TikTokers In College Are Turning On Their Cams In Zoom Lectures So Professors Won’t Have To Teach To Blank Screens
In recent months, it has become evident that TikTok is no longer a social media platform that’s full of content that has absolutely no value. Not that this should be the main purpose of social media per se, but it definitely benefits from having some more of it.
TikTok has been receiving a lot of hate for being that one social media platform that’s full of nothing but dancing and internet personalities. But there has been a rise in educational content, as per Lindsay Fleming, Bill Nye, and the National Down Syndrome Society, as well as more wholesome content, like today’s story of students turning on their cameras in Zoom.
So, TikTok now has a new trend—believe it or not, a more wholesome one that helps teachers
@madisonnoellemorani genuinely feel bad for teachers/professors. it must get so lonely sometimes. they’re really trying, ya know? ##zoom ##msu ##michiganstate♬ original sound – Darren Troy
Madison Morani posted a video where she turns on her camera in a Zoom lecture
Image credits: madisonnoellemoran
So, a new trend has been rising among the TikTok community. Since TikTok is primarily a young people’s platform, it is normal to see many of them still in school. And, as you may know, the coronavirus is still a thing, meaning that many are attending classes over the internet.
And as it turns out, it is often the case that the teachers are the only ones with their camera on. Well, in light of this, a number of TikTokers started posting videos of how they are turning on their cameras so that the teachers and professors won’t feel lonely and to make classes more human, given that everyone’s urged to keep a distance.
She does so because her teacher is practically staring at a bunch of black squares on Zoom
Image credits: madisonnoellemoran
Image credits: madisonnoellemoran
Madison Moran, a Michigan State Uni sophomore, was one of the first to kick off this trend. She started off her academic year online and noticed how none of her classmates had turned on their cameras in any of the Zoom classes.
About a quarter of an hour into one of her lectures, she decided to brave it and to turn on her camera. As soon as she did, one little live face popped up in a sea of black boxes and various Zoom avatars. Soon after, you can see how her professor’s face starts shining bright with a smile.
So, as soon as she turned on her camera…
Image credits: madisonnoellemoran
… she saw how happy the teacher was by such a small gesture
Image credits: madisonnoellemoran
“At least if she sees one face, she can communicate with someone and not feel like she’s just talking to a blank screen,” she told Insider.
And such a small action has led to some very positive results. Moran continued to say that just turning on her own camera changed the tone of the classroom. This simple action encouraged other students to join in on the camera fun and the number grew to around 10 people who always turn on their cameras. Besides this, they have become more engaged in the class, and the teacher has been laughing more.
Another video popped up where a teacher was explaining why having the camera on is important
@arianadaneshmand##zoom ##fyp♬ original sound – Darren Troy
Image credits: arianadaneshmand
In the middle of his explanation, one student turned on her camera, which made him super happy
Image credits: arianadaneshmand
Another video also popped up by arianadaneshmand of a teacher explaining that Zoom classes with everyone off-camera become a bit of an emotional burden as the teacher doesn’t get enough face-to-face interaction. Right as he says it, a student turns on her camera, and the teacher immediately smiles and compliments the student on her sweater and for choosing a good school.
In yet another video, TikToker itsmadimay shows how her forestry class has just 8 students out of 21—usually the case there, and none turn on their cameras. So, a double blow to the professor. Seeing that, she mustered up her courage and turned on her camera to keep the professor company.
Yet another video surfaced of this, one by Madi May who was super nervous to do so
@itsmadimayonline school is also difficult for professors. let them know you care. 🌷💚 ##fyp ##school ##class ##zoom ##forestry ##treatpeoplewithkindness♬ original sound – madi
Image credits: itsmadimay
She really loves the class and the professor, but rarely do students show up, let alone with a camera on
Image credits: itsmadimay
Now, this might sound amazing and all, but some argue that there may be a serious reason why students don’t turn on their cameras. Perhaps the students don’t want to show off where or how they live; others might not be comfortable being on camera when a prankster classmate decides to crop out their face and do something bad with it. So, teachers ought not to be pushy about it, but merely encourage students.
Image credits: itsmadimay
In this particular instance, there were only 8 students out of 21, which you can guess would make any teacher sad
Image credits: itsmadimay
This soon went viral, with all of the above mentioned videos collectively garnering 11.3 million views and over 2.4 million likes, as well as thousands upon thousands of shares. The trends also started making headlines online.
Image credits: itsmadimay
So, she turned on her camera to keep the teacher company
Image credits: itsmadimay
What are your thoughts on this? Do you turn on your camera for Zoom classes? Let us know in the comment section below!
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Is it just me or isn't this just common courtesy? Seems like we, as society, have to be rewarded for basic decency.....
One of the least common things is common courtesy.
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I'm somewhat surprised that this is "news." In a lot of my classes, we have to turn our cameras on when we speak.
