Here we discuss the pros and cons of establishing a cameras-on norm in an online learning environment.
As classrooms have adapted an online format in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, professors have been forced to make a decision concerning the teaching of their classes – should they mandate their students to leave their cameras on for their online classes? Or should they rather allow them the freedom to turn them off if they desire? Here we explore some of the pros and cons of both scenarios.
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Pros
Professors benefit from receiving nonverbal cues from their students and this adds to the classroom environment. These cues help increase the professor’s awareness of their students’ understanding of the material, which can increase the effectiveness of their teaching and of the class. Additionally, professors do not want to be delivering their lectures to a black screen online any more than you want to be taking a class online, and turning on your camera could be the most basic form of online respect that you could give to them for their hard work.
Student reasons for turning their cameras are not turning off their cameras for the reasons that were generally expected - such as lack of private environment or self consciousness about their home environment
According to a survey conducted by Professors Castelli and Sarvavy who were on the hunt to find out about why their students kept turning off their cameras during classtime, 41% of the students who opted to turn off their camera during classtime were concerned about their appearance. This could be counteracted by enacting a cameras-on norm for class, and students would be more likely to put effort into their appearance ahead of time.
Real time face-to-face work, even in an online setting, could help to counteract some of the loneliness and isolation that students are feeling as an effect of the pandemic. Cameras on encourage students building friendships and increasing the classroom environment.
“Psychological stress has been found to be highest among young adults between the ages of 18-29, adults in households with low income, and Hispanic adults...”
Cons
Students might lack a personal space or dislike showing their home environment. In the Castelli and Saravy survey, minorities were “twice as likely to be concerned about their homes being visible and 12 percentage points more likely to cite a weak internet connection.” By having a cameras-on norm, a professor could unintentionally put these students in an uncomfortable position.
The pandemic has led to an increase in anxiety and depression among already stressed college students. In a 2020 study, researchers showed that anxiety and depression rates have significantly increased over the pandemic time. Not only this, but psychological stress has been found to be highest among young adults between the ages of 18-29, adults in households with low income, and Hispanic adults. A mandate to turn on cameras on in the name of school work could add more stress to those already suffering the most in terms of mental health as a compounding result of the pandemic in the first place.