Etiquette in the digital classroom

If you haven’t studied remotely before, there’s a lot to think about at the start. How does the technology work? How should you actually behave in a digital classroom? How active do I need to be? If you’re feeling unsure ahead of your first lesson, we’ve put together some general advice on etiquette in the digital classroom.

Take responsibility for your technology

For digital teaching to run smoothly, all participants need to be on top of their technical equipment. Not everyone has the latest technology, and of course you can’t expect that, but you can expect everyone to prepare based on the resources they have.

Check in advance that the sound and video are working on the computer you’ll be using. Find out where the microphone and camera are so you know how to be heard best and where to look. You’ll usually need to use headphones with a microphone to be heard properly – standard mobile phone headphones usually work well. Also double-check that your internet connection is working.

You may not be able to do anything about your camera being broken or your internet connection being patchy. In that case, let the person leading the session know in advance – so they can plan accordingly.

Learn Zoom

You need to learn the basics of the digital tool that will be used – at Lund University, this is usually Zoom (but it could also be Teams). To join a class, you also need to be logged into Zoom as a student, so you’ll need to sort that out in advance. You can use our guides to learn how Zoom works and how to log in correctly.

About Zoom

In the vast majority of teaching situations, you’ll need to be able to turn your audio and video on and off, type in the chat, and raise your hand. If you’re going to show something on your own screen to the others in the classroom, you’ll need to know how to share your screen. Practise the basic functions in advance so that you don’t have to spend valuable teaching time learning them.

Prepare to focus

In most teaching situations, you need to be able to listen, type and speak without disturbing anyone or being disturbed yourself. Sitting on a train, in a café or in a living room where others are moving about might work in an absolute emergency, but if it prevents you or your classmates from concentrating, it shouldn’t become a habit.

Mute your mobile phone and put it away if you don’t need it for your studies. Close any programmes on your computer that you don’t need to use during the session. Let anyone around you know that you are busy and don’t want to be disturbed.

A good rule of thumb is to think that anything which would have been disruptive in a physical classroom is likely to be disruptive in a digital one too. If you wouldn’t have turned up at school in your pyjamas, you shouldn’t log in to a digital meeting without getting properly dressed either. If you wouldn’t have set out a meal in the physical classroom, you shouldn’t do so in the digital one either. If you wouldn’t have rushed into the classroom 30 seconds after the lecture had started, you shouldn’t delay logging into Zoom either. It’s quite difficult to jump straight into a meeting without a warm-up period. Those few minutes in a physical classroom when you can make small talk, organise your things and take in the room are important.

Introduce yourself

Let the others in the room know who you are. Write your name in your window so that your teaching staff know what to call you. If there’s a risk of misunderstanding, it might also be a good idea to write both your first and last name, or to state which course group you belong to or which pronouns you’d like the others in the room to use for you.

It can feel awkward to show yourself on camera. But it’s also awkward to speak if you don’t know who’s listening or how they’re reacting to what you say. That’s why it’s important to have your camera on, if possible. Please make sure you’re clearly visible too – good lighting (not backlit) and a neutral background will ensure you’re clearly visible. If you don’t want the others in the classroom to see where you are or what your surroundings look like, you can choose a neutral background in Zoom – then only you will be visible, not your surroundings. If you find it difficult to see yourself on the screen, you can hide the so-called ‘self-view’ without affecting what others see. You can also adjust how you view others in the classroom – everyone at once or just those who are speaking.

Five reasons to turn on your camera

Dare to speak

Many people studying remotely find it difficult to really dare to speak to one another. It can feel awkward when the room is completely silent, and it’s harder to read body language when you can’t see each other properly. It is also recommended that you mute your microphone when you aren’t speaking for a while. This means you won’t be disturbed by background noise from everyone else, but it also raises the threshold for speaking up.

To facilitate better conversations and more active learning, it is common for the teaching staff member to divide students into digital group rooms where they are expected to discuss with one another or carry out exercises in small groups. It can feel strange to suddenly be thrown into a group and expected to talk to people you don’t know. But the educational idea behind group discussions is that you learn more if you actively formulate your thoughts together with others. So even if you feel uncomfortable, it’s best to contribute to the conversation as best you can. Don’t worry about getting to know each other; instead, focus on the assignment you’ve been given and start by figuring out what you’re supposed to do. It often gets easier – and more fun – after a while!

Feeling a bit under the weather?

One more thing. Don’t think of distance learning as a way to go to school even if you’re ill. On Zoom, you don’t have to worry about infecting anyone with your cold, but if you’re too ill to participate actively in the lesson, it’s better to rest than to try to keep up when you really don’t have the energy.