I am teaching high school remote right now. I understand why students don't always want to turn the camera on - their background may be less-than-ideal in more poverty-stricken households, pets are now in the screen to distract other students (who can blame them? - I even get distracted by cuteness), they have to move in/out of the camera area to care for younger siblings, if they forget to turn off their mic - there have ben interesting background conversations and noises, then there's the whole idea of taking the time to be presentable to a camera. I think it's fine to let the grades determine who was really present and who wasn't. My ego as a teacher is not so fragile to be upset by the lack of camera faces.
THANK YOU from a college instructor here. I miss their faces in the face-to-face classes....of course I do! But their at-home privacy is FAR MORE important than my ego or my loneliness. If some of them turn their cameras on, I am delighted. but I never ask them to.
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She turned her camera on for her classes? OMG she's so brave and compassionate and should become the next Greta Thunberg. Should we name schools after her or simply change Michigan St. to Madison St.?
What the...? Are you crazy? No need for such mean sarcasm.... OBVIOUSLY we HAVE TO name the country after her! We'll call it: The United states of Madison! I know I'm ordering a T-shirt that says USM on it!
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As someone who teaches using Zoom, I leave this up to the students. After all, they ought to do what they consider best for their learning experince. Yet I have to say that it helps tremendously to have at least a few turn on the cameras. Besides the personal touch – the feeling of doing something that matters to at least one listener – the cues you get from mimics and body language are invaluable. Of course it is still not the same thing as in class, but reading basic signs like "you are talking too slow" or "I do not understand" usually become obvious even from those small video boxes.
I'm a teacher, and I can tell you it makes a world of difference seeing my students (and hearing their voices). After a day or two without seing my students... it's horrible. I *love* to teach, and most want my students to succeed, but I have had the worst "imposter syndrome" I've felt in over a decade of teaching. ..... also, I won't ever force my students to share. In their own ways, they're inviting me into their homes and that can be vulnerable for them.
It can be distracting for a student to see others in the class on video, and maybe not everyone wants to be videoed. Sometimes, if everone has their video on, then instead of thinking about the lecture, students are looking at Louisa's overweight mom who just came into her room, or what Jess is eating, or Amy's childish wallpaper, or the fact that Oliver has a bunch of dirty dishes behind him in an old-fashioned kitchen. It can be tough being a teenager; especially when turning on your camera may mean that someone is recording you and you'll later get roasted by your peers and indeed strangers online. Yes it's tough to teach to blank screens, but we can surely sympathise with the fact that not everyone has an awesome home life they want broadcasting over the internet.
Turning on your camera counts as a grade in some areas. It's for participation. Because for all you know everybody is watching Pornhub.
I actually agree. What's special about turning on your camera in a virtual school? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? This is dumb
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considering that all tiktok is is people filming themselves, it doesn't seem like such a stretch that she turned her camera on.
A wholesome TikTok trend... maybe humanity isn’t all bad, after all...
so... stuff that the majority of students around the world does anyways... how "brave" of the ticktockers... ridiculous
Ok, I'm really sorry if this comes across as rude, but why are simple things that this student is doing becoming so popular and "heroic"? It's just a not-as-cowardly cowardly student (again, sorry if this seems mean. I meant no offense).
And I thought that this is absolutely normal in the lectures...
Here we talk about (home) privacy - no one can force you shouldn't expect from you to stream your face online. Especially when we talk about students under 18. What courtesy are you talking about here?! On top of that, turning on the video camera reduces the quality of the call. All those calls with turned on cameras and shared screen are nightmare.
My teacher makes us so he knows if we are Evan on the app or if we are there and stuff like that
I understand some people are shy, embarrassed, or literally can't turn on their camera but some people do it for no reason. Every meeting I have with my teachers, I always turn on my camera, even if I literally just woke up and haven't changed or brushed my hair. In some classes, people have to have their cameras on but people still refuse to. It can be more convenient and you can also see if people are paying attention and participating but I know some people have a lot going on in the background.
Provided network is good enough to handle that... Most people keep cameras off not to mess up connection
I'm a teacher, and having 28 students and me turning on their videos in our TEAMS lesson would end in an internet connection so slow that communication would not be possible. So, I'm fine with them, switching off their video camera.
In my college, if your camera is off, you aren't present, meaning your attendance/participation score that day is 0
Our teachers require cameras on or our participation grades go down ;-;
During Zoom classes, students need to have their cameras on at our school to ensure they are not messing about. Seems like common courtesy. Also, muting oneself in case of noise.
i always had my camera on, I loved talking with my teachers, I was normally the only one who stayed on to talk with them. I am now currently in traditional school and I still talk to them.. from a distance of course
Our school makes it mandatory to turn on your camera, so there has been some pretty embarrassing moments in our classes both video and microphone wise.
How is this brave? Its the basic requirement. The same as im not brave when I brush my teeth.
Not always true, I recently stopped turning mine on because I've been experiencing a bit during my home life that and I'm a tad sleep deprived. I don't want anyone to see that. But I see your point.
Load More Replies... Is it just me or isn't this just common courtesy? Seems like we, as society, have to be rewarded for basic decency.....
One of the least common things is common courtesy.
Load More Replies... I'm somewhat surprised that this is "news." In a lot of my classes, we have to turn our cameras on when we speak.
