#UWinDig

My video is discussing the Matthew Carney article titled “Leave No Dark Corner”. The article discusses the upcoming implementation of a digital “social credit” system in the People’s Republic of China, and the potential impact on the average Chinese citizenry. Two perspectives are actively discussed. “Dandan” is a working professional, who is content with the system, and benefits from having a high “social credit” score, which leads to benefits like better loan rates, or not needing a deposit on a car rental. On the other hand, Liu Hu is an investigative journalist who has a low “social credit” score, and is negatively impacted by being blocked from social media, or being unable to obtain plane or high speed rail tickets to travel to different cities. The system takes information from CCTV cameras, and interactions on social media, as well as a myriad of other data inputs to provide a real-time “social credit” score. Say, you buy too much alcohol in one shopping trip, and your real-time “social credit” score may decrease. On top of personal impact, citizens may also be positively or negatively impacted based on who they interact with, or what their friends or family might say. Due to the seriousness of the topic, I decided to make a video rant, as I feel that my thoughts and feelings on this issue may be limited if I try to depict it with some abstract visual medium.

Reflection

The ideas of social credit is a concerning one, as it adds a new layer of control onto a person’s life. It formalizes the social controls into something with legal consequences. It creates a tiered system where those with unpopular views may be further isolated by society, and likely be put into a bubble that will only be formalized even further. Social media has already created bubbles and confirmation bias, but this system would add to an already polarized society. Plus, with more totalitarian governments, they can use this system to further suppress dissent.

My reflection is going to focus on the article “Privacy Concerns for Class Dogo and Other Tracking Apps for School Children” by Natasha Singer which can be found here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/technology/privacy-concerns-for-classdojo-and-other-tracking-apps-for-schoolchildren.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141117&nlid&_r=0

The twitter essay that I did speaks on the main points of the article and looks at both the pros and cons of using an app such as ClassDogo in your classroom for tracking your students’ behaviour and using it as a tool for classroom management, which can be found here:

Tweets by Blessy93130561

The first time I saw this type of behaviour modification strategy being used was while I was doing a three week placement in Nuneaton, England where students were given points based on specific expectations like attendance, submission of assignments on time, GPA, etc and every week a student was named “student of the year” based on whoever had the highest point that week. From the outcomes and student behaviour, it came across as a positive strategy to me because this caused students to be driven and motivated to be the student of the week. Attendance especially was very good in that school and not a lot of students missed many classes. The reason there was no issue with this strategy was that the points tracking was done on paper and was kept in the classroom and was only accessible to the students and the teacher, so there was no issue of data tracking and being available to the open world. After reading this text, and seeing how useful this type of behaviour strategy can be, I prefer doing this type of class tracking non-digitally so that it completely avoids the issue of privacy concerns and data tracking, though I understand it  is a lot more work for teachers to keep track of all their students manually, and not as easy for parents to have access to their child progress.

In conclusion, according to Singer’s article, parents are greatly divided on their views regarding use of apps like ClassDogo for tracking their child’s behaviour and progress. While some parents love the idea because its an easier and constant report on their child’s progress in school, other parents disapprove as they feel this can bring forth labels on their children and could lead to unforeseeable consequences. As I am not very tech savvy, or digitally aware as much as I should be, it was after reading this article I realized the seriousness of how usage of these apps have furthermore consequences such as data tracking that can be used for other purposes by a third party.

My reflection was based on the TED Talk Data-Driven Education and the Podcast Episode 10: Audrey Watters & The Teaching Machine. In the video, it is discussed how data collection is not being used appropriately to collect information about students, and in turn, technology is not being used properly or is being overused in some school settings. The Podcast involves an interview of Audrey Watters and her book the Teaching Machine. During the interview, Audrey explains how technology has been used to make our lives easier since the 40’s and that the history of machines are just represented differently today and are more advanced. Having technology help us gain a personalized education is nothing new.  The artifact I chose to use to display the representation of the TED Talk and Podcast was Twitter Essays. Data collection is very significant when it comes to studying information about the school, students, teachers, academics, etc. If it is to be collected, it must be used or it is a waste of time. The TED Talk and Podcast both dig deeper and ignite the conversation surrounding how data collection can help students become more independent with their learning; the data can pinpoint the student’s strengths and weaknesses.

