Thread by @AlexSVenet, Someone asked me about requiring Zoom cameras to be on and I [...]

Someone asked me about requiring Zoom cameras to be on and I had a moment of clarity on a reframe that I thought I'd share

[thread]

Question: should teachers require students to have their zoom cameras on?

Short answer: No. [see resources at end of thread]

Long answer: Let's reframe the question...

Instead of asking "should I require my students' cameras to be on?" ask "how do I create a learning space where students feel safe and comfortable turning on their cameras? Where they want to see & be seen?"

Focus on creating a caring community where students can choose cameras on/off without shame or pressure. Where cameras on means connection, laughter, making funny faces at my friends, not where cameras on mean "my teacher can track my compliance and eye contact."

Create a caring community where students aren't worried about being judged for their surroundings, rather than putting your energy into mandating what those surroundings need to look like, what students need to be wearing, how they are sitting, whether they are eating.

In short: don't mandate cameras; do build community where students feel good about making that choice for themselves.

Resource 1: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/covid-19-videoclassism-implicit-bias-videojudgment-why-jackson/

COVID-19 and Videoclassism: Implicit Bias, Videojudgment, and Why I’m Terrified to Have You Look...

Just this week, I found myself leading an all-day webinar on antiracism for a group of over 100 Vermont educators. I was originally due to co-lead the session in person with the nation’s foremost...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/covid-19-videoclassism-implicit-bias-videojudgment-why-jackson/

Resource 2: https://www.linkedin.com/content-guest/article/cameras-damned-karen-costa/

Cameras Be Damned

Note: I talk and write about trauma, and when I do, I always remind people that reading and learning about trauma brings up difficult emotions. Trauma will be discussed in this piece: please leave or...

https://www.linkedin.com/content-guest/article/cameras-damned-karen-costa/

Resource 3: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/making-shapes-zoom-karen-costa/?published=t

Making Shapes in Zoom

As we gear up (did we ever gear down?) for fall semester to begin, it is increasingly clear that formal education will be relying more than ever on online teaching and learning, and within our online...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/making-shapes-zoom-karen-costa/?published=t

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