Anonymity

TL;DR


An inherent feature of technology and the internet is the ability to be anonymous. Although this comes with its caveats, how can anonymity impact education?

  • Anonymity can reduce bias and increase consistency in assessment (e.g. a students' identity or track record does not predispose your future academic performance)

  • Anonymity can increase the confidence to participate (e.g. students are empowered to give more honest feedback)

  • Reducing anonymity can decrease incivility in learning scenarios (e.g. anonymous students express uncivil behaviour, particularly in large classes)

Introduction

In essentially any social encounter, humans make innumerable conscious and subconscious snap judgements about each other based on a variety of factors. These factors encompass what we would define as the building blocks of human diversity, and includes everything that makes you, "you": the sound of your voice, the colour of your skin, or your perceived socioeconomic status. How does this natural phenomenon affect education? How can technology be used to mitigate the negative and accentuate the positive affects? This page discusses how the element of anonymity, a fundamental affordance of technology, can be a game changer for both students and educators.

Anonymity & Assessment

  • Anonymous Grading: From the moment children learn to write, the first thing we have them do is write their name and the date on all their homework and tests. However, as educators, let’s consider why it’s important to know the identity of our students in a digital age. Is it possible that anonymity can provide a more consistent and unbiased assessment environment for learners? Here’s what some studies have found on this matter, including assessment bias towards gender, migrant status, as well as race.

  • Discrimination: Anonymity can eliminate discrimination and biases in academic assessment. An aspect of discrimination that is often overlooked (and somehow rarely discussed in the media) is physical appearance. I'm sure we're familiar with the theory that good-looking people have it "easier" in life or make more money (Mears, 2012), but how does this translate to the classroom? A study conducted by Hernández-Julián and Peters (2017) within a higher education learning environment investigated whether or not a student's looks had any effect on their academic performance. The study involved professors ranking the attractiveness level of the students, analyzing grades from online and traditional classroom courses, and subsequently finding that above-average attractiveness increases academic performance in traditional classrooms, particularly in women. As a result, the report concluded that "empirical evidence provides little support for the hypothesis that appearance is a proxy for productive traits but instead suggests that the return to appearance is due to discrimination." In other words, the researchers hoped that physical attractiveness had resulted in other traits that helped these students achieve higher grades, but instead found a case for discrimination.

Anonymity & Participation

  • Social Presence Theory: Why are we generally more confident online than in person? Do you ever find that in-class/workplace discussions are often dominated by a few “extroverted” individuals? The science behind this phenomenon explains how anonymity gives online users a higher degree of control and is explained by the Social Presence Theory (Short et al., 1976). Social presence is the sense of “being with another” person through verbal and nonverbal communication and social cues. For instance, a video Zoom call will have higher social presence than an email, texting is slightly higher than email, and face-to-face interaction offers the highest social presence. Why is this significant? At first glance, we appreciate higher social presence environments because they give us a more wholistic and efficient social experience (e.g. calling someone opposed to messaging). However, greater social presence also come with strings attached (e.g. bias, judgement, intimidation, etc.). Essentially, the anonymity of the internet provides a lower social presence environment that eliminates these potential hinderances and enables more people to voice their opinions.

  • Peer Assessment: Does anonymity really offer tangible benefits in education? Peer assessment should be a familiar use case where anonymity is commonly utilized. This experimental study was conducted within higher learning, and exemplifies of how anonymity reduced negative social effects of peer assessment (e.g. peer pressure and favourtism), and increased positive attitudes and comfort. The study compared the results of three groups: non-anonymous, anonymous, and trained (trained being a non-anonymous group that received special peer assessment training).

Anonymity & Incivility

    • Class Size: Anonymity comes with its shortcomings, and as we are familiar with social media and Youtube comment sections, incivility can be one of them. However, incivility can also be an issue within in-person educational contexts. This study conducted in higher learning accounting classrooms investigated the degree of student incivility and its positive relationship to anonymity associated with class and college size. As incivility has a direct impact on classroom learning, reducing overall anonymity may involve simple counteractions such as group/pair work, learning student names, and establishing a sense of community.

References