Looking at my experiences while teaching. Data collection is taken every day to make sure that there is a thriving educational environment occurring. Attendance is one example that is done throughout the day which takes data to see how much a student is missing during the school year. One of the biggest tests that I helped with was the EQAO test which is a data collected test that occurs in grade 3 and 6. This test looks at how each student is progressing and also takes data within the test to see what questions are good and are not. It is a standardized test that sees if each student is at the right grade level. I truly believe that a data-driven education system where information is taken constantly and consistently would definitely help assess students learning and their needs and modifications. I personally believe that technology is key to learning and is very important to the development of young minds and the development of education. My ideas on the issue before were the same. Data collection is very important in schools. Statistics on all information about the school, student, community, teachers, etc. come in the form of data and data allows assessment of the pros and cons of how education is being delivered. There was no new information that I learned. I knew that data was always relevant and significant in education; however, I never realized how much data should be taken on a day-to-day basis in order to make the educational system more accessible and simplistic.

I used Twitter as my artifact to display what I learned from the TED Talk because I have had the chance to use it before, but itself is a platform that uses data collection for many purposes, so I felt like it was a good way to show data collection. Algorithms and data are consistently being shared through Twitter. As I post my tweets information is outputted and inputted, so I thought making a Twitter Essays would be an excellent way to pinpoint some main points that I felt were relevant to the TED Talk and Podcast and were key-points. I enjoyed how simplistic it was to make this artifact and it was straightforward adding relateable pictures and memes to help highlight what I learned. A first I did not fully understand the parameters around how to make a Twitter Essay, but once I got rolling, it ended up being a great way to express what I was able to read and listen to.

This Twitter Essay will discuss the TED Talk: Data-Driven Education & the Podcast of “Audrey Watters and The Teaching Machine.” and will further look at the pros and cons of data collection promoting personal education. https://t.co/G99grfJWcYhttps://t.co/BmYh9NBZM5#UWinDig

— Mr. Ellsworth (@ellswor1) October 31, 2018

I’m not one to usually engage in the twitter world, recently I have found it to be quite engaging and eye opening to both mine and other’s experiences. I feel when we are limited by time or type count than we have more opportunity to speak quite bluntly about how we feel rather than  beat around the bush. For this reason, I decided to challenge my own tweeting skills and limit myself in word count for each point and create a twitter thread that can be found here. In this thread I summarize the Ted Talk by Khurram Virani on Data Driven Technology.

From my experience in a classroom and as a tech user, I do not entirely agree with the TED talk. I feel that yes data should not just be collected and left unused but rather should be invested into the classroom just as it is used to improve tech. I do not feel that this can be an immediate adaption to the classroom though. In my experience teaching students is not always a cut and paste experience but rather there is a lot of trial and error as Virani did say there is with technology. I feel the difference though is that in education, we do not see the effective or ineffective use of technology until a substantial amount of time has passed to see if this technology is truly something that can be effectively integrated into a classroom. By the time we establish whether an app is suitable for all teachers to implement and can be modified for various student needs, perhaps the data or tech may change by then. This is why in my personal experience I feel things need to be tried and tested long term before establishing whether they are good for both students and the classroom in the long run. Technology is ever changing and rapid irritation is not necessarily the most compelling method of change in a class. Information is considered to create a curriculum that can take years to develop. Constant change of the curriculum or teaching methods may be financially cumbersome and implementing it may be daunting to some teachers who already feel their plate is full.

Algorithms were not a huge concern for me as an educator before or in fact after this video. I do think tests and work of students should be looked at and evaluated in terms of where things are commonly going wrong, or where they are challenging for a majority of students. Once this data or information has been collected then it must be used in the classroom effectively. The only new point that I learned and had a chance to reflect on was the fact that data should be collected more often just as tech is ever improving and growing.

I chose to look at look into Bruce Schneier’s radio talk with CBC called Internet plus: Now everything can be hacked! This talk is about Schneier’s new book Click Here to Kill Everybody. I agree with the article which states that the name of the book is quite terrifying. Just look at the cover.

Bruce being a security guru, subtitles his new book “Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World.” Throughout the talk, he discusses the real risks in the world, since everything is becoming a computer and networked in such ways he calls “internet plus.” Our world is becoming very IT-dependent, even if we don’t think we are using technology.

Schneier brings up examples that our world never had to think about until now. For example; ransomeware attacks on thermostats. People across the world or country can hack into our thermostat and turn it off until you pay a lump some of money. Everything in our world can harm us! In the past, people were able to threaten you by stealing private information from a hospital, for example, and simply embarrass you. But now a days, people are able to change your blood type in the database, which could potentially kill you.

