Some reasons why I don't use a webcam in my lessons

Reason 1: Concentration

In my opinion, when you don’t see the person you are talking to you have to concentrate more. I believe that this helps the listening skills of my learners to develop much faster than if they were in a classroom. The only thing they see is the lesson materials and I’ve noticed that my learners pay much greater attention to what’s happening on the screen in front of them.

Reason 2: Privacy

When I’m teaching I really don’t need or want to see the environment that the learner is in and their every gesture. When we are seen and observed I believe that it affects the way we behave and interact with others. A person’s home is a private place for them where they should feel comfortable.

Reason 3: Call quality

Using video in a lesson has a negative effect on the quality of a call during a lesson. By eliminating unnecessary strain on bandwidth I ensure that my computer has enough bandwidth available for the call itself which ensures that the quality of the audio in the lesson is as good as it can possibly be.

Reason 4: Turn-taking

Teaching and learning in a voice only medium encourages both participants to be highly attentive to turn-taking and not talking over one another. To compensate for the lack of body language and other visual clues from another person, the voice medium fosters the development of greater patience in hearing another person and being responsive to what they have said.

Reason 5: Screen space

In my lessons, I want my learners to give their undivided attention to two things: my speaking and what they see on the screen. There simply isn’t any space or room available for extra elements like a video window.

Reason 6: Comfort

By learning in a voice only medium, my students feel more comfortable and relaxed because they are not under observation. It creates a safe space for communication which is especially good for lower level English users who can sometimes feel uneasy about their language production. Being seen by a teacher would I feel only add to student stress levels.

Reason 7: Teacher creativity

Teaching without a webcam encourages a teacher to be far more creative. If I want to explain the meaning of a word like ‘wave’ to a learner I can show that visually in a second via the webcam. But if I have to explain it by voice, I can challenge the learner to actually understand this word through a spoken explanation. Superficially this might sound like it’s more difficult but in reality it leads to a much greater development of listening skills on the part of the learner and greater creativity from the teacher.

Reason 8: Lack of interest

Over a six-year period, not one single person among the 260+ students I’ve worked with has ever insisted on using a webcam or enquired as to why we’re not using one. Conversely, I’ve heard lots of approval from learners regarding the fact that we’re not using one. My students just seem to get why it isn’t necessary especially once they start their lessons and realise that their learning environment is actually quite visually rich with lots of materials and pictures as well as the real time responses on the screen from me. Would the IELTS student I taught online who passed her exam with 8.5 have possibly got 9 because she could see my face and lips moving? I suspect not.

Conclusion

I’m yet to hear of any convincing reason as to why webcam use has to be a part of online language instruction but if anyone wanted to make a case for that then I’d be all ears. I suspect that the main reason webcam use is so common is that it’s because everybody else is doing it.

Tags: webcams