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M.E. O'Neill

introverts, Kean University 2021, online education, The Network

Post-Pandemic Education for Introverts

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The global pandemic that effectively shut down our society has obviously been incredibly stressful, but for introverts, being stuck at home has some silver linings. Pearl Subban explores how all this isolation has affected introverts in the article “For introverts, the COVID-19 lockdown has an upside.” Subban explains that working and learning from home means introverts no longer need to engage in “self-monitoring” their behavior or “recharge” after exhausting days surrounded by other people. In addition, many introverts who were […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

The Mechanics of Care

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This week’s readings show how much harm institutions can cause when they ignore the voices of teachers and students. First, there’s Jason Kelley’s “Students Are Pushing Back Against Proctoring Surveillance Apps,” which describes how students in various universities are fighting against restrictive and inequitable test-proctoring software such as Proctorio.  Before I get into too much detail about the pitfalls of this software, I want to mention that I think asking students to take exams at all during this pandemic is […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

How AI Can Generate Cats, Snacks, and “the Carceral”

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I had some fun with AI this week, but I also had some feelings of existential dread as I thought about the dark, wide-reaching implications of this technology. But let’s start with the fun stuff: First, I took the “Which Face Is Real?” quiz a few times. I was able to tell the difference between the real faces and the AI generated ones correctly every time, but it was pretty difficult. When choosing between the faces, I had to rely […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

Diversity, Equity, and Humanity

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I’d like to start this week’s blog by sharing the gif I made of a scene from the Screening Surveillance film “Frames.” This short film shows a dystopian society in which surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology track your every move. It presents an uncomfortably plausible future (in fact, the social credit system the video hints at already exists in China), and it strengthens the points made in this week’s videos about the need for equitably designed facial recognition software […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

Finding a Path through Surveillance Capitalism

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This week, I’ll be attempting to lead us through Shoshana Zuboff’s article “Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization” and her video interview with Channel 4 News “on ‘surveillance capitalism’ and how tech companies are always watching us.” For both my blog and my pathfinding activities, I’ll be focusing mostly on the article, but I’ll occasionally make references to the video, as well.  I’d like to start by deciphering exactly what Zuboff means by the term […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

Persuasion, Politics, and the Post Pandemic University

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In my past couple of blog posts, I’ve mentioned how data collection and a lack of privacy are looming concerns that I try not to think too hard about while I’m using the internet for work, school, and entertainment. I haven’t really been able to articulate exactly why the thought of companies collecting my data upsets me—obviously, I want to keep some parts of myself private, but there’s more to it than that. Zeyneb Tufeki’s TED Talk “We Are Building […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

My Disappointment with the Discussion of Digital Diaries

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I have to be honest; I wasn’t a fan of Chapter Four: “Automated Diaries” in Jill Walker Rettberg’s Seeing Ourselves Through Technology: How We Use Selfies, Blogs and Wearable Devices to See and Shape Ourselves. There are a lot of scary, uncomfortable realities that come with writing “digital diaries”—like privacy concerns and data collection—but in this article, Rettberg doesn’t explore any of those pressing issues. Instead, she spends pages tediously reviewing obsolete “lifelogging” apps by sharing the apps’ taglines and […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

An Alternative Explanation for Our Exhaustion

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Maybe I’m in the minority, but Zoom meetings don’t leave me feeling drained in the way that this week’s readings—“Why We’re Exhausted by Zoom” by Susan D. Blum and “The Zoom Gaze” by Autumm Caines—describe. Of course, I understand why “Zoom fatigue” is a real phenomenon; both Blum and Caines point out how during video conferencing, it’s impossible to make eye contact, frustrating to listen to laggy speakers, and tempting to constantly make real-time adjustments to your appearance—all of which […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

The Internet of Publicity, Bigotry, and Liberty

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I want to start this post by sharing my Daily Create kaleidoscope. This activity was engrossing, and I spent way too much time playing around with the program and trying out different colors. The little red dot in the middle of my finished product gives me 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes, and an AI gone rogue seems to fit the theme of NetNarr.  I spent way too much time playing with this kaleidoscope painter. @ds106dc #tdc3323 #ds106 #netnarr pic.twitter.com/OyXHp8l0MQ— M.E. […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

Unintentionally Inequitable Hybrid Instruction

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“Intentionally Equitable Hospitality in Hybrid Video Dialogue: The context of virtually connecting” by Maha Bali, et al. describes how the VConnecting (Virtually Connecting) community facilitates “hybrid conversations” by livestreaming academic conferences for virtual participants who are unable to attend in person. By practicing “intentionally equitable hospitality,” the VConnecting community encourages historically marginalized and disenfranchised groups to contribute to academic conversations alongside “established scholars.”  I appreciate that Bali, et al. recognize that hospitality must be intentional. It’s easy to say that […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

Closing the Caring Gap and Opening the World

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As someone who doesn’t have any children, reading “The Post Pandemic University and the Caring Gap” by Gabriela Saldanha was eye opening (and it made me extra grateful that my only responsibilities right now are two very easy to care for cats). Saldanha explains how the pandemic is widening the caring gap that already existed between carers—individuals with care-taking responsibilities, such as childcare and household duties—and non-carers. Carers (who are often women and people of color) face unseen discrimination in […]

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Kean University 2021, The Network

Cautious Optimism for Post Pandemic Education

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As both an educator whose first year of teaching was interrupted by a pandemic and a graduate student whose first semester was entirely online, I’m becoming increasingly interested in the relationship between technology and education. The toolbox of digital resources available to teachers and students has been rapidly changing and expanding for years, but the outdated, conservative, and bureaucratic education system hasn’t exactly kept up. The pandemic changed that; suddenly and without precedent, schools were forced to shift instruction entirely […]

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