I’ve converted the curriculum for the fourth week of this info literacy learning community covering data privacy into this newsletter. This post is divided into three sections that you can review and study at your leisure during the week.
Background
Every day large data sets are impacting our world in increasing profound and potentially damaging ways. Combined with machine learning and AI, computers are yielding even more power to companies, political parties, and web savvy individuals. For instance, the science of gerrymandering is reaching unseen precision, face recognition is becoming commonplace, and we are willingly helping companies gain more of this power. Where do we even start to address these issues?
On a personal level, we can follow safer social media practices and approach media and information from a more critical standpoint. More importantly, we can bring attention to the increasing surveillance in our world and engage our students in conversations about surveillance capitalism, digital redlining, and everyday media interactions.
Explore
Before kicking off discussion we watched an excerpt (14:32-18:21) from the Zeynep Tufekci Ted talk. This clip laid the foundation to kickstart our conversations about data privacy. The idea that we’re constantly “leaking data” into the world by merely participating in online spaces enveloped our first conversation. Since companies and governments feel entitled to collect this leaking information on its users/citizens, we talked about the pros and cons to these practices. The common example of this happening is when companies track your internet usage to try and sell you products they predict you’d actually want. However, due to the clip we watched, our discussion also ventured into surveillance capitalism and our rights as individuals in a connected world.
These conversations eventually led us to the issue of Net Neutrality and the socioeconomic factors at play when data is not equally accessible. We also explored the relationships between internet technologies and society, going so far as to question the direction of smart speakers and search engines seeking to provide the “one true answer.”
Finally, we delved into data privacy options and safer social media practices. Many of these ideas were aimed at what can be done to tighten up our own data leakage in the world. Our conversations gravitated towards making students aware of their own data practices and selecting technologies in the classroom that respect their privacy and independence.
Based on your interests and as you feel compelled, here are a few more topics to explore related to social media:
Surveillance
- Podcast: Surveillance Capitalism and Digital Redlining featuring Chris Gilliard, Ralph Beliveau, and Adam Croom
- Video: Here’s how we take back the Internet featuring Edward Snowden
- Reading: Inside Amazon’s surveillance-powered, no-checkout convenience store from techcrunch.com
Security
- Reading: Cryptoparty — Resources for Digital Privacy and Security by Kris Shaffer
- Reading: Digital minimalism ― being deliberate about digital identity by Kris Shaffer
- Reading: Safe(r) social media practices from Middlebury’s Office of Digital Learning and Inquiry
Platforms
- Reading: Pedagogy & the Logic of Platforms by Chris Gilliard
- Reading: Online Education After The End of Net Neutrality by Tressie McMillan Cottom
- Reading: Education Technology and the Power of Platforms by Audrey Watters
- Reading: Platforms in Education: A Need for Criticality and Hope by Amy Collier
Algorithms
- Podcast: Weapons of Math Destruction Episode – Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast featuring Cathy O’Neil and Bonni Stachowiak
- Reading: People Are Not Talking About Machine Learning Clickbait and Misinformation Nearly Enough by Mike Caulfield
- Reading: The Algorithmic Shadows All Around Us by Kin Lane
Reflection
Lastly, you’re invited to reflect on questions such as:
- From the content you studied this week, what should we be teaching our students about data privacy?
- What’s a small change you can make in your course for the benefit of your students?
If you’d like for your reflections to contribute towards a “document of recommendations” composed of all the reflections of the participants in this training, you can submit your thoughts to this form.
The featured image is provided CC0 by Nathaniel Dahan via Unsplash.