WE LIVE IN ZOOM NOW
WHY DON'T STUDENTS TURN ON THE CAMERA IN VIRTUAL CLASSES AND TEACHERS DO IT
(used on E. Goffman's "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life")
Perception
WE LIVE IN ZOOM NOW. Zoom, Skype and other services have taken over our daily lives - including job interviews, business meetings, dinner parties and dates and we are wondering why we turn on the camera while we're talking to a friend or loved one, but don't when we're studying?
[1] The New York Times
[1] The New York Times
More often than not, I'm not in the position I would like people to see me in.
Student
«Presenting yourself to others in everyday life»
Years before Covid-19 pandemic and Zoom Goffman said it was in the individual's interest to give an impression of a particular kind to others. The individual will intentionally or unwittingly express himself in a particular way. Someone gives as much information about himself as he sees fit, turning off the web camera or working against a background (Chroma key), and the other gives himself away involuntarily:
Erving Goffman
(11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born sociologist , social psychologist , and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century".
To be honest, if I turn on the camera, all I do is staring at me, so to avoid distractions, my camera is always off.
Student
We try showing our viewer our best self and idealize our image, if we can't do it, we just don't show anything. In real life, this is much more difficult, we cannot put a 'black square' on our imperfect, in our opinion, face. We can't hide our emotions just by typing a text without expressing them through intonation. We can't avoid social contacts, we have to do it on a daily basis. Everything is much simpler on the web– you don't turn on the camera and no one sees your "imperfect" face, you type a text, picking yourself up, and no one understands how angry you are, you miss out an online lesson and watch recorded lectures, and now you don't need to interact face-to-face
I often do not turn on the camera because I am uncomfortable (I am shy) or because I woke up and did not have time to put myself in order. And it also happens that there is no mood to talk to someone, and even more so to be in plain sight (I want to hide).
Student
Foreground
Working from home, we are forced to immerse outsiders are present in the home environment. Not everyone is ready for this.
According to Goffman, in self-presentation theory, there is a "front". We may take the term 'front' to refer to the items that we most intimately identify with the performer himself, involving furniture, decor, the expressive equipment of a standard kind employed by the individual during his performance, how the role is carried out. Although we choose the 'fronts' ourselves, they provide others with a lot of information about us and form a collective picture of us. We may control the impression that others might make of us by turning on/off the camera:
According to Goffman, in self-presentation theory, there is a "front". We may take the term 'front' to refer to the items that we most intimately identify with the performer himself, involving furniture, decor, the expressive equipment of a standard kind employed by the individual during his performance, how the role is carried out. Although we choose the 'fronts' ourselves, they provide others with a lot of information about us and form a collective picture of us. We may control the impression that others might make of us by turning on/off the camera:
I don't want people to see my living room in the background.
Student
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Sometimes I look bad or my living room is not cleaned.
I don't turn on the camera because it's a homely atmosphere. Relatives and friends might get into the frame.
Student
Dramatic realization
Dramatic realization — the individual spends a lot of effort to show his best self.
Energy and time are very important for students, so in order not to spend a lot of effort on presenting themselves in a different light as they would like to appear, they just do not turn on the camera.
Energy and time are very important for students, so in order not to spend a lot of effort on presenting themselves in a different light as they would like to appear, they just do not turn on the camera.
If your webcam is on so you are forced to sit in front of your computer for hours, however you could turn the volume up and do household chores.
Student
Expressive control
It is important for each of us to maintain expressive control so as not to look ridiculous and stupid, and not give people the opportunity to criticize us, mock us. The home environment relaxes us. We control ourselves when we go out, but in our abode we are free to do what we want and how we want. We maintain expressive control in public places, controlling our speech, behavior and gestures, while at home we keep expressive control by turning off the camera.
I don't turn on the camera in online classes: I feel uncomfortable when I am physically on camera, and everybody's looking at me. I can't sneeze or make a face, for example.
Student
I do not want to be taken screenshots of me.
Student
Teams
Teams - set of individuals who co-operate in staging a single routine may be referred to as a team.
It is much easier to feel like a team and interact if we come in contact with other people in person. Being at a distance makes it much more difficult to create a "team" from a disparate group of people; moreover, it makes you feel that you are not members of the same team.
It is much easier to feel like a team and interact if we come in contact with other people in person. Being at a distance makes it much more difficult to create a "team" from a disparate group of people; moreover, it makes you feel that you are not members of the same team.
Being on a video call requires more focus, I'm very aware of being watched. If everyone was on the camera, I would feel more comfortable.
Student
Among other things, do not forget about common problems with the quality and speed of Internet connection. Many respondents were less than satisfied with video communication. According to them "screen freezes"," there's a weird echo". If the teacher has a camera on, out of the blue, the connection fails. By the time you re-join, the conversation has moved on. If everyone is turning on their cameras, then it will not be possible to acquire information because the internet will just fails.
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I'm sharing my smartphone's internet connection so my laptop froze.
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The slow internet connection does not conducive to the full processing of information.
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I have a poor Internet connection.
And some of us just forget or don't see the point.
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There's no sense in that, because it only distracts us and teachers, makes communication unstable, and, moreover, chained you to the computer for the whole day.
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We rarely need to turn on the camera, only once a week in English lessons. So I forget to do it.
What about the teachers?
As one of my teachers told me:
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A teacher is the face of the university.
According to Goffmann's assumptions we could say the teachers play their parts as teachers.
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I turn on the camera so that students can understand what I say and how I respond to their actions/ questions. In addition, seeing the articulation of a person giving a lecture, it is easier to catch some words or phrases if, for example, the sound was not loud enough.
Moreover, the teacher who plays a communicator's role relies on the experience of previous people. Turning on the camera is required for teachers because of certain criteria of behavior and even the rules of the virtual interactions openness dictate to them.
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This is a situation of public communication, open two-way communication. He is a moderator and does not have the right to hide his face.
Idealization
The performance of the role is adjusted to the expectations of society. Students need a teacher. The teacher needs attention from students, to create a sense of open relationship. Based on offline classes' experience, teacher the teacher has the same appeal to the students as in the classroom.
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If you want to convey something to the audience, if you want to win people over, if you want to show your openness and interest in them, readiness for dialogue - you turn on the camera during the zoom conference.
Teacher need to create feeling of live communication. If the teacher turns off the camera, the team won't work. We will be a disparate group of people who don't relate to each other in any way.
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I turn on the screen demonstration to show the presentation, when all the material is shown, I switch to myself to give the impression of live communication.
While teacher fulfill his role, students learn the information in a convenient way. And when the teacher forces you to turn on the camera, isn't even motivate you, it makes you feel uncomfortable.
Based on my own experience, I can say that it really makes no sense if you turn on video communication at lectures, because this makes online connection worse, it distracts us, distracts teachers. However, if it comes to seminars or roundtable discussions, the student plays the role of a teacher and begins to think like a teacher. This is a regular phenomenon of role substitution as speaker wants to take attention from whole audience.
This will continue endlessly. With a loved one, friend or relative, we are much more comfortable at home, we don't need to perform any roles, and we are ready to immerse them in our home again, turning on the camera during the call. However, I have never had a cup of tea with none of my teachers at home, discussing urgent matters.
We will continue to hide our face behind a black screen, so as not to show too much to audience.
Teachers will continue to interact with us through online lessons.
Because everyone fulfills his own role.
We will continue to hide our face behind a black screen, so as not to show too much to audience.
Teachers will continue to interact with us through online lessons.
Because everyone fulfills his own role.
© 2020
Bondar Nastya
Bondar Nastya
