With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, many students found themselves taking classes for several months from home. And that has made platforms like Zoom part of the vocabulary of millions of students around the world.
With the new school year in hand, the idea is that normalcy is restored and students can return to school. However, Zoom does not stop delivering good news and improving its service.
This week Zoom announced a new feature called “Focus Mode.” As the name implies, this is a feature that teachers can activate to help students be more attentive.
This new “Focus Mode” allows teachers to view student videos and be seen. What changes is the fact that students only see the teacher’s video, not the other participants in the class.
This feature promises to keep the teacher in control, but prevents students from being distracted by the videos of their peers. Furthermore, it is also intended to help them not to feel embarrassed to turn on the camera as they will only be seen by the teacher.
In addition to classes, this novelty promises to help in meetings or conferences where minimal distraction is desired. And the functionality seems to be available to any user (even those using the free version).
This seems to be a really cool feature in an online classroom setting. Teachers will be grateful for the increased attention and students most reluctant to turn on the camera will not have as many reservations about it.
