Considering ethics of care in online learning spaces

Abstract

At the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many American universities and colleges abruptly shifted online to reduce the spread of infection. The shift, while framed as a way to accommodate and care for the broader campus community, created new inequalities and exacerbated existing inequities among students, faculty, and staff. Faculty were introduced to forms of technology and digital media used to surveil students, such as anti-plagiarism software, invasive online exam proctoring, and recorded Zoom class sessions. Universities framed the use of technology students during a time of crisis as an act of care, but also engendered spaces of surveillance, distrust, and harm in the digital landscape. Rooted in neoliberal ideologies, care within university digital spaces is framed as an objective or function wherein the university cares about or cares for its students, faculty, and staff, rather than pursuing more equitable, democratic, and socially just models of care ethics. Based on qualitative research conducted on university responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that universities frame surveillance within digital spaces as an act of care, specifically through the antiquated model in loco parentis. We provide recommendations for universities to move towards more equitable care and discuss the ethics of care concerning surveillance in digital spaces.