Reflect on ethical and critical issues of digital assessment.
Working in higher education, I've spent quite a bit of time using data to build assessments to create interventions for improving student academic performance. Gathering high school GPA information about students, for example, has been used to predict how students will perform in their college classes. Though I believe there can be benefit from collecting this kind of data, particularly in assessing if a student needs additional support during their transition to college, I do think there can be some ethical concerns that are not often talked about. For example, collecting data that shows a low GPA average for students that graduate from a particular high school can create bias by academic staff before the student has even taken a single class. An article by The Verge discussing the University of Arizona's tracking of ID cards to detect drop out rates noted that algorithms such as this can make generalizations about certain groups of people (Liao, 2018). Just because a student comes from a low income high school doesn't mean they will perform poorly, but these assumptions may already have been made. This article noted that data collected about students is shared with academic staff and really opened my eyes to the potential wide-spread biases these data points can create.
Another privacy concern related to my work that became more apparent from the reading was behavior tracking. As noted in the New York Times article, Privacy Concerns for ClassDojo and Other Tracking Apps for Schoolchildren, "behavior databases could potentially harm students’ reputations by unfairly saddling some with 'a problem child' label that could stick with them for years." (Singer, 2014). An example of this is when a student doesn't show for an appointment multiple times. When a student no-shows for an appointment with an advisor or tutor, this information is documented in their file notes. Advisors can view the number of no-shows a student has had and if done on a consistent base can lead academic staff to consider the student as lazy or just wasting advisor's time. However, there could be numerous reasons why a student may be missing their appointments, from unreliable transportation, family commitments, lack of sleep, demanding work hours, or all of the above. These notes can help provide insight about a student or jog an advisor's memory on previous conversations, but there is a risk of bias and labeling that can come from it as well.
Reflect on receiving feedback.
In continuing to make progress in my CMS assessment, I appreciated the insight I was provided by my peer and by my instructor. The feedback, interestingly, offered different recommendations but did align in that I was more surface level in my use Wix Forums and could get more in-depth. First, my instructor encouraged me to consider how self-regulation and learning goals could be shown by using the Wix Forums. Additionally, I focused more on the affordances of using Wix Forum and could dig deeper into the limitations of this tool. My peer noted that it may be a bigger ambition to create a sense of community on my website with just Wix Forums. He recommended that I consider instances when I connected with other educators and asked if Wix Forum will allow for similar connections to be made. I really appreciated this response because it helps to give me a better perspective in what I want to create. Both recommendations will help me to make improvements to my CMS assessment and challenge my thinking. A drawback to receiving this feedback is if after reconsidering the goals of what I want my users to learn, Wix Forums is not the appropriate tool and I should look for other options. It was interesting to hear two different perspectives, but there is an ethical concern. Having two people review my work, as stated in the previous paragraph, has the potential for bias. Feedback from one individual could influence the feedback provided by the other. This bias, though this did not happen in this instance, could make me feel that one of the reviews was unfair.
Reflect on changes
After reviewing the feedback I received, I would like to find more ways to build community within this my website beyond just Wix Forums. As my peer suggested to consider ways I've enjoyed networking with individuals in my field, I've considered developing peer mentoring groups that users could sign up for. This would provide a way to learn from other instructional designers and build connections for site users. Creating a newsletter that only goes out to subscribers is another way for users to stay connected. A monthly newsletter could also include an interview with an instructional designers, providing insight into the field to more novice designers. Finally, I could provide more professional development activities on the website to incorporate self-regulation and goal planning, which connects more with my Assessment Design Checklist. For example, posting a downloadable document that lists instructional design associations and conferences that users should consider joining for further networking opportunities.
References
Liao, S. (2018, March 12). University of Arizona tracks students ID cards to detect who might drop
out. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/12/17109224/university-of-
Singer, N. (2014, November 16). Privacy concerns for ClassDojo and other tracking apps for
schoolchildren. The New York Times.
Comments