Heading back to school in our current climate involves an ongoing engagement with a rapidly expanding world of digital technology. From cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to laptop computers, our classrooms are more “mediated” now than at any other time in history.

Professors are being filmed, recorded and repackaged in a number of ways of which they may not be aware and there is currently a shortage of clearly articulated policies and procedures for the incorporation of these technologies in our classrooms, in our offices and in our homes. Here are a few areas that could use closer examination.

Cell Phones & PDAs

The cell phone is not a recent arrival, but most students now have them complete with cameras capable of both stills and video and audio.

Students carry phones to serve a number of purposes. They are accurate timepieces and are a boon to personal safety. They also, however, can be used to cheat on tests by passing silent notes and used as reading devices or as web-capable browsers.

Many — if not most — schools are now considering bans on the use of cell phones in class. Most of the lectures we now attend include an obligatory “please turn off your cell phone” message at the outset.

There are other issues that arise from the use of these phones. Used as recording devices, cell phones are increasingly being used as tools for harassment. Whether for pranks, bullying or sexual harassment, phones are being turned into hostile devices that reach a huge audience through web sites that generate revenue by hosting prurient material.

In most cases these sites will only remove offensive material after an extended legal battle by which time the damage is done.

In Canada and the United States there are currently multiple cases of abuse in negotiation. In some instances, teachers and faculty members have left their jobs or are on disability leave as a result of organized pranks designed to humiliate them.

In the case of student-on-student attacks the problem is even more widespread. We should ask — what are our responsibilities to protect our students and colleagues from this type of harassment?

Laptop Computers

The use of laptops in the classroom is another issue that has many benefits but also brings new concerns. With mounted, rotating cameras, condenser microphones and incredibly large hard-drives, students can silently record everything you say and do in class and then redistribute it.

Here there are two primary concerns: firstly, your lectures are your intellectual property and the copying and distribution of them is illegal. Perhaps more important, your work can very easily be edited or compiled in a “mash-up” that changes what you have said so that it appears you are saying something else. Most laptops shipped today come with free software that makes this very easy. Imagine what might be done with a lecture on Ernst Zundel.

While there are steps faculty can take to protect themselves from slander, often the stigma of accusation is enough to ruin or hamper a career. Too often retractions are smaller than the headlines for which they apologize. There are already many different types of these videos online with sites specifically designed to categorize, rate and share them. Indeed, many sites award points for evaluations, photos and video montage of professors.

Wireless Connections

Another concern with laptops involves the wireless connections most schools now have. Many of us have already had issues with students using these connections to instant message with family or friends during class or browse the internet.

Recently however, legal cases involving complaints about students surfing pornographic sites have targeted the instructor as the individual responsible for what occurs in the classroom. What realistic controls can you place on blocking these activities? How can you be sure your students are not browsing hate sites, pornography or engaging in online gambling during class?

Filters and governors on the connection are one solution, but they often restrict legitimate research over the same link and can cause disputes over academic freedom.

Social Networking Sites

Whether by cell phone, PDA or laptop, peeping technology is being supported by a network of web sites that encourage students to share digital files and provide instructions and examples on pranks they can play in class. Professors who participate in these sites leave themselves and their families open to a whole new type of harassment.

Of course, most of those using this technology are harmless. Last year the Chronicle of Higher Education published a list of their favourite pranks. One of the best was a college lecture highjacked by a musical comedy number. (A quick search for the term “Reach: A Lecture Hall Musical” will uncover the file.) I must admit I love these types of pranks — they point out the fun that can be had with these personal gadgets and remind us that most students who pull these stunts are doing so in the name of whimsy. Still, we need to be aware of the uses — both positive and negative — to which these devices can be put.

Intellectual Property

One of the most dangerous aspects of new technology involves the trespass of institutions, governments and private interests on the intellectual property of scholars. Throughout the world academics are fighting to protect their work from the prying eyes of those who feel anything to do with the digital revolution is somehow inherently public property.

Currently some schools assert the right to confiscate your office computer and claim possession of everything on it. That means everything from your e-mail to years of coursework and lectures to your latest research is up for grabs. In some cases, institutions are attempting to claim the rights to any work you do on your home PC as well.

With increasing pressures to commodify all aspects of the scholarly experience the consequences could be dire. If, for example, you no longer have intellectual property rights to your introductory mathematics course, your institution has merely to post your lectures online, hire a part-time marker and charge tuition for an online course.

In the case of administrative work, more and more meetings are being held by “virtual conference.” In this scenario, overworked academics complete preliminary tasks and revise documents before a face-to-face meeting. Given the sensitive nature of much of this work, the inability to assume any confidentiality eliminates e-mail as an effective means of communication.

Academic Freedom

In the most chilling case of technological invasion, there have been efforts to take ownership of our notes and e-mails. This means our brainstorming notes could be accessed and published by our institutions without our control. Given that scholarly research requires an examination of all sides of a debate, what might the institution find under a file labeled “racism” or “sexism?”

Failure to provide privacy for the purpose of note-taking is tantamount to invading our minds. If we can no longer explore our thoughts through rough drafts and untested hypotheses, we have lost the most fundamental of all academic freedoms.

External sources can also present challenges. Since most web sites and services academics use are hosted in or have connections to the US, any of our work to which they have access is subject the USA PATRIOT Act which allows American security agencies to monitor or seize records and forbids notification to the individual whose records are being scrutinized.

While the legal situation in Canada is less dire, scholars may not wish to have government officials spying on their work, or to have private or public rivals access their research through freedom-of-information provisions.

Issues involving the uses of new technology in the classroom have a huge impact on the way scholars work. We must consider that this technology is now native to our students and their use of it for fun and for learning requires us to adapt.

Consider the rise in plagiarism involving internet sources. In case after case we hear that people today view the world of digital technology as a place where information is free and clear of any encumbrances. These individuals do not feel they are cheating. It seems we are experiencing an epistemological shift in attitudes about information and the way it connects to scholarship.
Technology’s impact will only increase and it is high time scholars come together to organize a set of recommended policies and procedures for dealing with these issues in the classroom, office or home.

Patrick Finn is an associate professor in the department of English at St. Mary’s University College in Calgary.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily CAUT.

Comment

CAUT welcomes articles between 800 and 1,500 words on contemporary issues directly related to post-secondary education. Articles should not deal with personal grievance cases nor with purely local issues. They should not be libellous or defamatory, abusive of individuals or groups, and should not make unsubstantiated allegations. They should be objective and on a political rather than a personal subject. A commentary is an opinion and not a “life story.” First person is not normally used. Articles may be in English or French, but will not be translated. Publication is at the sole discretion of CAUT. Commentary authors will be contacted only if their articles are accepted for publication. Commentary submissions should be sent to Liza Duhaime (duhaime@caut.ca).