For teachers trying to deal with a classroom full of teenage emotions via Zoom, it’s become an exhausting and draining experience. My suspicion is that everything is becoming more concentrated and teachers have to be hyper-focused. @CygnusX1 talked recently about how his child’s school was having only one video lesson per day. Was this prescient on their part to avoid teacher burnout?

So many people are reporting similar experiences that it’s earned its own slang term, Zoom fatigue, though this exhaustion also applies if you’re using Google Hangouts, Skype, FaceTime, or any other video-calling interface. The unprecedented explosion of their use in response to the pandemic has launched an unofficial social experiment, showing at a population scale what’s always been true: virtual interactions can be extremely hard on the brain.

<><><>

Inviting the resident educators on Cake to this panel for their perspectives.

My experience is that this is very real. I spoke to someone about it recently and they explained that we have to concentrate much more as we are not getting our usual social "Qs" from people: body language etc. And so we are exhausted.

I also see this happening with schooling -- my 10 year old who recently just lay of the floor just saying "I am so tired of all this."

I am going to exercise more self care by walking more, and on certain calls, where I know my only role is to listen, I plan to walk (either threadmill or outside) and just listen and pretend it's a podcast!

I will also say though that when this is all over and I am trying to organize a meeting and I get that reply of "the second Tuesday between 7 and 7:15 ... I will now suggest zoom!!!

I prefer to call it digital fatigue. The exhaustion is real. Two months ago we were using technology for convenience, and to enhance our lives, now we are interacting through monitors for hours per day to take part in essential life. With social distancing, our work, meetings, conferences, schooling and social connections have been forced to take place through voice exchange and video capable apps and devices. Online is no longer optional, and the constant exposure to flickering monitors, and multiple moving images can be tiring. 

As a family rooted in the digital and cyber world we thought the mandatory migration wouldn’t noticeably disturb our online education, however we too have experienced an altered state of school and work in the midst of this global crisis. With everyone home and on Zoom, Skype, YouTube, Google, FaceTime, etc., the fatigue is real. It’s like being trapped in reality tv, 24/7. To alleviate stress, and anxiety we take deliberate breaks to decompress, and rest our brains and our eyes. Switching devices to ‘do not disturb’ is now mandatory. While the world is trying to stay connected, we are searching for ways to unplug.

This tweet points out the even greater challenges that teachers will face if online instruction continues in the fall.

A comment from one of my teacher followers from Florida: