Is Big Brother Watching Your Child? Probably.
One of the current trends in education is the increasing surveillance of students.
The idea is not new. For several years now companies have sold versions of student monitoring as an educational tool. There were pitches for software that would read facial expressions and eye movement to determine if students were learning. Companies are lining up sales pitches for software that will measure the social and emotional well-being of students. Testing company NWEA is prepared to measure student engagement based on the speed with which they answer multiple choice questions. A Dutch company believes they can accomplish amazing things with audio surveillance of students.
These ed tech wonder-programs overpromise and underdeliver, but while they’ve been struggling to establish their education bona fides, surveillance companies have found another sales pitch for extending their reach into schools.
Florida has been on the cutting edge of this development. After the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School murders, the legislature passed the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School Public Safety Act. The part of the act that got attention at the time was the raising of the CONTINUE READING: Is Big Brother Watching Your Child? Probably.
Parent Coalition for Student Privacy - https://www.studentprivacymatters.org/