As it seems online schooling isn’t going anywhere, Zoom has launched a new Focus mode feature to stop students distracting each other in calls.
It certainly doesn’t look like online schooling is going anywhere, and Zoom is well aware of this. Preparing for the back to school season in September, the video call giant has released a new feature called Focus mode, to stop students distracting each other in calls.
Zoom Launches New Focus Mode Feature
Buried in an official blog post, Zoom mentioned its latest new feature called Focus mode alongside some back to school tips. With the new feature, students won’t be able to distract students over the calls. The feature comes ready in time for students returning to school.
Zoom explained that the feature allows teachers to supervise their online classes, and stops students being distracted by videos of their peers. Ask most teachers, and they’ll tell you this solves one of the biggest problems with classrooms. The company also hopes it will stop students feeling self-conscious about turning on their camera.
Before you worry that your weekly quiz night meetings will be ruined with this new feature, you can stop panicking. Focus mode needs to be turned on before it can be used. It appears that the new feature is available for all users, even those with free accounts.
How Does Zoom’s Focus Mode Work?
When Focus Mode is switched on, students will see only their teachers, and not other class participants, as you would in a standard Zoom call. Only students will see a different screen, and teachers will still be able to see students’ videos in the normal view.
Students will also still see their own video, just like a normal call. In place of fellow students’ videos, students will just see the names of their classmates. They’ll also still be able to see any reactions or raised hands during the call.
To switch on Focus mode, you first need to enable it in your account. Head to Settings and find the Meetings section (it might be under Account or Group Management for group accounts). Then, when you start a new call, enable the mode from the More button.
Zoom Is Improving Education Calls
Anyone who’s familiar with Zoom might see that Focus mode is similar to Webinar mode. Rather than the typical webinar, students will still be able to interact with the group call, it’s just the videos that aren’t present.
With the new feature, it’s great to see Zoom take a new approach to education calls. It’s going to be particularly helpful to teachers resuming online classes.
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