Camera Use in the Online Classroom: Students’ and Educators’ Perspectives

Abstract

The global pandemic created by COVID-19 altered the landscape of education, creating the need for flexible methods of teaching and learning and a reliance on technology that many educators and students were not prepared for. Educators adapted their instructional methods to include shifts in pedagogy and the use of remote, hybrid, and flipped classrooms. Despite the additional preparation time, educators found themselves grappling with questions about creating inclusive communities for learners, decisions about how to meaningfully incorporate technology, and how to support student engagement. Without the presence of clear research and guidance, decisions such as whether students should be mandated to enable their cameras during class manifested. Educators were challenged to balance their obligations to assess learning with concerns about increasing equity gaps, access issues, and systemic challenges that are disproportionately experienced by marginalized learners. In an educational environment where video conferencing has become the norm, understanding how requiring camera use is experienced by students and educators and its role in supporting the classroom community is paramount. This study focused on students’ and educators’ perspectives of camera use in the classroom. Findings revealed that educators and students made sense of the utility of cameras, mandating camera use and their role in developing classroom communities differently. Students generally expressed their capacity to decide for themselves when camera use supported versus hindered their participation and appreciated practicing their agency. Educators generally understood camera use as central and necessary to building classroom community and assessing student involvement, participation, and understanding of class content.

Tacit Knowledge in the Online Classroom: High School Teacher Perspectives in the Wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…The teachers in the present study cited many difficulties in getting their students to stay engaged in their classes, especially difficulties in accountability, participation, and the completion of work when cameras were not in use. Some of the present teachers noted that these struggles could have been alleviated, at least slightly, if students had turned their cameras on, which is consistent with the literature noting that decreased camera use in the virtual classroom can lead to the perception of a less enriching educational experience (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021;Williams & Pica-Smith, 2022). Specifically,…”

“…However, many of the teachers in the present study noted that they were unable to mandate camera use in their classrooms citing privacy and mental health concerns. This is also a consistent finding throughout the literature, noting that students that were mandated to turn on their cameras reported increased feelings of being watched, self-consciousness, and overall discomfort (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021;Reich, Buttimer, Coleman, Colewell, Faruqi, & Larke, 2020;Williams & Pica-Smith, 2022). The literature as well as the present findings also highlight feelings of student discomfort over the lack of privacy that the use of the cameras in virtual classrooms can bring as the act of turning on the camera functions as an invitation for other students and faculty to enter a student's personal space (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021;Williams & Pica-Smith, 2022).…”

“…These concerns were not specific to the group of interviewed teachers and other pandemic literature cited similar concerns (Castelli & Sarvary, 2021;Williams and Pica-Smith, 2022).…”

Online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: Mixed methods analysis of student views by demographic group

“…Amidst these mixed findings, students often feel they should make decisions about turning on their camera ( Williams & Pica-Smith, 2022 ). On the other hand, teachers feel a heightened sense of responsibility for their students’ success and, when cameras remain off, they frequently experience the sensation of “teaching into the void” (p. 39).…”