EVENT BLOG #1 - LASER TALK



Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a fascinating event held by LASER Talks featuring three esteemed speakers: Margaret Geller from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Roxana Marachi from San Jose State University, and Piero Scaruffi, a cultural historian. The event was divided into three parts, with Geller speaking on "Mapping the Universe," Marachi presenting on "How Surveillance Capitalism Ate Education for Lunch” and Scaruffi talking about “What's in a Transformer: Why ChatGPT works so well.” I enjoyed all of the speakers’ presentations, but Marachi’s talk stood out the most for me and it reminds me of our course content from Week 3.




Marachi's talk was a stark contrast to Geller's and somewhat related to Scaruffi’s, as she addressed the darker side of technology and education. The creation of technology has opened the window of many possibilities and in this course, we discussed Walter Benjamin's take on technology and its benefit of accessibility and danger of authenticity. Marachi discussed that the use of technology in education holds promise for improving learning outcomes and increasing access to education, but Silicon Valley billionaires hold a potential threat of technocratic vision of education that prioritizes standardized testing and rote learning over creativity and critical thinking and profiting from student data. 





In Week 1, it was our discussion that arts and science have always been separated, especially in the context of education. This potential threat may further separate the two, giving priority to objectiveness than ingenuity. Also, according to data, the academic performance of the lowest income students in the United States lags behind that of the highest income students by approximately three to four years. This gap is something that technology may possibly narrow down, but it should not be done at the expense of one’s privacy.



These educational technologies are also being implemented rather quickly and have outpaced the ability of legal protections to keep up. One issue is that the use of new technologies in education can create new privacy and security risks for students. For example, if educational technology companies collect vast amounts of student data without adequate protections, it could compromise the privacy and security of students' personal information. 




Another concern brought up by Marachi is the potential for emerging educational technologies to exacerbate biases and discrimination. For example, if algorithms used to evaluate student performance or to make admissions decisions are biased in some way, it could perpetuate existing inequalities in the education system. The ideas technology birthed such as these advanced algorithms and blockchains are definitely creative and a platform of new age, but it is important to acknowledge the threat that they hold.




Attending the event was an enriching experience that deepened my understanding of the intersection of space, technology, education, and art. Geller's discussion of the vastness of the universe and the importance of mapping it out through technological advancements was both inspiring and humbling. Meanwhile, Marachi's insights into the role of blockchain technology in education and its potential impact on creativity and decision-making left me with much to ponder. Last but not the least, I learned more about the structure of ChatGPT and the whys and the hows, thanks to Scaruffi. Overall, the event was an excellent opportunity!


Sources:

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Translated by J. A. Underwood, Penguin Books, 2008.

Gupta, Sujata. “Learning Gap between High- and Low-Income Students Remains High.” Science News, 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/learning-gap-rich-poor-students-remains-high#:~:text=The%20average%20performance%20of%20the,decades%2C%20a%20new%20study%20finds..

Hillman, Velislava. “Algorithmic (in)Justice in Education: Why Tech Companies Should Require a License to Operate in Children's Education.” Media@LSE, 14 Dec. 2021, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2021/10/25/algorithmic-injustice-in-education-why-tech-companies-should-require-a-license-to-operate-in-childrens-education/. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Two Cultures.” DESMA9. https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/week-1-lectures?module_item_id=5946318. Accessed 7 April 2023.


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