Got Zoom fatigue? That’s what many Clemson students, faculty and staff are saying after having to rely so heavily on the videoconferencing technology during the fall semester.
In the midst of the pandemic, people everywhere have had to adapt to a new format of working online. Often, people find themselves more exhausted after a day of working at home than they had been while commuting. This exhaustion with online platforms has been prevalent in educational spaces, especially college campuses.
Julie Newman-Biggers, Clemson University’s director of career development, averages five hours on Zoom every day. When it comes to conducting meetings or planning events, she finds that it “takes a lot of energy to try to read people’s facial cues.” It is often possible to misread these cues and cause more confusion. Unfortunately, this is a continuing problem with online platforms that is hard to rectify.
Tina LeMay, a creative director at the university’s Student Affairs Publications, primarily attends university-related meetings online. This creates the obstacle of consecutive meetings with little to no breaks.
“It is brutal to go from one right to another,” said LeMay. With about three and a half hours each day on Zoom, LeMay finds it helpful to schedule meetings with periodic breaks in between.
Clemson’s Associate Director of Online Development, Lori Kinley, has been instrumental in helping the university transition into online learning. She has worked with professors who are not confident in their abilities as they frequently ask her, “How do I do this? And how do I do this well?”
Kinley has worked with her department to regularly hold meetings and offer webinars so professors are able to learn how to utilize the platform.
Brodie Blizzard, a junior world cinema major, has dealt with learning online for the majority of the year. With limited in-person classes, he finds it harder to connect with his classmates and collaborate with them online.
Another problem that students face is outlined by Elizabeth Roberts, a junior world cinema major who doesn’t “feel as motivated, or like I have as much of an obligation.” The inability to focus on work is a common problem that faculty and students encounter in the semester.
One thing that students and faculty have agreed on is that finding ways to engage the class is key. This could come in the form of coming up with new creative exercises like a home scavenger hunt (Newman-Biggers) or starting off every Zoom session with an interesting question and sharing answers (LeMay).
This article was written by a student of ENGL 2310: Introduction to Journalism, which is taught by Mike Pulley.
