First week of the final block – that came round quickly! I was really excited to start this block as I find the topic fascinating.
After commenting on some brilliant artefacts from last week, I delved into the literature for algorithmic cultures. Interesting, but also slightly worrying to me, was the use of data collection in education that integrates ‘bodily events, such as facial expressions, biophysiological responses, or neural signals’ (Knox et al, 2020: 35). Investigating this trend further in my lifestream, I was wondering what significant benefits these technologies have. Can technologies really pick up emotions better than teachers? And even if they do, how would we use the data?
The article also discussed using technology to persuade learners to make better choices, in short ‘nudging’. Tracking of students’ behaviour and emotions can be used to ‘shape students’ choices and decisions’ (Knox et al, 2020: 39). As with all forms of data collection, we need to ask whether the use is ethical and in the students’ best interest. Letting machines make decisions for us, arguably takes away some of the freedom and creativity that graduates will need to be successful in later life.
I also started with my algorithm play after trying out some of these software algorithms. I decided to look into the YouTube recommends algorithm. It will be interesting to see if I can find out what factors other than viewing habits come into play and whether the results can be easily influenced.
References
Knox, J., Williamson, B. & Bayne, S. (2020). Machine behaviourism: future visions of ‘learnification’ and ‘datafication’ across humans and digital technologies, Learning, Media and Technology, 45:1, 31-45, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2019.1623251.
