Zoom announced new features to help students avoid distractions as they continue to adapt to the changes brought on by Covid.

Video conferencing software has become an increasingly common educational tool during the pandemic, but with instances of Covid on the rise again in many places, the new "focus mode" feature appears to be a welcome addition. This feature theoretically reduces the amount of time spent distracting each other, since the person broadcasting can see everyone on the call, while other attendees can only see the broadcaster.

The focus mode is similar to Zoom's existing webinar feature, but that one is only available to paid premium accounts, whereas this one is free for all users. In addition, the focus mode can be turned on and off during the session, which is not possible with webinars.

As a participant, you can watch your own video, see reactions to emojis sent by other users, and listen to what other users say if they have unmuted their microphone. They can also see the names of other participants, but not the video feed.

Additionally, the broadcaster can spotlight a specific participant, and that participant's video can be viewed by anyone with the broadcaster.

In addition, a great deal of flexibility is built in. This feature can be turned on for individual users or groups, and can even be locked to ensure that participants can use it during a session.

Although designed with teachers in mind, the focus mode can obviously be used for other purposes as well. For example, when giving a presentation to employees, you may want to ensure that they are focused on the slides and not their colleagues. It may also be of great help to those who feel uncomfortable being on camera, as only those in charge of the meeting can see them, not a large crowd.

With many students preparing for another semester of online schooling this year, Zoom's efforts to make life easier for teachers and students alike are to be welcomed. However, until users can block Roblox from opening in another window, it may still have a ways to go to stop young users from becoming distracted.