Beyond Zoom Fatigue: Re-energize Yourself and Improve Learning

College students report that it is harder to focus their attention and stay present while taking classes online. They also feel more isolated, anxious and depressed. Communication is often more challenging since many students appear non-responsive and disengaged when attending large synchronous online Zoom classes. For the instructor, this can be stressful since they do not receive social feedback from the students. To increase students' subjective energy, attention, and involvement and enhance learning in front of screens, we observed that when students were instructed to intentionally provide facial and body responses while attending Zoom classes, they report a significant increase in energy level, attention and involvement (p<0.002) as compared just sitting normally in class. By shifting from passively watching to actively participating, they reported that their learning was enhanced.