If you require your students to have their cameras on in a Zoom class, you aren’t alone. Many instructors equate seeing their students on Zoom with engagement. The thinking is: if I can see you, you must be paying attention. The truth is, being on camera does not mean your student is engaged. All it means is that there is a person sitting in front of a camera. There are plenty of reasons why your students may wish to keep their camera off. One of the best articles on why people don’t like to be on camera comes from Fast Company. In addition to the now well known “Zoom fatigue,” the article points out the stress of having to sit still in front of a camera for class after class causes a great deal of anxiety. Add to this the lack of privacy, connection issues, and the fact that your student may be sharing space or even the device with another person, may have you rethink your video requirement.
So how can you ensure student engagement when you can’t even see them? Lots of ways! This great info graphic will help you decide if cameras are really needed in your class (in case you are still on the fence about it) and give you some great options. We’ll get deeper into these options in our next few posts.
