Fox news reports this story link about another advancement in e-books that effects us as college students. It’s about a program with e-books that allows professors to see the pages students are reading (and not reading) which in theory will allow professors to see where students are having trouble and focus more on needed areas. This should benefit students, according to the company owner, and create a better educational environment for students.
The main debate that has surfaced from this is if this is too “Big Brother”. This can be debated at length but my question is what are the legal boundaries for this? Even if the professor tells the students to purchase this service I am not sure if the students is forced to our not. The answer I believe lies in the same concept of buying a textbook for class. No, the professor can’t force you to purchase it, but your grade will suffer if you decide not to. It’s most likely the same policy with some differences. The readings in a class are mandatory for any given student to learn the material, however this technology is not essential in learning any given subject. It is an aid and therefore the policy that is with it should be treated as such. It should be optional for a student to use it with no repercussions if they choose not to. It is the students education and they should be able to make the decision if they would benefit from it or not. If it is deemed mandatory by professors it is unjust because it simply is not needed to learn the course.
I definitely do think that this is a bit too “Big Brother” of an approach. If people begin to think that tracking a student’s reading is completely normal and a professor’s right as an instructor, who knows what else will be considered normal to track in the future.
Also, college is a time to hone time management skills. If a student can still succeed in a class without doing all of the reading because he or she needs to focus time on a different class, this student could become penalized with the e-reader data tracking system.