Are we able to see students' face via CONFERENCE in CANVAS?

[mzt11]

Are we able to see students' face via conference in canvas?

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello  @mzt11  Welcome to the Canvas Community.  Thank you for posting your question.  While I don't have a ton of experience using the Conferences (BigBlueButton) interface in Canvas courses, I was able to find this Guide that shows you should be able to at least see the student first and last name initials: How do I use the Conferences interface as a moderator or presenter?.  Now, I'm not sure if that only applies to the free version of BBB, or if the paid version would allow for profile pictures as well.  That would be a question that  @ffdixon ‌ should be able to help answer for you.

I hope this information will be of help to you, Mami.  Please let Community members know if you have any other questions about this...thanks!

[Bobby2]

Hi  @mzt11  Welcome to the Canvas Community.

Our  @Chris_Hofer ‌ has given you some helpful information.

From my Big Blue Button experience yes you do have the capacity to see the students faces. However, keep in mind that students of a certain age prefer not to be seen unfortunately. 

Creating an online environment where they feel comfortable in showing their faces is an art. Let us know how you get on. 

[kdickso]

Hi  @mzt11 ‌. As  @Bobby2 ‌ said, the trick is getting the students to turn the video on.

It obviously makes it very hard to "read the room" if you can't "see the room." My experience has been that students tend to like to ask questions in the visible group chat window rather than turn on their video. Sometimes, of course, turning on the video just won't work or is prohibitive because of expense (paying for data or speed of internet access).

I did see a funny tweet yesterday that reminded students that they needed to wear pants if they turned their video on. So there's always something to worry about with or without video.

Good luck and welcome to Canvas. Keep us all posted.