Asking Students to Turn On Their Web Cameras

Showing faces:

• Creates a sense of connection and accountability.
• Fosters community and enhances presence.
• Is required to build engagement and trust.
• Simulates in-person instruction. Students have to show their faces in class.
• Makes it easy to identify students by name especially in large-enrollment classes.
• Gallery view or the "Brady Bunch view" makes everyone visible to each other at the same time. May help to break perceived power differential.

Consider:

• The digital equity gap for example limited bandwidth, internet access, and no camera on older laptops.
• Invasion of privacy. Students can see other students' faces all the time.
• Self-consciousness is also an issue.
• The stimulation of staring into faces at close range can be exhausting.
• The element of video overshooting; students do not want to show their surroundings.
• Concerns about FERPA-protected information.

Please consider the following recommendations:

• Establish expectations for turning on cameras early on, and explain why.
• Set norms for synchronous meetings and the use of video cameras.
• Turning video cameras on should not be mandatory.
• Have short conferences to have face-to-face with students. Encourage, but do not insist on the use of video camera for discussions, virtual office hours, and consultations.
• You may ask students to make themselves visible if they are asking/responding to a question; otherwise, use chat.
• In larger classes, some professors tell students to turn their camers off during lectures.