Equity Concerns in Zoom

The Zoom Experience

Zoom provides an excellent opportunity to connect with students! And, we also need to be mindful that Zoom can also exacerbate existing inequities.

Students Have Different Levels of Familiarity with Zoom

To help students:

Don't assume every student has the same access to technology.
- Survey students to determine their needs—preferably at the very beginning of the semester.
- Provide a link for students needing hot spots, laptops, and disability resources.
Provide clear instructions for how to access Zoom from a range of devices (e.g., mobile phone, desktop.)
Offer Zoom practice sessions.
Help your students get help with Zoom:
- Your students can get help with Zoom from the Canvas Student Support Center.
- You should direct your deaf and hearing-impaired students to request aid from Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS).

Many Students Have Difficulty Connecting to Zoom Sessions

Some students may have difficulty connecting to live Zoom sessions, due to being in a different time zone or internet connectivity issues.

Record your class and make recordings available to students.
- Post your class recordings and include the automatically-generated transcript.
Incorporate asynchronous interactive learning opportunities. For example:
- Add discussion posts to your Canvas course to provide all students an opportunity to take part in discussions.
- For ideas, watch for live webinars from the Educational Technology Department or visit the Faculty Resource Center to find recorded webinars in the webinar archive.

Zoom Fatigue

Research indicates Zoom requires more focus and can be draining to participants, including you! Zoom fatigue may impact some individuals more than others. To help avoid Zoom fatigue:

Schedule 5-10 minute breaks.
Encourage students to stand up and move around during the breaks.
Add break-out room activities that encourage students to interact with each other.
Limit length of Zoom sessions.
Check in with students and ask about their needs.

Differential Access & Privacy

Students are likely to be joining your class from a range of learning spaces. Many students do not have a private, quiet place from which to access Zoom or may not feel comfortable sharing their space with their instructor and classmates. Many people may fear implicit bias because of their appearance, or have security concerns.

You should not expect students will have their cameras on.
- If a camera is necessary for instruction, clearly identify the essential nature of video for instruction and have a confidential "opt-out" mechanism that allows students to decline video participation (see online class cameras-on legal decision for more details.)
Allow students to mute microphones.
Normalize the use of virtual backgrounds.
Monitor the use of the chat function. This may be the only way some students can participate.
Be accommodating. We are in the midst of extreme times.
- Provide assurance that you are here to help students succeed. Follow up with action.
Make every student feel that they belong.