On Thursday, March 19, Z̶o̶o̶m̶ ̶U̶n̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶t̶y̶ UVA Law kicked off its first day of online classes. Most larger, lecture-based classes are being recorded by professors and posted on Canvas with no opportunity for real-time questions. However, courses requiring more participation from students, such as seminars, have transitioned to the Zoom video conferencing platform.
Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to take my first Zoom class: Employment Law with Professor Rip Verkerke. The class has around sixty students and Professor Verkerke uses a website called Poll Everywhere to solicit student answers and opinions on course-related questions. The first poll question on Thursday’s class was: “What word best describes your feelings about our shift to online instruction?”
Pictured: Employment Law students react to online classes. Photo Courtesy of Prof. Rip Verkerke.
As the word bubble shows, many students were feeling anxious and apprehensive, and some mentioned current Law School GroupMe buzzwords like “pass/fail” and “Bryce.”[1] It became clear as the class went on that people were more timid about piping up on Zoom than in regular, in-person class. Then again, it was around noon, so maybe everyone was just too busy eating lunch with their mute on and cameras off to feel the need to contribute. Eventually, people warmed up a bit to the format and participated more, reducing the number of uncomfortable silences. As Kshitiz Gautam ’22 summed it up, “Despite the awkwardness, it was a fruitful experience overall.”
Zoom definitely has its benefits and drawbacks. One handy feature of the platform is the “hand-raising” function, which allows students to virtually signal if they have a comment or question without them having to awkwardly interrupt the professor or each other. It also has a nice chat feature, so if you have friends in a class, you can easily shoot them a chat.
However, maybe don’t say anything too spicy on a Zoom DM, because it’s been suggested that even private messages to another student can be monitored by the meeting host for “non-webinar” meetings.[2] This is not the platform’s only privacy red flag. As Zoom has surged in popularity over the past two weeks and become the teleworking software of choice for thousands of employers and schools across the country, it has also been under fire for a slew of privacy issues. Meeting hosts can see when users do not have the Zoom meeting open and active for more than thirty seconds. You should also be aware that all of your text chats to the whole group are saved if the Zoom session is recorded. And just like any internet service you use these days, Zoom will track your “name, physical address, email address, phone number, job title, employer [or school].” Students who wish a large company to not have these details, and live off the grid, seemingly have no options.
All things considered, however, Zoom seems to offer a solid solution for continuing the typical law school style of education during a global pandemic. For better or worse,[3] you can now get virtually cold-called while in the comfort of your own home, in your pajamas. It remains to be seen whether the privacy issues will be resolved, so in the meantime, just G-chat your friends during class instead of Zoom chat. Happy Zooming, everyone, and don’t forget to stay muted.
Jacob Jones ’21
Features Editor
For future generations trying to figure out what life was like during online classes,[4] let me tell you, it’s funky. I’d heard many stories of Zoom lectures before they came to UVA and they all seemed wild. My expectations were high as I started my first Zoom lecture in Professor Ferzan’s evidence class.
Unfortunately, no one used memes for their Zoom background backgrounds. The “this is fine” dog with everything burning would have been a popular choice. As we started the lecture, Professor Ferzan’s voice sounded like a robot. Fearing that I was the only one having this problem, I said nothing and prepared to have an awkward lecture. But other people apparently were having the same problem, which was a relief. But then I had another concern: What if Professor Ferzan had been replaced by a robot? Or worse, what if Professor Ferzan had hired a robot to lecture for her, thereby breaking her contract with the Law School? I could simply not stand for any breach of contract. Luckily, the audio issue was fixed, and Ferzan stopped sounding like a series of beeps and boops.
While Zoom classes are clearly no good substitute for in-person ones, I will admit that it’s nice to have a bit of a schedule and something close to normalcy. The city of Charlottesville, Main Grounds, and North Grounds may be empty of people, but Zoom lets you see how everyone who used to be there is safely at home. When you’re used to seeing the 900-some faces of UVA Law everyday, seeing a few on Zoom is the next best thing.
Sam Pickett ’21
News Editor
My Zoom School of Law Experience began at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday—or rather it was supposed to begin. What actually occurred was that I sat there on my laptop answering emails and waiting for the wait screen to materialize into a gridded group of faces. Just as I had given up hope, I was admitted into the “Zoom Room” at 1:30 p.m.. Finally, I had done it. I was online-law-schooling. My classmates and I soon realized, however, that our professor was not in the virtual room with us. Sad. It was then that we received an email that class that day was canceled and that he would see us on Monday. What a wild ride and what a positive start to the Zoom School of Law.
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mav3p@virginia.edu
jmj3vq@virginia.edu
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[1] If you don’t know who Bryce is, ask a local 1L about his infiltration of the Class of 2022 GroupMe, including the puzzling but thought-provoking line: “Law school isn’t the same, sure, but leave a lug loose on a Goodyear Eagle and it’ll cost you checkers.”
[2] https://mashable.com/article/zoom-conference-call-work-from-home-privacy-concerns/
[3] Definitely worse.
[4] I’m assuming in 1,000 years when all other professions transfer to digital learning, law schools will still require students to attend class using only #2 pencils.