Online class
I’m a pretty grade conscious person. As a university undergrad, I think the fear of asking questions even through zoom chat or discussion forums on the school portal is hindering my learning...it’s intimidating having lecturers know my name and face. It’s even harder to speak up during class, even though class participation forms part of my grade.
It's a lot of pressure to maintain good grades when you have anxiety holding you back
I feel you! I suffer from the same thing.. asking questions or participating is just a torture for me..
I take online classes too. It is really stressful to have a camera trained on your face during class, but to the teacher you are one of many students, so you probably don't stick out much. Most video classes I've been part of have a chat box to type in, which makes communication a bit more anonymous, since they would have to connect your name from the list of names with your face to know it's you. If that's not an option, you can tilt your camera/screen up so only part of your head is visible. I think seeing a pair of eyebrows bobbing around might be enough to count you as present.
On the flip side, a face cam is not a requirement for me. Believe me, the face cam is ultimately better. Every other student I talk to has issues with paying attention during class because they get bored or try to multi-task during class. Everybody inveitably slacks off. I tend to wander off during class. Not good for my grades.
My go to technique for dealing with nervousness (especially on zoom presentations) is imaging the rest of the class as bored/spaced out/on their phones. It really takes the pressure off (and is very likely what is actually happening).