Potentials (and Pitfalls)
of Online Student and Instructor Collaboration
Approaching instruction like a hacker
~ Jon Pickens
Please go to:
http://bit.ly/potential-OC
...the real issue we face today is not whether this new technology can provide us with the means of life in a toil-less society,
but whether it can help to humanise society,
whether it can contribute to the creation of entirely new relationships between man and man
Towards a liberatory technology (1965) Bookchin
A Hacker's Pedagogy
Hacker Ethic* (in short)
- Access to anything which might teach you about the way the world works should be unlimited and total
- All information should be free.
- Mistrust authority—promote decentralization.
- Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not degrees, race etc.
- You can create art and beauty on a computer.
- Computers can change your life for the better.
- Accessibility of teaching materials and tools should be unlimited and total
- All information should be free.
- Mistrust your own authority—promote student direction
- Students should be free from the fear of persecution
- You can create art and beauty in education
- Education can change our lives for the better.
The Allure of Online Collaboration
Hiltz, S. R., & Turoff, M. (1993). The network nation: Human communication via computer. Mit Press.
The Emergency Management Information Systems And Reference Index (EMISARI)
- Time and location independant collaborative actions
- "real-time voting, data collection assignment and reporting, and discussion"
Your Perspective
http://bit.ly/PD-Pad
How & why do you want to incorporate online collaboration?
5. You can create art and beauty in education
Cryptpad can even make similar presentations to Slides.com
The Allure of Online Collaboration
- Convenience
- Save time for class
- Collaborative Learning (Vygotsky)
- Student directed community of learners (Green)
- Low-stakes (Elbow)
- Making the course relevant to students' lives
- Counter-hegemonic? (Warf & Grimes, 1997)
(for me)
Warf, B., & Grimes, J. (1997). Counterhegemonic discourses and the Internet. Geographical Review, 87(2), 259–274.
- Accessibility issues
- Extra work
- Student confusion
- Going off the rails or causing harm
- Social stakes
- Making the course burdensome on students' lives
- Forcing conformity
- So...many...choices...😫
Affordances
Costs
Start with assignments, then tools
Stakes
Sociality
PSYCH 150 Hunter
Social Papers (Beta)
Some questions to consider
1. Accessibility of teaching materials and tools should be unlimited and total
3. Mistrust your own authority—promote student direction
4. Students should be free from the fear of persecution
Is this mobile friendly?
Is it easy/intuitive?
Visual/Auditory impairment friendly?
Level of micromanaging?
Variety of expression?
Is it fun?
How public is participation?
How well do these tools treat us?
What is the potential of harassment?
Yup!
Yes
Mostly
Low
Yes
I think so
Optional
Mostly well
Low
Some questions to consider
1. Accessibility of teaching materials and tools should be unlimited and total
3. Mistrust your own authority—promote student direction
4. Students should be free from the fear of persecution
Is this mobile friendly?
Is it easy/intuitive?
Visual/Auditory impairment friendly?
Level of micromanaging?
Variety of expression?
Is it fun?
How public is participation?
How well do these tools treat us?
What is the potential of harassment?
Yup!
With some help
Yes
Moderate
Yes
Can be
Optional
Well!
Low
Some questions to consider
1. Accessibility of teaching materials and tools should be unlimited and total
3. Mistrust your own authority—promote student direction
4. Students should be free from the fear of persecution
Is this mobile friendly?
Is it easy/intuitive?
Visual/Auditory impairment friendly?
Level of micromanaging?
Variety of expression?
Is it fun?
How public is participation?
How well do these tools treat us?
What is the potential of harassment?
Barely
No
Yes
Moderate
Yes
:-/
Optional
Poorly
Low
4. Students should be free from the fear of persecution
- Feeling secure online is a privilege
- Only as safe as the most vulnerable (herd immunity)
- Instructor choices create or mitigate vulnerabilities
- Securities may become vulnerabilities (data breach)
Undocumented students and ICE
Example:
ICE arrests in NYC +39% in 2017 (Pew, 2018)
Online collaboration and ...ICE?
Example:
ICE builds profiles by surveilling social media
ICE has active contracts with major tech companies to aid in surveillance
Anyone with a database may be pressed-- including NYPD
Holistic approach
Holistic choices
- Balance, not purity
- Informed consent
- Accommodations
Threat Modeling Online Collaboration
A Simple Actor Map
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
YOU
Department
CUNY
Tech Company A
NYS Gov
Fed Gov
College
Internet providers
Other Instructors
Every other individual on the planet
Sorta
5. Education can change our lives for the better.
What tools does my institution support?
How much time/effort am I willing to invest?
Can I work on this with other instructors?
What is the simplest implementation?
goo.gl/zNTXUk