In Search of Data, Schools Snoop on Their Students

On today’s show, host Douglas Haynes is in conversation with Lindsay Weinberg about her new book, Smart University: Student Surveillance in the Digital Age. It’s a timely book that gives a snapshot of how higher education is increasingly relying on digital student surveillance presumably to better prepare students for the digital economy. But the reality is that education technology or “ed tech” too often perpetuates austerity, structural racism, and the privatization of public universities under the guise of solving problems. 

Weinberg writes about predictive analytics that divert students to certain degree paths, data brokers, how student learning software tracks student activity and behavior, automated exam proctoring that uses facial recognition, and the rise of student wellness technologies. These measures are undertaken in the name of improving student success metrics and outcomes. But schools are cutting the proven and effective programs run by real people in order to usher in technology-based solutions. Ed tech is often marketed as a cost-saving solution, but these technologies are quite costly themselves. Weinberg’s research shows how ed tech and austerity go hand in hand. 

Students really aren’t aware of how their institutions are tracking them, even before they matriculate, says Weinberg. She traces how, in practice, FERPA actually enables public-private information sharing and says we need more transparency about student data and work. The rise of ed tech in higher education is possible because we’ve romanticized technology and students aren’t invited to the conversation. 

Weinberg also tracks the resistance to ed tech, from community organizing and policy efforts that seek to “turn back the clock” on digital technologies in education. She’s seen students successfully fight to get predatory technology off their campuses. Weinberg advocates slowing down to allow the time and space for democratic process and deliberation.

Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support.

Lindsay Weinberg is a clinical assistant professor and the Director of the Tech Justice Lab in the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue University.

Featured image of the cover of Smart University: Student Surveillance in the Digital Age by Lindsay Weinberg. 

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