LFI Course Materials 4/Week five

Week 5: Privacy and online learning/work environments

• Real time lecture: August 20th 9 - 11 Pacific/12 - 2 Eastern on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/9129428892

Overview

The pandemic has forced us to spend much more of our lives online, our work, school, and social lives mediated entirely by online platforms like Zoom, Skype, or the dystopianly named Proctorio and Panopto. School administrators and employers have started demanding greater productivity from us in these environments, and the tech platforms have obliged them, building systems of surveillance into these online platforms that track what we clicked on, how much time we spent on the page, and how attentive we are to the screen.

This week, we'll hear from two speakers about this new environment and what it means for us in libraries: Jasmine McNealy, privacy and technology scholar at the University of Florida, and Kelly McElroy, graduate of the first LFI cohort and Student Engagement and Community Outreach librarian at Oregon State University.

Readings

• What you should know about online tools during the COVID-19 crisis: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/what-you-should-know-about-online-tools-during-covid-19-crisis
• Harden your Zoom settings to protect privacy and avoid trolls: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/harden-your-zoom-settings-protect-your-privacy-and-avoid-trolls
• Software that monitors students during tests perpetuates inequality and violates their privacy https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/07/1006132/software-algorithms-proctoring-online-tests-ai-ethics/
• The workplace surveillance technology boom https://slate.com/technology/2020/05/workplace-surveillance-apps-coronavirus.html
• Coronavirus opens door to company surveillance of workers https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/26/workplace-apps-tracking-coronavirus-could-test-privacy-boundaries-340525

Guest lecturer

• Jasmine McNealy, scholar of media and technology and associate professor in the department of telecommunication at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.

• Kelly McElroy, Student Engagement and Community Outreach Librarian at Oregon State University and member of LFI cohort 1

Discussion

TBD

Tasks

• Lecture, readings, discussion forum
• Decide what form final projects will take; Alison will begin 1:1 checkins this week