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When COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, it hit hard. School, work and nearly everything else was put on pause. Because of that, Zoom became something the world needed. Without Zoom and platforms like it, the world would have shut down more than it already did.  

Dr. Bobbi Olson is a Associate English professor and Director of the Writing Center at Grand View University. She works remotely due to her being immunocompromised and uses Zoom to conduct her classes and meet with her students. 

“[Zoom] gives more accessibility and more opportunities to be able to participate when there might be limits for various reasons,” Olson said.  

There are many perks to Zoom but one that stands out to Olson is the ability to participate in something you wouldn’t have been able to without Zoom. Many things come into account if someone can’t participate such as health concerns, caring for another person, or weather conditions. Zoom allows us not to have to miss important events we would have otherwise. 

However, Olson still believes person-to-person interaction is very important.  

“I still try to have people engaged with each other as much as possible,” Olson said.  

Olson finds that this helps keep students paying attention in her online classes. Students may have a hard time engaging in regular classes, but online classes can be even worse with the potential distractions in their environment.Professors who can find ways to keep students engaged in online environments are the ones who get students active and participating.  

GVU made a decision at the beginning of the Spring 2024 semester to move classes on Zoom if there was a need for the campus to close down for a day. Olson thinks this is beneficial for multiple reasons but a big one is commuter students not having to put themselves at risk. This is important because commuters have to make the choice on those snowy days to come to class or not. When the classes are online, they don’t have to put themselves at risk.  

Overall Olson still enjoys the convenience, accessibility and safety aspects of Zoom. They allow her to have a presence on campus, even if she is not physically present. 

Tiffany Morlan, the GVU Blackboard Admin and Instructional Technologist, did have some frustrations with Zoom. 

“Nothing is always perfect,” Morlan said.  

Technical issues often play a factor in Zoom meetings going wrong. Many people have had troubles with getting Zoom to work, especially earlier in the pandemic. But Morlan did not have any current specific issues to point out. That indicates that Zoom is likely more well put together than it was years ago.  

On preventing problems before they happen, Morlan stressed the need for preparation when using the software. 

“Making sure new instructors are aware of how to set up Zoom in their classes so they are prepared,” Morlan said.  

Zoom can be tricky to run especially when professors need to have it ready for students. Teachers knowing exactly how to get it up and running as well as accessible to students is important.  

If people do have issues, they can always ask Morlan for help. 

“I can walk them through how to do something or how to resolve an issue,” Morlan said.  

Zoom is used for live meetings but it can also be used for a video feature. This is pretty convenient if you need to show someone how to do something, just like Morlan does. 

Many people are probably now very familiar with Zoom after a good amount of time using it in the past few years. As the pandemic slowed down, Zoom has been used less but still retains a significant place in the video conferencing market. Good evidence of this is the fact that the word “Zoom” has become a synonym for video conferencing.  

Statistics from “Zoom Statistics 2024: How Video Conferencing Changed our Lives” show that Zoom issued 385,200 new licenses in 2020. Licenses are paid accounts that can host unlimited meetings. In April 2020, Zoom had around 300 million daily meeting participants. This peak may make Zoom seem as if it is being used less today, but there are still many who rely on it. Zoom is still used and very important for businesses and workplaces. 

However there are notable downsides to frequent usage, though. 63 percent of workers stated that they miss seeing their colleagues’ faces when they say they cannot join a call. After sitting in online meetings all day, it can be easy to start missing face-to-face interaction. 

Zoom is not used nearly as much as it was used during the pandemic. However, Zoom is still relied on by many businesses especially for, meeting with out of state partners, clients, and remote employees. Zoom is also a go-to option for video conferencing for people who just want to talk to others who are far away.  

Currently there are additional zoom surveys, webinars, notes and a digital whiteboard for meeting collaborations that are helpful tools both personally and professionally. 

For the most part, Olson and Morlan agree that Zoom is a good site to be used for work and school purposes. With most issues and hiccups occurring being minimal, Zoom seems to be a good option for students and teachers. Olson enjoys that it makes things accessible to people when they wouldn’t otherwise be. Morlan wants everyone to have their audio sharing on when running meetings with videos.  

The future will likely bring even more updates to Zoom that make it a better option for video conferencing. 

Though the pandemic is over, it seems that Zoom is here to stay.