Zoom has gained a lot of popularity among the students over the pandemic, especially with students being more reliant on online learning sessions. The exposure to the new form of learning often puts the students in a matter of a dicey situation where they aren’t sure what to believe in and what not to.
Typically, with a Zoom call, individuals are often confused about two things – whether the teachers can see their screen during the call and whether the teachers can tell when the students aren’t paying attention to their classes. More often than not, individuals are scared of the outcome thinking that they would get caught while they are blasting their favorite songs on Spotify while attending a class.
Well, does that happen? We will discuss everything relating to that in this article.
Can the Host See the Screen of the Meeting Attendants?
Well, in simple words, they cannot. Unless you are actively sharing your screen with the host and the other attendants, no one can see the screen.
Also, there aren’t any single click buttons on Zoom that will unwantedly share the screen of the users. So, if you are worried that you will end up clicking something unknowingly and find yourself in a mess, that won’t happen.
To share your screen, you have to actively go through the heights of checking the screen you want to share and then click on the Share button to do so. It is not a single-step process, so you are safe.
Also, these features aren’t different for the free and premium account users. The features are pretty much standard across for all the users. So, you won’t have to bang your head trying to make sense of things.
In case someone tries to hack into your system using the application to view and access your screen, that is a huge breach of security and privacy and punishable under the law. So, with the kind of risks that follow, you can rest easy knowing that the teachers won’t be accessing your screen at the same.
Can the Host Tell When Attendants aren’t Paying Attention?
Another common misconception that students have about Zoom is thinking that the teachers will know when you aren’t paying attention in the class. Well, if your camera and microphone are switched off, there is no way your teacher will be able to detect that.
However, in case you have your camera or even the microphone switched on by mistake, your teacher will be able to keep track of the movements and activities.
The “Attention Tracking” feature on Zoom was available initially. It was effective during the screen sharing process and helped detect activities of the users when they remained inactive for over 30 seconds on their screen. However, at other times, the feature isn’t effective.
However, being a useful feature for the teachers, it brought along a lot of controversies. People were being skeptical about the functionality and even suggested that they felt their privacy violated with the same. So, after a few months of the trial run, the feature was removed on public demand.
So, now, there is no way a teacher can track whether their students are actively listening to them or not. In case your teacher has a habit of actively calling you out during the middle of the lesson and you aren’t paying attention, then you can get yourself in a lot of trouble.
If you were worried about your safety and privacy on Zoom all this time, this should give you enough understanding that you won’t find yourself in a pickle if you fail to pay attention to your classes.
Can the Zoom Hosts Read Private Messages?
Besides the first two concerns, another privacy-related issue that students had was with the messaging and conversation system. If you didn’t know, besides the staple conversation column on Zoom, there is a feature where the attendants can privately message each other.
Students, for the longest time, had the fear that the same is visible to the teachers. That isn’t the case at all. Zoom, like any other online platform, takes privacy very seriously. So, if you are worried that your teacher will hack into your private messages and make a scene out of them, that isn’t the case at all.
There are a lot of things on Zoom that can seem like an invasion of privacy. However, what you need to realize is the fact that most of these claims are false and hold no truth to their sayings. We’d recommend that you instead check the facts and learn what’s right and what’s not.
How to Have a Comfortable Zoom meeting?
Life has drastically changed for the teachers and students with the pandemic. With hundreds and thousands of schools relying on online classroom teaching, Zoom has become a frontrunner in that aspect.
However, since the concept and implementation of the situation are so new, it isn’t surprising that more and more people are getting confused about the platform’s user experience.
If you want to make the whole experience a smoother ride, we’d recommend that you look into a flexible routine. As teachers and students, you both need to understand that this situation is new.
Being welcoming and flexible during the learning session is a crucial part to adapt to the Zoom learnings. If your teachers are advising you to keep your camera switched on and the mic switched off, follow accordingly.
Similarly, teachers also need to understand the comfort and needs of their students and mold their needs accordingly. The last thing that anyone wants is to find themselves in a pickle.
Conclusion
If you have heard about any kind of security or privacy invasion situation with Zoom, it is likely, not true. Zoom has a very well-designed user interface that offers users a closed knit platform to communicate via video calls. Unless permitted, there are no peeks into personal screens or any kinds of privacy invasions as many individuals might think.
