Peers turning on cameras promotes learning in video conferencing

The current study examined the influence of teacher and peer camera usage on the attention and learning performance of primary school students in video conferencing. The study further investigated the interplay between peer camera usage and various forms of social comparison, assessing their impact on the learning of primary school students in video conferencing. Consequently, the study designed two experiments, recruiting a total of 74 primary school students in Experiment 1 and 41 students in Experiment 2. Consistent with our hypothesis, Experiment 1 demonstrated that peers turning on their cameras in video conferencing enhanced student learning performance. Moreover, Experiment 2 revealed that when employing upward and parallel social comparison strategies, students showed similar learning performance regardless of peer camera usage; whereas when employing downward social comparison strategies, students showed better learning performance in the peers-cameras-on condition than in the peers-cameras-off condition. This suggests that the introduction of upward and parallel social comparison strategies can effectively counterbalance the negative impact on student learning resulting from peers turning off their cameras. The main results of the present study have significant implications for camera use in video conferencing. First, students are advised to turn on cameras during video conferencing. Second, teachers are encouraged to design an environment conducive to upward and parallel comparison in video conferencing when peers turn off their cameras.