Problem
Generally, when a teacher asks a question in Zoom classes or asks for volunteers if the question can have multiple answers, students use the raise hand feature to answer. However, if a student has a question about a classmate’s answer or has a question about something the teacher has just said, they don’t have a good way of asking that at the appropriate time, as the teacher generally calls on students in order, and thinks that if they are raising their hand, they want to answer the question. The chat also doesn’t work very well, as teachers are often screen sharing or otherwise are not able to check the chat right away. By the time the teacher does get to either a student’s hand or chat message (which they may not–thinking the student is giving an answer to a question), it takes longer for the student to explain the context of their question and longer for the teacher to understand, so I’m suggesting a feature that could help classes to run more smoothly.
Solution
The feature I’m suggesting is another raise hand feature (or a reaction) that looks like a hand with a question mark in it (or otherwise indicates that the student wants to ask a question rather than answer one) called “Ask a Question” as opposed to “Raise Hand”. This feature would be extremely useful for students and teachers, and it would help the Zoom class meetings to go smoother and faster. It would be much easier to differentiate between students that are answering questions and students that are asking them, which would help teachers get to more questions and respond to them in time, ultimately helping the class run better with more learning and less confusion.