The CTLT was thrilled to welcome ed tech researcher/scholar/writer Audrey Watters to UR on Thursday, Feb. 2 for a day of discussion, public lecture with Q&A and reflection on topics and concerns related to data collection and education technology under a Trump administration. You can access Audrey’s lecture text on her Hack Education website.
The day started with a discussion group involving staff from UR, and we were excited to have attendees from Virginia Commonwealth University, Mary Washington University and Randolph Macon College as well. The discussion involved an exercise of identifying all the methods, tools, etc. that a university uses that collects data on students and employees. The list was quite staggering. Audrey challenged the group to ask the question “Why?” with regards to reasoning on why we collect such data, and why we keep it for so long (in some cases, indefinitely). Many left the discussion with wheels turning (a good thing)! A lunch discussion with Audrey and students followed, which engaged the questions concerning how much students actually know about what data is collected on them and what is done with it. Audrey’s lecture in the afternoon was steeped in the history of data collection, with an eery look back at IBM’s involvement with Hitler’s regime and its data collection practices. We finished the day with a faculty discussion with Audrey on similar topics and concluded the day with a nice reception.
Many thanks go to our social sciences liaison Ryan Brazell, who originally suggested Audrey’s visit to UR, and who also facilitated the day’s group discussions and lecture Q&A. Thanks also to U’s Catering and Events departments for their help in making the day a success!
