The reading for this week about the “zoom gaze” was the most relatable thing I have read in the past 12 months. For those that were going through the transition from in-person classes to the since adopted online format know I have been hyper critical and resistant to it from it’s genesis. I could have chosen to do this program online, but I chose to do it as an in-person program deliberately. Granted, there are certainly stark differences between how we are receiving instruction now and how we would have gotten it in the specified online program, but that does not mean I have not found myself going through some of the things that I was trying to avoid in the first place.
In the article, (which I found interesting from the beginning as it had an option for us to listen to the entire thing.) Caines describes this shift in instruction and how the expected outcomes may be alittle different from the actual results. She talks about how, in theory, zoom should be easier for people considering that they can be in the comfort of their own home. However, it seems to have had a different affect in the sense that people are feeling fatigue from constantly being on their screens and this feeling that the work never stops. For me, I have two jobs currently where all of the work is done on sight, so I can’t speak too much on that. I can, however talk about how there are some days I am dog tired from the work day and coming home to sit in on a 2 and half hour zoom session is very difficult, ESPECIALLY because I am in the comfort of my own home. Not going to lie, there are times, even in this class, where I am struggling to stay with what is going on because all of the things that I have that I use to decompress and enjoy myself are literally sitting a matter of feet away from me. Later, the article talks about something that I think everyone who has ever been on a zoom is guilty of; being heard when you thought you couldn’t be. I know it has happened to me in class with Dr. Zamora at one point or another in some of my classes, and that is a frustrating thing. I understand the onus of making sure your microphone is off and things like that fall on the student, but we are all human, those things happen. I also think about that lawyer who had to make a virtual court appearance and had a cat filter on his face (LOL). If you are someone who is not very good with technology, once you find yourself in on of those holes, it may be difficult for you to find your way out.
Like most readings we do together in this class, this one so timely and gives us perspective on an experience we have all shared over the last 12 or so months. I am sure the conversations in class this week will be plenty and Jessie will do a great job navigating us through it, after we have our zoom session with the woman who wrote the anti-zoom piece in the first place, Autumn Caines. See you all in class!