The Web is Changing

The increased commercialization of the Internet, specifically the Web, has spawned
some troubling inventions and prompted needed interventions by educators. The Web is
big business, and our online communications and interactions and the data they leave
behind are commodified by big business. Large-scale data aggregators, natural language
systems that code and collect billions of posts, and tracking systems that follow our
every click have fundamentally changed the spaces and places in which we compose,
create, interact, research, and teach.


At the 2015 Computers & Writing conference, the contributors of this webtext spoke in
a Town Hall on topics ranging from the histories, theories, methods, and practices associated
with activism, assessment, education, gaming, and scholarship. The session was well
attended and garnered a lively conversation during the question-and-answer session
between the speakers and the audience.

In response to the rich discussion during the Q&A, Kairos Editor Cheryl Ball invited
the contributors to develop this webtext for the 20th anniversary issue of the journal.
What follows are lengthened treatments of the presentations delivered in May 2015 with
an afterword by contributor Laura Gonzales and Town Hall participant Dànielle Nicole DeVoss.

Contributors

Grayscale of exterior concrete building with three domed cameras

Estee N. Beck

What are writing teachers' responsibilities for teaching surveillance and privacy in curricula?

PC computer lab with blue Microsoft office screens seen from standing perspective at an angle

Angela Crow

How might WPAs think about and work with student data collection?

Activist demonstration before The White House lawn at night with Free the Internet in neon lights

Heidi A. McKee

How does net neutrality figure into writing infrastructures?

Picture of American consulate board with language of no privacy with activists holding a black banner with white print, yes we scan, in front of the board

Colleen Reilly

Where are the alternative online spaces to teach students about privacy and surveillance?

Screenshot of Candy Crush Saga mobile game

Stephanie Vie & Jennifer DeWinter

How are we tracked and surveilled when we play video games?

Picture of IBM's Watson server in its room

Laura GonzalEs & DÀnielle Nicole DeVoss

Afterword: How do educators integrate data analytics in curricula?

Appendix