Opinion | Turn on your cameras
Angelina Hicks, Politics Editor
Two days a week, I wake up at 8:30 a.m. and stare at black squares displaying names on Google Meet, silently begging for any of the boxes to light up and emit a small, brief vocal response. If I’m lucky, maybe one of the black boxes will morph into the image of a student sitting at a desk, ready to learn, ask questions and engage in class.
But more likely than not, I’m stuck staring at darkness.
For a few weeks, I’ve been tutoring local high school students in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. It’s been entirely remote, which I’ve enjoyed for safety and convenience reasons. I’ve had a good time getting to know some of the students, helping them with their schoolwork and answering any questions they have about college.
The only problem is that out of around 35 students, only six actually turn on their cameras — and that’s on a good day. Half of them are always muted, even when I ask a direct question, sticking to responding in the chat or simply ignoring me.
In my Chapman classes, professors have been begging students to turn their cameras on during class time for almost a year now. From what I’ve seen in my lectures, not a lot of students like doing so. To be fair, I really haven’t been turning mine on much either. I knew it was probably hard on the teachers to do the job they love without seeing anyone’s faces, but it didn’t bother me enough to turn mine on — until I started experiencing the exact same thing.
Students, start turning on your cameras in class.
When I’m tutoring, the AVID teacher usually puts me into breakout rooms with a handful of students so they can ask me questions and go over any material they’re struggling with. After 15 minutes, usually no questions are asked and my feeble attempts at small talk result in one or two brief comments from students.
No one should be forced to turn their camera on. But seriously, if you aren’t otherwise occupied, why not just do it?
Talking to absolutely no one when you’re trying to teach sucks. I can’t even imagine how teachers and professors have felt while in class this past year; I only experience it for a few hours a week, and it still gets to me. It’s exhausting trying to encourage student participation when it’s clear that that’s the last thing they want.
When students stay muted with their cameras off for the entirety of the class, I’m left wondering what they’re doing in response to my attempts to encourage participation. Are they asleep? Are they laughing at me? Are they taking Snapchat videos of me to send to their friends with antagonistic captions? I literally have no idea, and that’s the upsetting part.
One of my professors not only asks his students to keep their cameras on at all times, but he also wants us to remain unmuted for the entire three-hour class. I know, at first I was skeptical. But, by remaining unmuted, it encourages more class engagement. I’ve experienced it myself. I feel more confident to speak in class knowing I don’t have to unmute. That aside, I enjoy classes a million times more when I can see my fellow student peers’ faces, and I know the professors appreciate it too.
Keeping your camera on isn’t hard. It’s a small effort to make for the overall improvement of the class. Let me challenge you. For a full week, keep your camera on during every class, meeting or event and see how much more you enjoy it. I know your professor will.