Sunday, April 14, 2019
Famous Last Words Week 12: My best story twist!
I added the third story to my Storybook this weekend (Maiyarap) AND I wrote the final Hanuman story which I will also be adding to the Storybook: Hanuman and Pirakuan. This was so exciting: I had an idea last weekend for a twist in the story (bringing Hanuman's mother from the first story here into the final story) ... and it worked! It was one of those things where the idea seemed really good, but of course you never know until you actually write the story. And it worked great! I am so happy about how it turned out, and who knows, maybe someday I will write a Hanuman novel, using material from the Indian traditions and South Asian epics and everywhere. But hey, if I never get around to that (and, eegad, I've got so many things I want to write that I will only get a small fraction of them done...), then at least I will written my Storybook about Hanuman this semester.
It was really nice to have this creative adventure going on because I have been so depressed and angry with what I have been learning about data-mining and machine-learning in education, and about Canvas in particular. I started reading a book by Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, and not only is it beautifully written, it is also incredibly frightening. The transformation she describes towards data and predictive analytics as commodities is exactly what I see happening at Instructure. Is there anything we can do to stop it? I guess not, especially since so many people in the world of education are embracing analytics and automation. Argh! I wrote a data-mongering round-up post this week for the first time, and I will try to do that every week as I am reading and learning about all this (scary) stuff.
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Laura,
ReplyDeleteI love how enthusiastic you are with your own Storybook. It sets a wonderful tone for our class despite the physical separation that is intrinsic to an online platform. I don’t know if you know Marjorie Callahan who teaches in the College of Architecture. She has an infectious enthusiasm in addition to her regular execution of the Socratic method in her instruction style. She is a joy to be around and learn from. In my mind, you are the virtual version of her. It is amazing how your enthusiasm and academic passion read through the barriers of an online platform. With that being said, I am looking forward to reading your best story twist! I am going to book mark it and use it for one of my Project Feedback assignments!
As far as the book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, can’t we stay naively ignorant for just a little longer? Please? Sigh, this looks like in interesting and obligatory read. I agree, the topic in general has some seriously scary implications. I try not to make a habit of fearing the future and change, but how is automation going to really help humanity evolve without a dystopian outcome. Too bad we can’t just cross our fingers and hope for the best.