The Power of Data and Data Activism

Objectives

  • Students will understand how power works
  • Students will consider how data is used as a tool for wielding power
  • Students will consider how they are personally impacted by power in systems, and in data

Resources

Activity Steps

  1. Now that students have had a chance to collect, clean and analyze data that they collected themselves, in a responsible way, they will revisit the question of how is data collected and used in the world around them?
  2. Play the video titled, “The Power of Data and Data Activism”, from the beginning until 1 minute and 48 seconds. Here is the script and slides that correspond with it.
  3. Instruct students watch the video titled, How to Understand Power video and to answer these questions:
    • How does power impact me adversely?
    • How do I benefit from power, or have power?
    • How could I use power for social change?
    • Then, have students discuss their answers in small groups. Refer to examples linked here.

[TABLE]

  1. Play the video titled, “The Power of Data and Data Activism” from 1 minute and 48 seconds- 1 minute 57 seconds. Here is the script and slides that correspond with it. Tool for wielding power: Data (15 minutes)
    • Now, shift the conversation to how data can be a method through which power is wielded. Ask:
      • In the digital society we live in, how can data be used to support power where people already have it? This can be an exploratory question. They will watch videos below to get some specific examples on how this happens, so this discussion can be pretty open ended without a clear answer to arrive at.
    • After some discussion, introduce the videos they will watch. After each video, students should reflect on the video in their workbook and in dialogue with each other, before moving onto the next one.
      • Clip from The Social Dilemma
      • Clip from WSJ on TikTok (watch until 1:30)
      • Clip on PredPol (watch 5:14 until 8:04)
    • Below are a few suggested formats for how to approach watching the videos:
      • Watch as a class
        • Show each video to everyone at the same time
        • Give 2 minutes for students to write down reflections in their workbooks
        • Give 2 minutes for discussion in small groups
        • Move onto the next video
      • Watch in groups
        • Assign a different video to each group
        • Give time for groups to watch videos on their own
        • Give 2 minutes for students to write down reflections in their workbooks
        • Give 2 minutes for discussion in small groups
        • Have each group report back to the class what their video was about before engaging in a class-wide discussion discussed below

Make sure to watch the three clips above ahead of time. They all deal with topics that personally impact many students, and it’ll be important to be aware of how your students would react to that (whether they’ll respond saying “yeah, that’s my life”, or feel hurt in a way that adversely impacts participation, etc.).

  1. If there is enough time, come back together as a group and discuss what came up in small group discussions before moving into the final reflection
  2. Final reflection:
    • How does the data collection process you engaged in compare to what you saw in the videos above?
    • How can we use the data we collected or can collect to confront the way power is maintained in the videos above?
    • End with these open ended questions. There is no one answer to the questions listed, but some ideas to consider are: 1) Knowing how data is collected about you is a starting point - this module is an introduction to data activism, not a manual on how to engage in it necessarily. 2) The more deeply you engage with consent and interpersonal dialogue as part of learning about people, the more meaningful your reflections about them will be.