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Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Zoom has become crucial for virtual classes, meetings and daily activities. While it enabled education to continue, students face significant drawbacks from the platform’s overuse. The shift from in-person classes to Zoom has negatively impacted student engagement, focus and academic performance.
During COVID, Zoom received an estimated 2 million visits a day; as of 2024, it is now 3 million visits a day, according to Statista. Educational institutions adopted Zoom as their primary tool for instruction during the pandemic. However, what started as a short-term solution has now revealed its long-term challenges.
Aleigha Lowry, a second-year cardiopulmonary science student, expressed her concerns about Zoom and revealed how it contributes to her academics.
“I think Zoom is a good option for flexibility, but the issue is when there are technical difficulties,” Lowry said. “Sometimes the internet goes out, and the audio messes up, which means I can’t hear them clearly. It makes it harder for me to grasp what we’re talking about.”
This experience is not uncommon among students who struggle to stay focused in virtual environments. Zoom’s lack of structure often allows distractions to creep in, lowering overall attention. Many students feel their academic performance has suffered without the direct engagement they had in physical classrooms.
Kiera Carlton, a psychology graduate student, emphasized that the face-to-face dynamic fosters greater participation and understanding.
“Having Zoom meetings makes me retain less information and leaves more room for distractions,” Carlton said. “There are too many miscommunications, and in-person meetings offer that clarification and foster connections.”
In traditional classrooms, spontaneous discussions and collaborative activities create a richer learning environment. Zoom struggles to replicate this level of interaction, leaving students yearning for more engaging instruction.
Group projects, study sessions and extracurricular activities have mostly been replaced by isolated Zoom meetings. These critical social interactions, which help students thrive, are hard to recreate online.
As the world adjusts to post-pandemic life, universities must balance the convenience of virtual learning with the value of in-person education. Zoom may remain a tool for some, but many students hope to leave the virtual world behind.
While Zoom helped bridge the gap during the pandemic, it cannot replace the richness of traditional learning. Students are eager to return to classrooms where they can fully engage, connect and thrive academically.