Between the Chapters #25: searching for the commons in the wasteland with @savasavasava & @audreywatters

25 Years of Ed Tech

For Between the Chapters episode, Laura is in conversation with Audrey Watters and sava saheli singh to navigate these troubling waters of educational technology. This episode swirls around the ed tech’s dystopian storm from Chapter 25; however, we all agreed there are many dark aspects from previous chapters and years prior to hit the fever pitch of 2018. The issues and challenges of a number teaching and learning technologies have been brought up in previous bonus book club chats. Beyond avoiding the sci-fi plot being drafted by technology companies, we can find agency through refusal and doing more than just being critical of ed tech. We need to return to a sense of “the commons” in higher ed, where care and compassion coexist with our practices -- let’s pack up our values & build that space again, my friends.

• New Round of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Grants Steers Clear of Ed Tech
• Pushback Against Summit Learning Implementation in Kansas – “Start of a Rebellion,” or a Learning Experience?
• So You Want the Tips and Tricks of EdTech Integration… (Sal Khan)
• Ender’s Game (book)
• Black Mirror (TV)
• How China Is Using “Social Credit Scores” to Reward and Punish Its Citizens
• The West could be closer to China's system of 'social credit scoring' than you think
• Networked professional identity and community online (reflections)
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Schools Are Deploying Massive Digital Surveillance Systems. The Results Are Alarming
• Pushback Is Growing Against Automated Proctoring Services. But So Is Their Use
• Proctorio vs. Ian Linketter Defence
  • Background: Ed-Tech Specialist Fights Proctorio Lawsuit
• Listening to Refusal: Opening Keynote for #APTconf 2019 by Donna Lanclos
• Refusal, Partnership, and Countering Educational Technology’s Harms by Charles Logan
• Un-Annotated by Audrey Watters
• More than 60 academic programs at Laurentian University cut due to insolvency issues
• Oakland school board unanimously agrees to eliminate its police force
• We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
• What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

Questions asked:

• Where do the responsibilities lie for educational technology?
• When was the last time you resisted technology? How do you use refusal in ed tech?
• What should we refuse or resist more, in general?
• Where did the common go in our shared institutions?
• How can we build a better community to have reciprocity and responsibility for one another in ed tech/higher ed/life?
• What if we do decide that ed tech makes things worse?
• Where do we go if ed tech is actually a dystopian project?
• What is it that we value that is not wrapped up in ed tech we want to take with us?
• How do we reclaim some of the agency, hope, and good stuff we thought would come out of ed tech?
• If there is a commons somewhere, where is it? Can we get an invite?

Continue learning from these guests of the pod:

• Audrey: https://audreywatters.com/
• sava: https://www.screeningsurveillance.com/

We want to hear from you, dear @YearsEd listener! Submit your audio reflections by May 1st to add your voice to the community audiobook project! #25YearsOfEdTech: Call for Audio Reflections When recorded, send a message or tweet.

Do you have directions out of the ed tech wasteland? Are you building the commons somewhere? If so, tell us about it! Send a message or tweet. Podcast episode art: X-Ray Specs by @visualthinkery is licensed under CC-BY-SA. Remix by kevin tsakuhhin.