Discovering the Downfalls of DyKnow

Sitting in a classroom and doing work is something that all students dread. Often, students get bored and wander off into their own worlds. Other times, especially in educational institutions that give students access to computers or tablets, students tend to get sidetracked, shopping or playing games on their electronic devices instead of doing their work.

Of course, different schools and teachers have varying methods of dealing with students who use their provided technology in ways that they are not supposed to. Particularly, many schools use the software Dyknow, which allows teachers to monitor students’ computers at any given time, even when they are not in their class. This way, teachers can see what students are doing on their computers at all times throughout the school day. Using this software in classrooms is extremely unethical for a variety of reasons.

Most of the time, younger students are not granted the same access to technology as high schoolers. This is not just because they do not need such devices to do their work, but also because most teachers do not trust young children to stay on track when given technology. However, high school students are trusted because they are older, thus they are given tablets and computers to use. If schools trust these students enough to give them tablets, they should not have to monitor students’ activity on them either. High schoolers are old enough to make their own decisions, but programs like Dyknow prevent them from doing so. Teachers’ oversight of laptop activity ultimately will not make a difference in students’ actions because most students who are not on task do not care about getting in trouble. Therefore, Dyknow is of little benefit to students.

Many adults and researchers argue that the current teenage generation is too reliant and dependent on other people. High school is a time when students should prepare for college, a major transition that usually involves moving away from home. If high schoolers are constantly punished for doing inappropriate things on their computers, they may never truly understand why they should not do such things. Rather, they will only attempt to avoid facing such consequences. At this age, students need to learn why they need to stay on track during class instead of only caring about the consequences of getting in trouble.

Dyknow also deteriorates the trust between students and teachers. Students should be able to trust their teachers, especially when they spend five days a week with them for an entire school year. However, this trust is damaged when teachers utilize Dyknow to supervise their students.

Frequently, teachers misinterpret the presence of open tabs on a student’s computer as engagement with unrelated work. When teachers are monitoring students’ computers, it may be difficult to tell what they are doing a lot of the time. Therefore, Dyknow leaves room for teachers to misinterpret what students are doing on their computers.

In addition, some students do not have access to other technological devices at home. Therefore, students may use their computers during the school day to complete tasks which they are unable to do at home, such as buying an item for themselves. It is a complete invasion of privacy for teachers to have the ability to monitor their students’ computers at all times, both inside and outside of the classroom. Also, some computers may contain extremely private information that students do not want their teachers to see, such as personal emails. With Dyknow, teachers can potentially read any email on their students’ computers, so long as it is openly visible on their screen. In such a situation, the teacher is invading a student's personal life, which they can excuse by claiming that they were attempting to ensure that the student was on task.

Dyknow also impacts students' abilities to learn and teachers’ abilities to teach. If students are paranoid about being watched on their computer or teachers seeing what tabs they have open, it takes away from their ability to learn. Also, if teachers are so worried about what students are doing on their computers all the time, it reduces their focus on teaching. As teachers may not be teaching to the best of their ability, students are more likely to drift off-task due to the lack of attention they are receiving in class.

Overall, Dyknow is an invasion of privacy to students, as it creates a distrustful relationship between teachers and students that harms students’ ability to learn. It is a negative tool to have in a learning environment and it should not be used.