Hey, I don’t know who needs to read this but... Your online class can be an engaging, positive, empowering community of students learning even if they don’t turn their cameras on.

I found the first few weeks of teaching to be really hard when students had their cameras off because so much of my checking for understanding was through visual cues. But I soon realized my desire for cameras was more about ME than it was about my students.

Especially after I talked to students about why they had their cameras off—everything from WiFi connectivity issues, feeling anxious on camera, not being comfortable with others seeing their home or family members, finding looking at themselves distracting, and more.

So I adapted. I needed to think of other ways to check for understanding than using cameras—we use the chat box A LOT, we use the reactions, we unmute ourselves and chat, we talk it out in breakout rooms as I go from room to room and check in. It all works.

And believe it or not, students are still becoming friends, they are still collaborating and communicating with each other, they are present and engaging with the material. I know we feel like we have to see each other’s faces to do these things, but it’s not true?

Take it from me who has a lot of Internet friends who I have never chatted with face-to-face and we still have had great conversations, learned a lot together, laughed, and connected.

You can have every single student in your classroom have their camera on and that doesn’t mean they are learning and that doesn’t mean you have a stronger classroom community, it just means they have their cameras on. That’s it.

TLDR: using cameras as a way to measure student success or engagement is both classist and ableist. You don’t need to force students to have cameras on to ensure learning or connection is happening. And you can be still an amazing teacher even if you’re the only camera!