Zoom is a formal communication app. It includes unique functions such as seminars or conferences to contact friends or to attend a class. Since the lockdown, most schools have resorted to using Zoom to continue classes online.
Zoom includes components that other conference call apps don’t. These elements make it easier for the education-based platform on Zoom to make classes more realistic for students and educators. These components have benefits for both pupils and teachers. We can share our screens on which we are working on not only for better understanding but also for teachers to correct and ensure we are doing our work. Annotation is another element that is used to draw or write on the screen for more visual learning. Students may also record the lecture and replay it in case of doubts or as a revision tool. Reactions are a distinctive feature from just regular calls, this aspect of Zoom allows you to react in the form of an emoji, this helps teachers understand if the students who do not use their microphone or camera understand.
Even though Zoom was created for more academic and strict purposes, there are some ways where we can have fun! From getting up just 10 minutes before school and wearing pyjamas in the classroom; snacking and laying in bed during lessons; using random pictures from the internet as virtual backgrounds.
Personally I think there are some disadvantages to online classes: such as people not muting their mics leading to muffled noises in the background and making it harder to listen to the teachers or replay the lesson; excuses like, “my mic isn’t working” or “my work got deleted” (which I may be guilty of using once or twice). Internet connection can be an obstacle if the teacher has a poor connection or there are too many people, even the chat element makes it hard to focus when new conversations about irrelevant topics persist.
To conclude, Zoom can be valuable to schools and has features that make it better than just any con-call, there are some downsides but most of them are personal and not because of the software, I think it is an excellent platform for us to work effectively and appropriately.