Over the past year, the video conferencing app Zoom has become a vital part of everyday life for individuals who have had to study or work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, Zoom launched a new feature that allows the host of the meeting to see other people’s videos and shared screens. Called ‘Focus Mode,’ the feature is aimed at helping students avoid distractions during their online classes.
Zoom gains ‘Focus Mode’ to help reduce distractions for students in virtual classrooms
As soon as Focus Mode is enabled, the host can access all participant’s videos but others present in the meeting will not get distracted by videos of their peers. Note that access is only given to the host and co-host of a meeting.
In a blog post announcing the feature and discussing other back-to-school tips for online learning, the company said, “Focus mode is designed with the digital learning environment in mind, allowing students to stay attentive or work on their tasks while under supervision, without being distracted by others and their tasks. This feature gives the host and co-hosts view of all participants’ videos without other participants seeing each other. ”
When Focus Mode will be enabled, users will be able to see their own video, names of other participants in the meetings, and also emoticon reactions shared by other users. The feature, which will be available to free accounts, can be enabled for user accounts, groups, and individals users.
Here’s how you can enable ‘Focus Mode’ in Zoom
- Launch the app.
- Start a meeting > click on More in the toolbar.
- Click on Start Focus Mode and press Confirm.
- Finally, press Don’t ask me again. Focus Mode will now be enabled and all participants in the meeting will receive a notification alerting them.
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