Rutgers professor to speak on using digital technology in education
By Chelsie Gastright
In a world driven by social media, keeping friends and family up-to-date on everything happening is simpler than ever. If you take a photo with your iPhone during a concert, you can open up the Facebook app and post the photo in less than thirty seconds. With the ability to tell people where you are, whom you are with, and what you are doing at the click of the button, concerns of privacy have never been more prevalent. So when does posting about your new cat and what you had for dinner last night become too much for social media?
On Feb. 9, Dr. Richard Miller, a Rutgers University English professor, will be coming to High Point University to answer that question and many more regarding the growing age of technology and privacy.
“I’ve spent the last thirty years thinking about education and efforts to improve the quality of teaching,” said Miller. “Watching my kids move from kindergarten forward, I have seen first-hand how technology is changing virtually every aspect of their lives.”
In the past five years, however, Miller has been focusing primarily on how the experience of college is changed and transformed by the easy access to the Internet. He calls this “learning in public” because of the lack of privacy in today’s world.
“I am focusing on how activities that were once considered private, including learning, are now subject to being made public at the push of a button. Think of viral videos of professors blowing their stacks in class, or even students posting pictures to Tumblr of their weekend activities.”
Miller also wants to stress that using the Internet does have its consequences. Just like getting a tattoo on your skin, everything you do on the Internet is recorded to the archives and this is what Miller calls a “digital tattoo.”
Dr. Bill Carpenter, associate professor and director of the first year writing department at HPU, also talked about the idea of this “digital tattoo”.
“Just because you delete a photo off of Facebook or Twitter doesn’t mean it’s really gone. Someone, prior to removing it, could have downloaded it to his or her computer. There really is no honest way to know if it’s gone.”
Carpenter also hopes that students understand that Miller will make this presentation and discussion enjoyable and relatable for the college-aged audience.
However, not just scholars have a view on today’s technology and growing use of the Internet. Students are some of the most avid users of the Internet and all its social media options. Being able to utilize technology in a way that helps students learn is key in keeping students engaged.
“I think that the technology usage at HPU is more beneficial than harmful,” said sophomore Connor Bullard. “It has made many tasks, including homework, grading, and organizing much simpler.”
Bullard also mentions that online privacy should fall back on the user, because if you share it on Facebook or Twitter, it will not just be you seeing what you posted.
“Privacy on the Internet rests in what the user is willing to allow be made public. If you give information, expect it to be known by anyone with access to the Internet.”
However, sometimes things are beyond our control. With iPhones, video cameras, and webcams, being able to record even the more private aspects of our lives can be posted to the Internet, and sometimes without us knowing.
Understanding the dangers of this growing technology is necessary for college students. It is also important to learn how to properly utilize the Internet, making it something that benefits your education instead of hinders it.
“While there are endless provisions to establish a sense of privacy on the Internet, the truth is that anything that appears on your screen can be captured and reposted,” said Miller. “I also know that our institutions are founded on the premise that information is scarce, and now it is not.”