No Webcam, No Problem!
As millions of students across the globe transitioned to virtual learning at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many discovered their courses would require webcam access to track attendance. This decision isn’t wholly unwarranted. Schools and teachers likely worried that if they couldn’t visually verify their students were in class (akin to in-person attendance procedures), their students might not actually be present behind the computer screen. Despite these concerns, Online G3 has successfully operated online programs for kids without webcam requirements since opening over a decade ago. Our unconventional approach proves that webcams aren’t necessarily the key to effective online learning. In fact, webcams may even hinder student success.
Webcams are unnecessary
While some students may benefit from seeing the faces of their classmates and teachers, Online G3 webinars focus on slideshow presentations, interactive Nearpod activities, and quizzes/polls, all of which are accompanied by live teaching, questions and comments from other students, and a text chat for students who do not wish to use their microphones. Live video simply distracts from the plethora of engaging learning opportunities present in each 50-minute webinar. Each course also only meets once a week. Therefore, worrying about the technical complications behind video streaming– compounded by potential distractions that come with each student tuning in from wherever they are located– detracts from the already-limited webinar time.
Teens are self-conscious
Additionally, webcam requirements may cause or deepen student insecurities. Online G3 teaches primarily tweens and teens, who are growing quickly and likely already overly self-conscious about their appearances. Staring at oneself on a computer screen for hours on end is unnatural and can lead to “Zoom fatigue,” as explained in a recent study at Stanford. Online G3’s goal is to uplift and build confidence in gifted students, so requiring webcams could do the opposite of that very mission, and that is not a risk we are willing to take.
Online learning levels the playing field
The average course at Online G3 has an age span of four years, and students vary widely in gender identity, race, and self-expression. Diverse class populations are an integral component of Online G3, and students deserve to be comfortable sharing their impressive range of backgrounds and experiences through their ideas. Getting distracted over superficial visual differences might hinder the open discussions held in webinars, creating rifts between students and making some uncomfortable. In many ways, online learning levels the playing field– obscuring common factors in classroom biases, such as age, race, and gender. Webcams would bring these factors back to the forefront.
In many ways, online learning levels the playing field– obscuring common factors in classroom biases, such as age, race, and gender. Webcams would bring these factors back to the forefront.
Some students may need to fidget
Twice-exceptional students make up a significant portion of the G3 population. Some students may need to fidget, draw, or otherwise move around to better focus while learning in an online program setting. Others may need to remove all possible distractions to focus on the content. In a typical classroom, or even a virtual classroom with webcams, these two needs are often at odds. Rather than force students to sit still for a camera, Online G3 is built to accommodate a variety of learner needs to encourage high success and engagement. As such, students do not need to worry about distracting others on-screen– instead, we emphasize learning as much as possible in a method that best suits each student’s individual needs.
Student safety
Perhaps the greatest concern surrounding webcam requirements is safety. While student engagement is naturally at the heart of Online G3, that cannot happen without student safety at the forefront. Webcam privacy and safety have long been a concern as technology rapidly advances. As Norton Security, a renowned cybersecurity organization, asserts, cyberthreats can target webcams as easily as social media accounts, online banking, or similarly important online information. Wireless and built-in webcams can be easily operated by cybercriminals through a virus or by hacking a password. Although there are precautions one can take to safely operate a webcam, these precautions require research and technical know-how. Rather than put individual families at potential risk by requiring webcams, Online G3 prioritizes student safety by not requiring one at all. Feel free to put that low-tech tape over your student’s laptop webcam!
G3 Webinars are always recorded to allow students who may have missed (or simply wish to rewatch) a session to do so on their own timing. While G3 takes every possible precaution to protect these recordings with passwords on secure servers, anything shared online is potentially vulnerable to hacking. Just as we encourage students to protect their names, addresses, and other personal details online, we should also be encouraging them to safeguard their images. Webcams often capture more than a student’s face, too- background images can reveal locations and other members of a household. Potential cyberthreats combined with a lack of student privacy offer substantial security reasoning for Online G3 to offer webinars without video streaming.
Risks and benefits
Of course, webcam use during synchronous online programs can provide students with face-to-face socialization, which we know students crave. That said, the risks and detractors far outweigh any desire to include live video streaming during webinars. Online G3 doesn’t rely on visual confirmation students are present, but rather on the engagement and educational progress students display during each weekly meeting (in addition to the asynchronous forums and activities students participate in between said meetings). By excluding technology that may create negative complications for every course’s unique student population, focus can instead be put on students participating how they feel most comfortable. Each student has different requirements to learn at their best– so why rely on a technology that can hinder learning when students can instead be encouraged to create their own effective learning environment instead?
