How
do we guard our privacy in this digital age? It is a common misconception that “we”
(Americans? Humankind?) have the inalienable right to our privacy. Is this a
basic human right? Is it due to the 4th amendment (search and seizure)?
The answer is a definitive, “No.” Privacy is a concept that is protected only
by legal fiction. With each advance in new technology our concept of privacy
has been and continues to be eroded. In a TEDx talk in 2016, Nicholas Martino
said that “If we can not protect ourselves we can not be ourselves.” (TEDx
Talks, 2016)
Five years after the fact, I’m wondering what this
speaker would have to say about our new virtual and hybrid classroom environments
that have evolved this past year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in
the spring of 2020? Many questions go unanswered even today as we are screaming
up on the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Is it legal (or ethical) to
live-stream a classroom? Is remote learning itself legal? Must cameras be “on” for
virtual learning?
I don’t have all the answers to these questions, but I
can share with you some of the disadvantages of virtual learning. When we do
not require cameras to be on in the virtual classroom we are attempting to protect
student privacy, but we are also giving them license to walk away and disengage
from the learning content being taught. Many students lay their heads down on the
table, lay down in bed, or on the couch intending to ‘listen’ and fall asleep. With
cameras off, there is nearly zero connection between students or between
teachers and students. No eye contact, and certainly no non-verbal behavioral
cues.
It has been my practice to ask for cameras to be on to
take attendance, and then I encourage them to stay on so that we stay engaged in
our learning together. I do not require the camera to stay on, mostly because
that is not a hill I’m ‘willing to die on’. Pick your battles, but encourage
that visual interaction!
Resources
TEDx Talks. (2016, January 21). Privacy in the Digital Age | Nicholas Martino | TEDxFSCJ [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuhifEL5VsU
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