Although we’re back in an age where we are back in person, whether that would be for work or school. However, online video calls are still common these days. Over the past three years, more people have been using online calls as a way to connect with their groups.

When the pandemic hit, I was in the second half of eleventh grade. We were forced to switch to online classes which made things interesting. Since the teachers didn’t have to see what we were doing during class, people would do other things while class was going on. I was the type of person to just go on my phone and watch Twitch streams rather than listen to whatever boring class I had that day, usually physics or chemistry. I would even chat with my friends or play video games during class instead of listening. What was the teacher supposed to say? That we need to quiet down or that I need to turn off the games? I think not. Science was my least favourite thing about school so being able to do something else was nice. This did bite me in the butt when online tests came around. I still somehow did pretty decent in those classes but the lack of paying attention did hurt. Then again it wasn’t any different than me forgetting what happened in our classes that day. Since we were also in our homes, that meant we can just go to the bathroom whenever we want. I even once took a shower while my chemistry teacher was starting class. Let’s be real for a moment, no teenager actually paid attention during class. We were pretty sick of how much time elementary and high school needed us to focus. Everyone doesn’t want to actually be in class, but we had to for our futures. Teachers would say to treat it like a regular class, which meant not being on our devices or talking with friends. We all know we didn’t follow that. I would only show up just to have my name in the attendance and nothing else. Since during that time they weren’t actually counting attendance, some people would never show up for class and still did great in the class.

(Rasmus Olsen / Flickr)

Although our cameras and microphones were off, there was always that part of me that felt like they were still on. I would constantly double-check to make sure both were off so then I wouldn’t accidentally disrupt the class. I would plug headphones into my phone just so then on the off chance that my mic was on, the teachers wouldn’t know what I’m doing. There were still a few people that would accidentally have their microphones on and as a result, we can hear what exactly they were doing. Some people keep their microphones on all the time which doesn’t turn out well. My sister once had a meeting where her microphone was still on. I entered her room fooling around but then saw the horror on her face as she tells me she was in a meeting. If our cameras were on, teachers would have no idea what we were wearing below our waists. I’m someone who likes to look presentable but since we were at home, I wanted to be comfortable. I would wear a button-up shirt with pyjama pants which would be considered the “Zoom call look” by people I knew. Eventually, I stopped caring about how I dressed during online classes and would just wear a hoodie. It wasn’t like there was anyone to impress anyways so what was the point?

During this time, we were using Microsoft Teams since that’s what we can use with our school accounts. Some of our classes required heavy use of Microsoft Teams, with having to hand in our assignments there instead of Schoology. I was pretty new to the idea that there was a separate button to confirm our submission. I don’t know what was going on with my brain at the time, but somehow I missed it. I ended up handing in a few things late but never got affected by it.

(Danny Choo / Flickr)

Having a good connection is crucial to running a class smoothly. If there are connection issues, it will cause the class to get heavily delayed. We once had a class that involved everyone’s participation with our voices. For some reason, I was having microphone issues. I wasn’t able to press the microphone button on Microsoft Teams which is something that shouldn’t have happened. Just recently, I was having an issue on a call where my camera would fizz. I tried turning my camera off and on again, but it would still lead to the same result which led to me just having it off the entire class. Participation in class is a weird one. Since there was clearly a delay on my end, I would usually never be the person that gets picked. Throughout those three months of doing online classes only, I only got to participate once. Sometimes, people’s microphones would be terrible to the point where having them on was completely useless. There was a time when someone was speaking so loud that my speakers were starting to shatter.

(Anthony Quintano / Flickr)

Presenting things like PowerPoints is a staple of online classes. Microsoft Teams had the best way of doing this where you were able to go back on slides without affecting the rest of the class. This was nice when I would do the assignments during class rather than after. Sometimes the teacher would talk too fast and I would miss an important detail. They never uploaded the slides online which meant I had to make sure I got my notes on time (on days when I was willing to listen in class).

While we are back in person for many things, sometimes we have to do an online call instead. Sure, we feel less inclined to pay attention and things don’t run smoothly, but at least it got things done.