Summary

The article discusses the challenges and shortcomings of using Zoom for educational purposes during the pandemic.

Abstract

The teleconferencing software Zoom has experienced a surge in use due to the pandemic, particularly in the realm of education. Despite its features that mimic face-to-face interactions, such as video calls, screen sharing, and breakout rooms, the platform faces criticism for its impact on students' learning experiences. Issues include difficulty maintaining focus on a screen for extended periods, privacy concerns related to video participation, trust challenges due to the lack of in-person supervision, the monotony of prolonged sitting, and the loss of social interaction through chat, which is an integral part of the traditional school experience. The author expresses frustration with the situation, suggesting that conventional homework and assignments might be more effective, and acknowledges the complexity of finding a perfect solution.

Opinions

The author's personal experience with Zoom as a student has been unsatisfactory, citing several issues that hinder educational effectiveness.
There is a concern that screens, primarily used for entertainment, are not conducive to sustained educational focus.
The requirement for students to turn on video cameras raises privacy issues and practical difficulties for those with inadequate equipment.
Trust between students and teachers is strained, as remote learning environments make it easy for students to disengage without consequence.
The physical act of sitting for long periods during Zoom classes is seen as monotonous and detrimental to maintaining interest.
The inability to chat with peers during class, a common and comforting aspect of traditional schooling, is significantly limited on Zoom, negatively impacting the social dimension of learning.
The author is open to dialogue, inviting others to share their perspectives or disagree with the opinions expressed.

The Problem With Zoom

Over the past few months, the teleconference software Zoom has seen explosive growth because of, you know, the thing. Everyone is using it. Zoom is being used for conferences, meetings, interviews, university, and the one we will be addressing today, school.

School

School is a controversial topic of its own. “School kills creativity”, “Schools demonize mistakes”, we've heard them all. Everyone has something to say about the educational system.

Ultimately, no one has a solution. Some do benefit from school, while others might not. It’s almost unfeasible to identify what educational practices will work well for a child before trying the traditional ways. By that point, the parents are already bashing the minds behind the system for destroying their precious little treasure.

Point is, right now, school is the best option we have, some might disagree, but there are very few alternatives, and it's hard to say if they're doing a better job.

The school system has been working consistently for 150 years. Then it happened.

Zoom

Unless you've spent the entirety of the social distancing under a rock, you probably heard of Zoom. Just in case you haven't, Zoom Video Communications is a video conference software that allows you to invite or be invited to a video chat that can hold up to 100 participants. Zoom allows you to chat while seeing the other end of the conversation, unlike regular phone calls.

Zoom also has the option to mute yourself, turn off your camera, as well as giving the host the power to do so. The host of a meeting can break participants into breakup rooms, share screen, audio, and many other features that make the conference seem more like a real, face-to-face meetup.

The Problems With Zoom for Educating

Where to start? My personal experience as a student trying to study on zoom hasn't been great, to say the least. I will list what I believe are the main problems with the use of the software for educational purposes, these are my problems with it, others might not face these problems, or maybe have completely different issues.

Focusing on a Screen

The first issue that comes to mind is seating students in front of a screen for however many hours. Screens are problematic mostly because of how difficult it is for us to focus on a (quite boring) teacher for multiple hours. We’re used to using screens as a source of entertainment, so our standards for screen focus are quite high, because normally, if it isn’t continuously entertaining, we could just move on to something else.

The Video Dilemma

Another issue that arises with live online classes is the face cam video dilemma. The problem is that it’s hard for teachers to speak to black, empty boxes with name tags, but on the other side, some students would rather not give their computer access to their personal appearance. Also, some computers don’t have built-in cameras, forcing the student to use his phone which further deteriorates his learning experience due to screen size.

Trust

We’re at home, in our comfort zone, sitting in front of a computer. No one will know we’re doing something else during the lesson, so why not? Trust. The teachers are forced to trust us. Whether they like it or not. So they do, they trust us, but that isn't going to change anything. Occasions in which 30% percent of the class is actually paying attention are quite rare, because teens are teens, there’s nothing you can do about it.

The Sitting

Sitting is boring. That’s all there is to it. No one likes sitting for long periods of time. If we get up, we will most likely lose interest in whatever’s going on. If our cameras are on, it drives everyone nuts to see someone walk around in circles. It’s a problem.

Chat

Let’s be real, no one can survive school without chatting with a friend during class. That is taken away from us when studying through Zoom. Where I’m from, they disabled the private chat, but even with it, it’s not the same. Students like joking around about whatever is happening during the lesson, if we can’t even do that, what can we do?

Just to be clear, finding a better solution is hard, maybe close to impossible(definitely not), but I just needed to let this all out, because it really is that frustrating, especially when plain old homework and assignments would have done a better job in my opinion.

Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong, agree with me, all opinions are welcome. Let’s just hope this never needs to happen again.