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Surveillance in Our Schools: Beneath the Friendly Exterior of ClassDojo

posted by martyb on Tuesday January 22 2019, @09:11PM   
from the Quis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes? dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

In a new paper, education researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) say that while the technology may be innovative, ClassDojo encourages an archaic approach to school discipline and neglects a genuinely educational approach to developing behaviour.

Further, they express concern that the app conditions children to accept rising levels of surveillance and control.

"Class Dojo can be understood as yet another data-gathering surveillance technology that is contributing to a culture of surveillance that has become normalised in schools", said Jamie Manolev, a doctoral candidate at UniSA and the study's lead author.

Is ClassDojo helping parents learn what their kids are getting up to at school, or is it normalizing surveillance for students?

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Original Submission

• Re:One of these things is not like the others... (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 22 2019, @10:56PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 22 2019, @10:56PM (#790346)

  You don't seem to understand, man!
  That thing is used by 2nd-grade teacher to reward or warn kids about their behavior, but then they can keep track of it when it's time to sentence you for speaking against the Established Deep State Illuminati Order when you're 25 !
  It's obvious, man ! Teach the kids early that the teacher has some kind of Authority over you, and your actions have consquences ! It's a plot by those giant commie participation-trophy government lovers who are soft on crime ! Totally makes sense.

  I recognize the sarcasm, friend. Well done!

  All the same, teachers today are watched much more closely (and thank goodness!).

  Back when I was a kid teachers were so much less authoritarian. Take Mr. Shapiro, my sixth grade teacher. He would yell and otherwise bloviate at the students, berating and demeaning 11 year-olds for trivial stuff.

  And heaven forbid you should fall asleep in class. He'd motion for everyone to be quiet and then sneak over to the "offender's" desk with a hammer and bang on the desk with the hammer. Many desks had dents from the hammer. I sincerely hope that bullying piece of shit got his comeuppance. That would never fly today.

  Parent