Brief description of the activity/assessment
Students watch a film from Screening Surveillance, such as Blaxites, and then have a class discussion about data and surveillance in the near future.
Instructions document – Step by step instructions for the students
Facilitator guide (with suggested activities)
Ways to assess student work
Formative (ungraded)
Sample explanation for students about how this activity develops their digital literacies
In light of recent surveillance developments, we need to consider the implications and critically examine the logics and practices within big data systems that underpin, enable, and accelerate surveillance. This activity educates students on surveillance, trust, and privacy in the digital age. Each of these short films focuses on a different aspect of big data surveillance and the tensions that manifest when the human is interpreted by the machine.
Faculty support material
Faculty can either show the film live (around 10 minutes) and discuss, or ask students to watch ahead of time and do a short reflection before coming to class. They could ask students to change one thing about the film to change the ending, either ahead of class, or in small groups during class time.
Average time it takes students to complete this activity
Around 1 hour to watch and discuss.
Necessary tools/technologies
Ability to play video on YouTube.
Sample Applications in Different Disciplines
Creative disciplines may focus on the way the film is made, not just the content.
Additional information for faculty who plan to adopt this resource in their teaching
There are three different films on The Surveillance Studies Centre. One of them, Model Employee, might be useful in a course that focuses on labor in some way, because it is about using surveillance in that context, while the “Blaxites” film is useful in public health contexts, because it is about the use of surveillance in health care.