“Does anybody want to answer this question?”
Silence. Five, ten, fifteen, thirty seconds pass. The teacher stares nervously at their screen, asking, pleading, begging for a savior—for a student to unmute themselves and explain the answer to the simple question. After a full minute passes, the dejected teacher stares into a screen full of colorful avatars: a cartoon bulldog, Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, baby Yoda, bitmojis, and of course, the dreaded default letters. Overcome by awkwardness, the teacher reluctantly says the answer, but their despondent heart longs for some reprieve.
Unfortunately, similar scenarios have come to dominate the virtual classroom. The challenging conditions of online learning have led to a drastic decrease in participation, which forces teachers into the position of not only instructors, but facilitators of all classroom interaction, in a classroom that is not physically there for them to command. Therefore, it is paramount that students take responsibility for their classroom environment where it cannot be naturally formed. Teachers are already forced to work harder than ever before, as they have to cater to two different groups of students at once, redevelop their curriculum to fit the constraints of hybrid/online learning, and moderate a classroom where their reach is extremely limited. As such, it becomes nearly impossible for a teacher to create a productive class environment without student proactivity.
The simplest way for students to lighten the burden of the teachers and make the classroom environment more productive is to turn on their cameras. According to survey data collected by the IHS Student Representatives to the Board of Education, out of 164 respondents only 14 percent of students always keep their cameras on during class, while a further 48 percent responded that they keep their cameras on “for some classes.” In addition, 27 percent of respondents said they keep their cameras on only when a significant portion of the class has their camera on, and 14 percent responded that they never have their cameras on. While to an adult it may seem a no-brainer, there are a multitude of reasons students tend to keep their camera off. Fifty-three percent of respondents to the survey cited being “uncomfortable showing their face” as a reason they keep their cameras off. Another 39 percent of students cited that other people not turning on their cameras as a reason for keeping their cameras off. This is completely understandable, as it is easy to feel vulnerable when someone is one of only three or four faces on the screen. However, much of the awkwardness that comes with keeping one’s camera on would dissipate if a larger portion of the class did the same.
However, there are other reasons that students keep their cameras off that are not so easily fixed. Twenty-seven percent of respondents cited anxiety or panic as the reason they keep their cameras off. For some, being visible to the class in Google Meet triggers high levels of anxiety and panic, leading the student down a spiral of anxiety that greatly reduces their ability to participate and focus. Moreover, 27 percent of students responded that keeping their cameras on in Google Meet slows down their Chromebooks to the point of dysfunction, forcing them to either keep their cameras off or use an agonizingly slow, lagging computer for the duration of class.
Google Meet also offers a convenient solution for those who share a workspace with family members or other people who are moving around in the background. In the most recent Meet update, we now have the ability to blur our backgrounds or even choose a green-screen style picture background. Unfortunately, this may slow down some people’s computers, but is nevertheless a decent option. With all of these factors in mind, mandating that students keep their cameras on would be inequitable. There are some situations in which cameras being off is inconsequential such as when doing work or independently watching a video. Yet, it is vital that students who are able keep their cameras on as much as they can-especially during periods of discussion and instruction both for the sake of their teachers’ sanity and for the benefit of the classroom environment.
Hand in hand with keeping one’s camera on comes verbal participation. In many classes, only a few people (often the same few people who keep their cameras on) participate voluntarily. Teachers then have to figure out how to encourage participation. To increase participation, some teachers have introduced participation as a grade, while others have adopted cold calling. However, these things can be anxiety-inducing for students, and many teachers choose to do neither, meaning that when students don’t participate voluntarily, everyone loses. In addition to meager participation in class, silent break-out rooms are also prevalent. In break-out rooms, it is even more important that participation and conversation be initiated, yet without the teacher, the responsibility must be picked up by the students in order for the time taken out of the class to be productive. While the use of the chat may seem easier, verbal participation should be prioritized, as, similar to the use of cameras, the more people verbally participate, the more comfortable people become with participating and the better the classroom environment becomes.
It certainly seems that online learning is here to stay, whether we like it or not. Thus, it is crucial that we treat it not as a placeholder, but rather as our primary method of education for the foreseeable future. We, as IHS students, should do all that we can to make our online learning environment as productive as can be, and aid each other and our teachers in making the online classroom a place that feels like a real classroom.