Two minutes in advance, your meeting with your students is about to begin. There you are, well prepared, waiting with all kinds of activating online didactics to enlighten your students. One by one the students blip in. A nostalgic feeling, because this online event reminds you of the students filling your empty campus classroom. Even the chat pops up in your screen: “hello sir.” Nice. Familiar. But all the screens remain black. Okay, privacy sensitive. Never mind. It’s also for them to get used to.
Your education starts. For 27 dark grey screens. On the open question that you ask very activating, it remains awfully quiet. Nothing comes back. Okay, then let’s call a student by name. The first one does not respond. Online but not present. Then ask the second one. A lot of noise in the background; “what did you ask sir?”.
I can go on like this for a while. These experiences and many others I and probably many of you also had when we had to switch to Corona education. At one point I heard from a colleague about a student without a shirt who was lying in his garden chair with an e-cigarette in his mouth attending the meeting. By no means the behaviour we expected.
This is so different and new, there is no standard. We can’t say: “this is how we do it in here”.
In the meantime, we have moved on. Sometimes I can still feel the distance where the screens are on black and the microphones are off. It takes effort to turn that around and to indicate that a professional attitude is expected online as well. Slowly we develop that new standard.
The massive transition to the (real) new work requires that “new normal”. In addition to the teacher–, coach– or inspirer role, we also have a pedagogical task. We expect reflective professionals after their studies. We expect a professional attitude. Also online.
Let’s make these expectations clear and set a good example. We need an online social norm. I started expecting these “meet-iquettes” in online meetings. Because this is how we do it here.
Meet-iquette for online meetings
- It is expected that when meetings are planned, you make sure that you have a decent internet-connection at your disposal
- It is expected that when meetings are planned, you make sure that your hardware (mic / webcam / etc.) are working properly
- During the meeting you mute your mic, unless you are the speaker (or moderator)
- Raise your hand in front of the camera, or via the “hand” function, if you want to say something
- For groups <8 people, cam is always on (max of TEAMS)
- For groups >8 people cam is off (or you are speaking)
- When you are speaking, both cam & mic are turned on
- Dress properly (please dress up for your meetings. If it’s too much of an effort, just go for dressing up your top half)
- Professional surroundings (make sure your background is neat or blurred, make sure it is quite).
- Don’t eat and/or smoke during the meeting
- Stay present and be active (leave your cam on, this will help you to stay tuned)
Credits for meet-iquettes inspiration: Dries van der Enden
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Over Lars Veerhoff
Lars werkt in Eindhoven bij ICT als student begeleider en onderzoeker. En daarnaast ook actief betrokken bij diverse Fontys netwerken. Met een onderwijswetenschappelijke achtergrond en bijna 20 jaar onderwijservaring (speciaal ow, vo & hbo) heeft hij een enorme passie voor leren en ontwikkelen. Hij vind persoonlijke en professionele ontwikkeling van studenten te belangrijk om niet de juiste dingen goed te doen. Hij ontwikkelt daarom leer- en reflectie activiteiten rondom evidence-based thema's zoals loopbaan ontwikkeling en persoonlijk leiderschap.