@BreakDrink Podcast, Episode No. 5: Digital Redlining with @hypervisible

In @BreakDrink episode no. 5, we chatted about LOADS of things related to our assumptions about access, policies, and practices in have higher education, specifically with regards to technology and learning. Last year for 2016 #OLCInnovate, I invited Chris Gilliard to share his work on Digital Redlining for a short “Ignite-like” talk. Why do we assume everyone has access to the Internet? Or a device? Or access to the same digital learning resources? What do we know or care about privacy and our data? Thanks for joining us to podcast on the topic, Chris. We suspect you’ll be back to chat more with us sometime about similar issues… and anime, of course

Here are a few show notes, ideas, and resources shared in @BreakDrink episode no. 5 with Chris:

Information Literacy, Filtering & Access

• Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy {key points from Chris in this article}
• “Most people don’t know how the Internet works.” Chris Gilliard So VERY true, we question our own and others digital literacy quite often (rightly, so!).
• What do YOU know about the Internet? Does your institution block certain searches or key search terms in search OR sites? Is your institution “watching” or monitoring what is being accessed AND do you know what you’re not getting?
• How web savvy are you when it comes to “search”? Do you limit your own search results with these Google Search Tricks? Do you know what filters, geofences, and search engine functions limit this search? There are implications to the algorithms and search limitations by Google.
• Who uses Bing? Here are Bing stats I found from 2016 and Google vs. Bing
• Consider these alternative and private search options: DuckDuckGo, StartPage,  & Other Options

Online Access & Web Architecture

Do you KNOW what limitations to your search or access to your knowledge is like at your institution? Understanding Google Search Algorithms & SEO

Journal Access & Journal Databases: What are your resources or limitations? What can you not find that is not accessible on Google Scholar?

1. Scholar Buddy Search – Find a friend at a larger university/college + ask them to search a topic (or borrow a password) to compare search results
2. #icanhazpdf hashtag – Ask a friend on Twitter to email you the closed or pay-for-play publication
3. Alternative creative ways to search: Find a romantic partner at a larger institution; academic citizenship acquisition? Or other ways to search for journal articles and here.

Searching Online & Information Literacy

The process of how information is shared needs to be explained. There are issues with walling-off information, the privatization of knowledge, and those who are moving towards a blockchain in higher ed. – explain what this means for limitations to information/knowledge.Do we teach our students to go beyond the first page hits on the Google search page? Do you know How Google Search Works? Much of our civic online literacy skills could be developed in order to hold ed tech & technology companies more accountable

• Google is violating its own policy on hate speech by providing ads to Breitbart
• Google, democracy, and the truth about internet search
• Pizzagate conspiracy theory

Technologies in higher ed have many inequalities and technology is not neutral. Want to get more political for higher ed & #edtech? I’ll let Audrey Watters take this one: The Politics of Ed Tech Issues in higher ed are real for all of our campus stakeholders — students, staff, and faculty. These issues are around privacy, cyberbullying, trolling data security, and more. We need to be asking more about the technologies to learn what is ethically right and the limitations to these platforms, applications, and digital resources.

For a start, why don’t we learn more about privacy. Perhaps, it’s time we take a “short course” on privacy and what it means to be online, connected now. Check out the Privacy Paradox created by Note To Self. There are 5 podcasts and actions you do to take back your privacy & data. BONUS LISTEN: Privacy, Data Survivalism and a New Tech Ethics

We Need To Ask More About…

• Do we really care about privacy online? Are we putting thoughts into the spaces and places online we are working with our learners?
• Pew Research – State of Privacy in America  & Online Privacy & Safety articles
• Do we know how our learners access educational materials and resources at our colleges/universities?
• Cell-phone dependent students: the learner’s main access for Internet is their mobile device which is problematic as this is their main way to complete coursework, assignments, projects, etc.. (e.g. Educause 2015 mobile study & Case Study from Australia)
• Do we think about the digital divide when considering our practices in higher ed for teaching, service & support?
• Are we thinking about the platforms & apps we’re requiring our learners to use and how these technologies might be “sucking up their data”? We should.

@BreakDrink Books for Recommended Reading:

• Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy
• Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
• The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information

Here’s how to connect with Chris Gilliard to learn more about his work and this topic:

• Blog http://hypervisible.com/
• Twitter: @hypervisible
• BONUS Listen: Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast, Episode no. 130

@BreakDrink Podcasts Shout Outs/Recommendations:

• Keeping it 1600
• Crooked Media
• With Friends Like These
• HumanizED
• Hardcore History
• Hearsay Culture
• Facing Race

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