


This adjustment has not been easy for anyone, and is especially difficult for teachers to teach while staring at a sea of black boxes. Teachers are accustomed to the traditional classroom and seeing students in person, walking around the classroom and being able to talk to students one-on-one. However, participants often experience issues accessing the material, making these websites inadequate replacements for teachers to see students’ advancement.Ĭonsidering the lack of student engagement during class discussions, enabling cameras would be an important backup for teachers to see if students understand lessons when apps like Nearpod fail, as they can view their facial expressions.įinally, online classes are as new and uncomfortable for teachers as they are for students. These sites allow teachers to ask questions, which students answer through typed responses. By utilizing websites like Nearpod or Padlet, many teachers have found alternative ways to gauge student progress without requiring cameras. There is no guarantee that students are actively paying attention in class or even in front of their computer, unless they enable their cameras or participate during class discussions-which very few do.Īdditionally, during classes, teachers need to be able to monitor student engagement and understanding. In this virtual setting, where students have the ability to keep their cameras off, they are marked present solely for joining the meeting. For the remainder of time, they instruct their lesson and occasionally ask the class questions, often being met with long periods of silence. In most online classes, teachers take attendance while students are entering the meeting. In order to ensure student presence and to improve student engagement and understanding, MCPS should permit teachers to require that students activate their cameras during meetings.

During the first weeks of online school, many RHS teachers requested that all students keep their Zoom cameras on during class, prompting concerns over student privacy.
