In her insightful article, “Understanding and Maintaining Your Privacy When Writing with Digital Technologies“, Kim gives us the inside scoop on how to protect your privacy online. She reveals to her readers that having privacy in the digital world is more than just using a passcode on a device and calling it a day.
We often think of privacy in terms of physical space. We can shut doors, add locks, and invite people in. In the digital world, there is more to consider. Data is recorded anytime we do something on our devices. This data is used by companies to personalize our experience and make the device a little world of our own. However, our agency tends to be limited because of this. If personalization is spot on, it does not allow us to discover new concepts, ideas, or perspectives. In other words, we cannot learn if we do not know anything different.
Additionally, Kim brings to our attention how often we get notifications from apps about products, etc. Information constantly flows to us while we use the web. Oftentimes these notifications and ads are annoying and disruptive when we just want to scroll in peace. So much for online privacy, right? Kim concludes her article by offering some tips to her readers. These tips include how to maintain privacy in the digital world. She says we should gain knowledge about a platform’s data-gathering practices first. This will allow us to gain control over our writing.
My Takeaways on Online Privacy
I had never thought too deeply about this topic before reading this article but now that I have all of this information, it makes me feel uneasy to know that my devices are collecting data on me. I realized that my Netflix suggestions and the ads that pop up on my phone mean that my phone knows me too well. It’s interesting how most people have this misconception that we have privacy when on our devices. It’s also ironic how we lock our doors to get some solitude to then use our phones which is just another space that does not allow for privacy. This article allowed me to view privacy in terms of more than just my physical space. The digital world can be scary and It’s almost like all of this is going on without my consent which is so dramatic but also very valid.
Messy Learning
In Martha Fay Burtis’, “Messy & Chaotic Learning: A Domains Presentation at Keen State College” she talks about LMS. LMS is structured and it is a linear path for learners. At Kean University we use Canvas and everything on here is very straightforward. To give you a glimpse, I usually read the chapter we’re learning about, and then I write a discussion post based on a multi-part question. Lastly, I must reply to one or two classmates. This example shows how with LMS there are very clear steps we have to follow and the finishing product comes out so neat and perfect when this is not how real learning is, it is much more complex and messy and this is the message that Butis is trying to get across.
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