I am teaching high school remote right now. I understand why students don't always want to turn the camera on - their background may be less-than-ideal in more poverty-stricken households, pets are now in the screen to distract other students (who can blame them? - I even get distracted by cuteness), they have to move in/out of the camera area to care for younger siblings, if they forget to turn off their mic - there have ben interesting background conversations and noises, then there's the whole idea of taking the time to be presentable to a camera. I think it's fine to let the grades determine who was really present and who wasn't. My ego as a teacher is not so fragile to be upset by the lack of camera faces.
THANK YOU from a college instructor here. I miss their faces in the face-to-face classes....of course I do! But their at-home privacy is FAR MORE important than my ego or my loneliness. If some of them turn their cameras on, I am delighted. but I never ask them to.
Load More Replies... She turned her camera on for her classes? OMG she's so brave and compassionate and should become the next Greta Thunberg. Should we name schools after her or simply change Michigan St. to Madison St.?
What the...? Are you crazy? No need for such mean sarcasm.... OBVIOUSLY we HAVE TO name the country after her! We'll call it: The United states of Madison! I know I'm ordering a T-shirt that says USM on it!
Load More Replies... As someone who teaches using Zoom, I leave this up to the students. After all, they ought to do what they consider best for their learning experince. Yet I have to say that it helps tremendously to have at least a few turn on the cameras. Besides the personal touch – the feeling of doing something that matters to at least one listener – the cues you get from mimics and body language are invaluable. Of course it is still not the same thing as in class, but reading basic signs like "you are talking too slow" or "I do not understand" usually become obvious even from those small video boxes.
I'm a teacher, and I can tell you it makes a world of difference seeing my students (and hearing their voices). After a day or two without seing my students... it's horrible. I *love* to teach, and most want my students to succeed, but I have had the worst "imposter syndrome" I've felt in over a decade of teaching. ..... also, I won't ever force my students to share. In their own ways, they're inviting me into their homes and that can be vulnerable for them.
It can be distracting for a student to see others in the class on video, and maybe not everyone wants to be videoed. Sometimes, if everone has their video on, then instead of thinking about the lecture, students are looking at Louisa's overweight mom who just came into her room, or what Jess is eating, or Amy's childish wallpaper, or the fact that Oliver has a bunch of dirty dishes behind him in an old-fashioned kitchen. It can be tough being a teenager; especially when turning on your camera may mean that someone is recording you and you'll later get roasted by your peers and indeed strangers online. Yes it's tough to teach to blank screens, but we can surely sympathise with the fact that not everyone has an awesome home life they want broadcasting over the internet.
Turning on your camera counts as a grade in some areas. It's for participation. Because for all you know everybody is watching Pornhub.
I actually agree. What's special about turning on your camera in a virtual school? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? This is dumb
Load More Replies... considering that all tiktok is is people filming themselves, it doesn't seem like such a stretch that she turned her camera on.
A wholesome TikTok trend... maybe humanity isn’t all bad, after all...
so... stuff that the majority of students around the world does anyways... how "brave" of the ticktockers... ridiculous
Ok, I'm really sorry if this comes across as rude, but why are simple things that this student is doing becoming so popular and "heroic"? It's just a not-as-cowardly cowardly student (again, sorry if this seems mean. I meant no offense).
And I thought that this is absolutely normal in the lectures...
Here we talk about (home) privacy - no one can force you shouldn't expect from you to stream your face online. Especially when we talk about students under 18. What courtesy are you talking about here?! On top of that, turning on the video camera reduces the quality of the call. All those calls with turned on cameras and shared screen are nightmare.
My teacher makes us so he knows if we are Evan on the app or if we are there and stuff like that
I understand some people are shy, embarrassed, or literally can't turn on their camera but some people do it for no reason. Every meeting I have with my teachers, I always turn on my camera, even if I literally just woke up and haven't changed or brushed my hair. In some classes, people have to have their cameras on but people still refuse to. It can be more convenient and you can also see if people are paying attention and participating but I know some people have a lot going on in the background.
Provided network is good enough to handle that... Most people keep cameras off not to mess up connection
I'm a teacher, and having 28 students and me turning on their videos in our TEAMS lesson would end in an internet connection so slow that communication would not be possible. So, I'm fine with them, switching off their video camera.
In my college, if your camera is off, you aren't present, meaning your attendance/participation score that day is 0
Our teachers require cameras on or our participation grades go down ;-;
During Zoom classes, students need to have their cameras on at our school to ensure they are not messing about. Seems like common courtesy. Also, muting oneself in case of noise.
i always had my camera on, I loved talking with my teachers, I was normally the only one who stayed on to talk with them. I am now currently in traditional school and I still talk to them.. from a distance of course
Our school makes it mandatory to turn on your camera, so there has been some pretty embarrassing moments in our classes both video and microphone wise.
How is this brave? Its the basic requirement. The same as im not brave when I brush my teeth.
Not always true, I recently stopped turning mine on because I've been experiencing a bit during my home life that and I'm a tad sleep deprived. I don't want anyone to see that. But I see your point.
Load More Replies...
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