Learning or Surveillance? What Students Say About Technology and COVID-19

“The environment which we are now in is very artificial,” says Maryam Mirza, a master’s student at the University of Sheffield, who has spent the majority of her degree using technology like Zoom and Blackboard Collaborate to communicate with her tutors. “My office hour meetings can be very awkward, and I find that having a typical discussion is hard without commenting on just how difficult this online interaction is.”

The pandemic shows no signs of waning this year, and many universities and K-12 schools alike have found that a remote classroom is the safest option they have in continuing education.

Now in Their Third Semester of Remote Learning, Some Students Wonder Just How Well Technology Has Served Them–or Surveilled Them–During Covid-19