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There's a big debate in education right now about whether students should have cameras on or off during class sessions. A colleague posted an article yesterday, for example, that said asking kids to turn on their cameras makes them relive up past traumas.
I don't get it. If that brings up past traumas, what about asking a student to do a presentation? To do any sort of performance in class? A literary discussion?
What sort of studies have been done about using cameras in virtual learning? Why are we assuming so much? ...
What sort of studies have been done about using cameras in virtual learning? Why are we assuming so much? ...
I honestly think a lot of this "if you ask students to turn on their cameras, you are a bad teacher" rhetoric is virtue signaling.
Now, of course, teachers should certainly be reasonable, caring, and flexible... but that goes for everything....
Now, of course, teachers should certainly be reasonable, caring, and flexible... but that goes for everything....
... Using my earlier example, if a student was too traumatized to present to class during "regular times," I certainly wouldn't force them, and would determine a solution with them...
... But I also believe that the isolation that comes with quarantine is real and if we're worried about the socialization of our young people, being able to see peers and teacher is important for mental health.
In the spring, engagement while cameras were off was low. Cold-calling students often revealed that they were doing other things (watching TV, playing video games). And it's contagious: a few students have cameras off and then it becomes everyone.
Now, teachers should CERTAINLY be reasonable and flexible. I don't want any teacher saying, "You're required to have your camera on all the time or you fail." But earnestly asking kids in a non-confrontational way to have them on should be no big deal...
... And if a kid doesn't want to, investigate it and figure it out with them... There are a lot of solutions teachers can help students find if they are shy: zoom backgrounds, finding a blank wall, etc. And, heck, that solution might be keeping camera off most of time.
But the answer isn't to say "whatever, they must have some trauma." That's some white saviour stuff, imagining that you're the only stability in a student's life and imagining every kid lives in dire straits and can't turn on a camera because turning on a camera is traumatic...
I will certainly follow any directives by the district or the school about how to handle this, but I don't think it's evil or unreasonable to ask kids to have it on, and to send a private message if they're worried or don't want to have it on.
And I don't think villainizing teachers (who know how frustrating it was to teach students with screens off doing other activities; who know students don't always make choices that make the most sense for their education), who ask students to turn their cameras on is justified.
Kids will meet expectations and they will largely be reasonable. This is a tough time for everyone and human connection is important. There shouldn't be rigidity towards students or towards teachers about what to do with cameras.