We have lived through some of these threats! They might not be in our backyard but we have definitely heard about them. For example; Russia has taken out power plants in the Ukraine twice.

Schneier brings up another good point about us not paying for security in our everyday tools. When we are looking for a refrigerator, we aren’t looking for the one with the best security measures. We are looking for the best features at the best price. When we shop for anything, security does not seem to be one of the features we look for. But maybe it should become one.

An idea brought forward through this discussion is not limited to the safety of everyone in our world. Since everything around us is becoming more and more technological, I feel that we are relying to much on technology. I think to myself, “What is this world coming to?” Schneier brought up a good example that makes me reflect  on this questions. He reminds us of how Russia took out power plants all the way in the Ukraine without even leaving their country. People around the world are willing to go to further lengths to harm people. because they do not have to leave the comfort of their own home. Again, this is just my point of view.

Before reading this discussion, I knew of the crimes that happen around the world through technology but not necessarily the extent of them. Watching many crime shows, they give us visuals of what is going around in the “real” world. But I have never seen a show where people are attacking thermostats to get an easy pay day. In the future, when I am buying anything technological, I will definitely research to have the proper safety tools.

To connect all the ideas given throughout this talk, I chose to make a mind map. I believe that it is a good way to portray all of Bruce Schneire’s ideas and concepts. He is definitely someone with a lot of insight into the world of security, especially with technology. I hope we can learn from our mistakes and from all the examples shown throughout the world. Safety and security is not something we can just pass by. We need to always make sure our information and our loved ones are always safe. But how far are we going to half to go to accomplish that?

Matt Rosoff’s article examines the decline in the number of users the social media outlet has experienced due to recent sandals. While Facebook has been experiencing a decline, it still manages to have 2.23 billion monthly users. Facebook owns many other social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger which has helped them overcome their recent struggles as seen in Apple’s rankings of most popular free applications. Over the recent

year, Instagram has become a platform that has generated a high income. Instagram has grown 204%  year over year due to the number of advertisements which can be seen while using the application. Sponsored advertisements may have to be incorporated into WhatsApp and Messenger as another source of income in order to help save Facebook.

Looking more in depth at the recent Pew survey which included over 3,400 U.S. Facebook users, it concluded that millennials are either deleting the app, taking a break from it or many are simply adjusting their privacy settings. Facebook users are choosing to adjust their privacy settings due to the recent Cambridge Analytica event which breached users’ personal information. Moreover, Facebook is seeing a decline in users as Russian operatives also used Facebook to spread false news to influence the 2016 presidential elections.

Although there is a continued growth of Facebook users overseas, Facebook is seeing a major stall in North American users which included myself not so long ago. Before I engaged with the text, the Cambridge Analytica and the presidential scandal were not among my reasonings to delete Facebook, but I did find myself among one of the 42% users who needed to take a break. Every so often I choose to delete social media apps from my phone such as Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat which allows me to disconnect and just be present. After reading Rosoff’s article, I may reconsider removing myself from social media more often.  I deleted my Facebook account for over a year but I chose to reactivate my account for a few reasons. Facebook is a great application that allows me to keep in contact with previous teammates, family members and friends living all over the world. Not having a Facebook account often left me on the outside of the team’s Facebook page and multiple group projects as Messenger was the preferred means of communication. I now use the app mainly to keep up with my mom’s blog of her new puppy because I do not have the liberty of watching her grow back home in Montreal. Facebook privacy may have its downfalls, but it allows me to post albums and adjust the privacy settings so only I can see them. I enjoy this feature because iCloud doesn’t have the capacity to hold all of my pictures and I’m too cheap to pay for extra storage in all honesty. The text forced me to be more critical and think about what I am posting on social media because I now know that my photos aren’t only seen by me and that others may have access to them as well. Overall, I still enjoy using Facebook and being able to interact with friends and family through one simple click or like and I will think twice about posting something on Facebook in the future.

For the purpose of this assignment, I chose to create a mind map to summarize Rossoff’s article. I used Canva this time around which is similar to Piktochart which I used for the first multimedia artifact. I found Canva to be more user friendly and easier to navigate. I had access to a mouse and a large computer screen which I believed lessened my frustrations. Having the mouse allowed me to center objects somewhat better than Piktochart which relieved some of my OCD for small details as such. Overall, it was a much more positive experience creating this mind map.

Click to view my mind map!