For my multimedia reflection, I chose to read and respond to the article Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy by Chris Gilliard and Hugh Culik. I found the article very interesting as it brought an entirely new issue to my attention, I really had no idea(s) on this issue before I read the text. The authors explain the history of digital redlining and how it is implemented at the community college level. Redlining began back in the U.S.A in The Great Depression era as neighbourhoods were segregated by race. Essentially, digital redlining is reducing access to information on the internet via Accessible use Policies, which are implemented to block certain cites. For example, if a student wishes to research anatomy, the website may be blocked, leading the student to believe little access on the subject is available. This then affects the student for life as they are pushed away from their natural curiosity to explore inquiry-based learning. I found this to question my own beliefs about college students; just because they chose a different route does not necessarily mean they are not as “smart” and deserve to have less access to information. I found it extremely eye-opening to consider that these students have no idea this is happening to them, that some IT developer is deciding which students are “good enough” to access information. Furthermore, the article made me question my education, while there are great resources available through the Leddy Library website, I am sure there is plenty of information out there that I cannot gain access to. My beliefs that made me react in such a shocked way include my belief that everyone should have an equal opportunity to learn and explore their own interests.
To reflect on the article, I chose to do a Twitter essay; it was a very new experience for me to use Twitter as an academic tool rather than a entertainment platform. While doing this essay I learned new skills such as how to link an article or GIF to a tweet. I also learned more about how hashtags worked, that people around the world link themselves to common interests with them. All of these factors made it a very good experience for me, while the learning curve was a little sharp at the beginning, I eventually became more adept at fitting what I wanted to say in the 280-character count per tweet. I also couldn’t help but think how difficult it would be with the previous 140-character count limit, so I was thankful I had more room to work. Lastly, on a more personal note my mom is a college teacher/prof and I brought the issue to her attention and she couldn’t believe the info in the article. She too had never realized this happened but after reflecting on the reading was shocked by its relevance. We talked specifically about how community colleges see their education more as formal “job training” (this is also mentioned by the authors) while universities practice more theory-based learning; this is the great divide of post-secondary education. I questioned; why can’t community college students practice inquiry-based learning, why should they have their innate curiosity shutdown? And that is the question I leave you all with.
Lastly, in my own future teaching and learning I plan to make my students aware of this issue. Making students aware of this will help them realize that if they search something and it is blocked, that does not mean the information does not exist. Furthermore I believe if my students know about this they will not be able to affect their futures after school; the authors stress how community college students may not have great internet access away from campus. If I teach my students about redlining I will give them strategies on trying to search on a different server such as a library or friends home.
Article link: https://www.commonsense.org/education/privacy/blog/digital-redlining-access-privacy
Additional information video: https://ca-lti.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/playback/load/a79de2788c22445da32aa5e6e69577a1
Twitter Essay: https://twitter.com/jaredhansen321/status/1055871887904071680