach you, and they deserve to know why your camera is off in their class. Offer them enough respect to do this because they have given you enough respect to turn it off in the first place.
And please, think about how you would feel if you had to hold classes every other week day talking to a bunch of black squares. I think it would be rather lonely.
I myself cannot answer the question one way or another, because I believe both opinions are extremely valid.
So to end, I felt that we should look to how others in the United States are feeling about this conundrum.
I have looked at many different news articles, and people seem to agree that Zoom Cameras should NOT be required in classes. There was a particular article that I felt hit most of the major points and those were these:
If you are presenting or it becomes needed to see your body language (in a performing arts course like choir, for example), turning your Zoom camera on is most likely the best way to go. Otherwise, it seems incredibly disrespectful and your teacher cannot check to make sure you are actually performing to the best of your ability.
It is extremely disheartening to teachers to talk to a bunch of black boxes for however long their class period runs. Many classes run on class discussion, and when the discussion is only filled with dark space, nothing really happens.
However, Zoom cameras being on require students to show their surroundings. (And yes, I know that Zoom backgrounds can work, but they are often a little off the mark.) This is an issue for those who are insecure about their background.
As this author put it, “Online is different. Everyone can see you.” This is extremely true. In a traditional classroom setting, desks are set up in rows and only the teacher can see all of his/her students at once. On Zoom, if you have your camera on, everyone can see you all the time. Even worse, with the way that a screen works, you can never tell when someone is looking at you. This can be a serious problem for those with self-confidence issues.
This wasn’t in the article, but I know it’s a big problem for many students. Home lives can be metaphorically and physically messy, and showing everyone your business can be difficult. If you have to take care of a younger sibling, or have other things going on, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to have your camera off.
So.. there you have it! Have a great weekend and stay safe Vikes!
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