Cameras on? Cameras off?
And there it is, yet another of the same question. Should students be required to have their cameras on during class instruction?
This question must go around at least once a month. Often when schools are entering online learning, going into some form of hybrid learning, or when teachers are trying to manage their online classes after a long period of time. It is the same question over and over. Should we require students to have their cameras on during online learning?
Here is a very real question, if the student doesn’t have their camera on and it is a school rule, who will enforce the rule?
This dramatically changes the argument doesn’t it? If there is a rule, and no one will actually enforce it if the student is reported, then, it is not a rule. More to the point, who cares? If the administration or district has created a rule they themselves will not enforce, then, there is no rule.
Back to the question though. Should students be required to have their cameras on while they are in online learning? That is an important question and one that is playing out very poorly in the media and frankly the court of public opinion. I don’t know the research based answer for this question. I don’t know if someone has done the studies on academic engagement with a camera on versus off. I don’t know that it matters. In fact, I think we are asking the wrong question.
Do your students trust their learning environment enough to turn their camera on and allow you into their home? That is a significant and important question.
There are very practical reasons why students would not want their cameras on during online learning. Video eats up bandwidth in homes where there may be multiple devices online. The home may not have good bandwidth and the tech issues could be significant if all the devices are on.
What about the student who does not have a home? What if they live in a car? Or a shelter? Maybe they have to go to a coffee shop to access the wifi just to go to school. What if the home is place they are embarrassed to share? These are very real issues.
Do they trust the educators and class enough to allow them inside their home? Will the educators call the police or child protective services on the family for something that is observed? What if a parent walks past smoking marijuana? What if the child has a firearm stored safely in the background? What if there is alcohol use? Or something perceived as violence? Will the student want the educator and class to see that happen in the background while trying to get educated? Will the student trust the educator enough not to have the police called to their home based on a judgmental viewpoint of the observer?
These are not made-up issues. Some of these have made headline news in areas where educators have called child protective services for things that were seen in the home through the screen. It is exactly these actions that make our students question the trust and safety of the classroom and those in attendance. How can we make our spaces safe for the students we teach?
In a recent meeting, one of our esteemed teachers shared the importance of continuing to treat these students as though they are here. His words, “we greet them at the door with a handshake, how do we do that online in our classes?” Such a great statement and thought. We greet our students at the door and say hello to build trust and rapport. Online, we let them into a meeting. What can we do in our meetings to establish the same rapport and trust? What can we do to mimic the connection with our student in the online environment?
This staff member suggested sharing jokes, asking questions of the students, or asking them to share a fun image. These can be prepped in advance for the next day or for later in the class period. Anything we can do to engage our students and connect them online. The connection is not just with us, but with the class. For example, today, I tried using breakout rooms with grade one to three students and played rock, paper, scissors. They laughed and giggled at the experience. They shared that they had never used breakout rooms before and it was weird. But they had fun and connected. They had also done some throwing and catching in class so at the end, they used their stuffed animals to say goodbye. It was a bit strange, but they all connected and shared something important.
As we are teaching online, we are asking the wrong questions. We are trying to recreate the classroom environment online. Exactly as it was in our classroom and we can not do that. We need to create a new environment where our students feel safe to share and connect. We need to create an environment where they trust us and the community.
If we continue to ask questions such as, should they have cameras on, then we continue to ask the wrong questions. I look forward to hearing your experiences of building community in your online classroom.
