"Now you see me, now you don't": why students avoid turning on their cameras in synchronous online lessons?

ABSTRACT

One of the phenomena that lecturers who switched to online distance learning during COVID-19 reported is the refusal of students to turn on their cameras during online classes. This study aimed to examine the factors that predict the opening of cameras in class. The study examined this issue regarding three types of predictors: resistance factors, learning environment factors, and personal factors. The population included 205 students from higher education institutions in Israel who studied online during the COVID-19 period. Data were collected using an online questionnaire and analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings show that camera opening among students during academic classes is indeed relatively low and only partial. The study also revealed four rejection factors to turning on cameras and personal characteristics, such as gender and self-image, that predict students’ rate of turning on cameras. However, the more the lecturers demanded to open cameras, the higher the students’ responsiveness, and the smaller the classroom, the greater the willingness to turn on cameras. Finally, the findings may help lecturers better understand the students’ perspectives of camera use in online classes and develop effective strategies to increase turning on cameras by students.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education students
• synchronous learning
• online learning
• webcams

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hagit Meishar-Tal

Dr. Hagit Meishar-Tal is a senior lecturer at Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) and a former head of Instructional technologies department in this institute. Her research fields focus the socio-spatial processes that reshape society in the digital age. She investigates the impact of adoption of digital technologies on education practices, teaching and learning, especially in higher education settings. Her publications include studies on distance and online learning, mobile learning, learning with SNS, online collaborative learning, and digital parenting.

Alona Forkosh-Baruch

Prof. Alona Forkosh-Baruch is associate professor and head of the International Department at Levinsky College of Education, and researcher at Tel-Aviv University, both in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Her research fields focus on the intersection between Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), society and education and teacher education. She specifically focuses on new literacies in the knowledge society and their implications on innovating pedagogical practices using technology in K-12 education and teacher education, pedagogical reasoning in teacher education, and teaching and learning in the digital era and its implications. Her academic résumé is widely acknowledged, portraying international ties for research and development.