Nineteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

With the rise in technology amidst a global pandemic, student surveillance among professors and administrators has become common practice. Google Documents, Canvas, Turnitin, and even basic email platforms all provide opportunities to track students’ academic tasks far beyond the physical space of the classroom. This paper investigates issues of academic technology, surveillance, and power. In particular, I draw on Foucault’s theory of the panopticon to interrogate the surveillance capabilities of Google Drive and the way it extends the authority of the professor and compels students to conform to behavioral standards. I argue that although the use of technology can be useful to student learning—particularly in composition courses where students benefit from clear and prompt feedback on their work—when Google Drive and other forms of technology are used as a surveillance tools, it increases levels of student normalization, self-discipline, and moral development that aligns with dominant ideologies. Ultimately, I argue that the surveillance function of advanced academic technologies undermines the educational mission of the university and perpetuates systems of oppression. It is critical that instructors evaluate their own use of technology through a critical lens that privileges students’ intellectual freedom and development as individuals.