Student Monitoring, Safety, and Privacy

In my weekly perusal of education newsletters, I came across a Time magazine article about new attempts to bring AI and machine learning to monitoring student behavior on school devices. While the article focuses on student mental health—suicide prevention in particular—I looked into the companies mentioned therein and discovered that the scope of monitoring efforts is broad and deep. It is a fascinating and discomforting topic, with each company working on a different aspect of student safety with rhetoric to match.

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Frankenstein and Retelling Old Tales

I just finished Frankenstein, which I last read during my British Literature class in high school. It reminded me of the phenomenon of Disney retelling an old story with key details removed and altered to make it kid-friendly,1This most recently came up when running trivia for some friends a couple months ago, when I learned the original written version of Pinocchio ends with the puppet being hanged on a tree. though in Frankenstein this happens in reverse.

Every representation of the monster2Indeed, we all know Frankenstein is the name of the scientist, and he creates an unnamed monster. in popular media that I’m aware of is a green, slow-moving, large man, often with bolts in his neck. In reality, the book shows a monster who learns much about the world by observing a small family in a cottage, eventually becoming literate and quite eloquent. He also possesses superhuman speed, strength, and stamina while requiring only a limited vegetarian diet. It’s a fascinating tale that explores the concept of sin, revenge, and responsibility; most of that is lost in the classic “monster movie”.

I fondly recall the surprise I had at this in high school, and rediscovered a similar enthusiasm reading it a decade later. I wholly recommend Frankenstein to anyone who is willing to wade through flowery British prose from the 1800s.

  • 1
    This most recently came up when running trivia for some friends a couple months ago, when I learned the original written version of Pinocchio ends with the puppet being hanged on a tree.
  • 2
    Indeed, we all know Frankenstein is the name of the scientist, and he creates an unnamed monster.

Elemental, a Pixar Film

I’ve watched nearly every Pixar movie. I have some I entirely adore and will happily rewatch whenever the opportunity presents. The others I still enjoy but they don’t have an ongoing impact on my life. Elemental is firmly in the second category. Its charm and inventive physical humor kept me delighted, and its role as a modern fable about immigration and racism makes it worth watching, but its story had inconsistent pacing with confusing characterization.

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Writing With Care

I read a short dialogue with the previously-mentioned Frederick Hess, in which he complains about researchers intentionally obfuscating their ideas behind a wall of jargon. He argues that plain writing, using diction that is clear and precise, is the ideal way to present ideas. Anything else is grandiose and an attempt at an appeal to authority. While I don’t agree with several details in that discussion, or the flippant attacks hidden among the core of his argument, there is insight worth exploring.

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