The Growing Ban on Graduation Selfies

We all know about selfies, a word that did not exist when I graduated college. Come to think of it, cell phones have come about since I graduated college. During a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee during Christmas last year, I treated my 75 year old father to a facebook posted selfie of the two of us enjoying breakfast at possibly the greatest restaurant in the world… The Pancake Pantry. Dad was not really impressed.

ABC announced a new show titled “Selfie” will premier this fall. A love story of sorts, a love of “likes” by a self-obsessed woman who “After suffering a very public and humiliating breakup, she becomes the subject of a viral video and suddenly has more social media ‘followers’ that she ever imagined – but for all the wrong reasons. She enlists the help of a marketing expert at her company to help her repair her tarnished image.” Not sure how this show can possibly last more than one season.

This year colleges are banning the selfie at graduation. More specifically, they are banning selfies on the podium as soon to be graduates cross the stage for their diploma. Having been involved with the planning and execution of many graduations that were strategically planned, rehearsed and choreographed with military-like precision; an unplanned selfie can throw the entire event into a catastrophic free for all. Not really, but if a significant number of graduates pause for even 10 seconds it can be annoying for the rest of us who are not so narcissistic.

This may be the one event where there are more photos being taken per square foot by proud family and friends as you cross the stage than you could possibly post to your social media page. There is no need for that selfie here.

It could be worse, just think of the problem selfies would have caused when I graduated. Where to store that Polaroid and then the incessant shaking to see if the photo developed before one would leave the stage.

What do you think about this issue? Share with me below or on my social networks.

TV with Rabbit Ears

For those of you reading this that don’t remember black and white television broadcasts, you might be thinking the title of this blog is making fun of Grandpa’s ears, the ones attached to his head. Brief lesson for the younger set; prior to cable and satellite television providers, one would purchase an antenna for their television to improve reception of broadcast signals coming across the airwaves. Most antenna sets had a heavy base and two expandable metal rods, giving them the name rabbit ears. So you could watch local broadcast television for free given your proximity to the television towers broadcasting the signal.

Today in the age of cable and satellite television, most people don’t realize television signals are still broadcast over the air. As Netflix and Hulu erode the traditional broadcast base, a company called Aereo is putting the nail in the proverbial major network coffin. Using technology, Aereo captures these over the air broadcasts and them makes them accessible via the internet to its subscribers willing to pay just $8 per month.

As you might imagine, the broadcast networks such as ABC, NBC and CBS are not happy with this service that takes their highly scheduled programming and makes it available anytime a customer wants it and at a fraction of the cost from cable and satellite providers. They are accusing Aereo of copyright infringement. The Copyright Act states that the owner of a creation has the exclusive right to perform the work publicly. Aereo argues that a broadcast via the Internet to a person’s computer is not a public performance; and The Second Circuit court agreed. This case is now before the Supreme Court and their ruling could impact the way we watch TV.

I am thinking about how this could apply to higher education. What if a college simply took lectures captured and distributed via the college website, MOOCs or social media outlets such as YouTube and then packaged them into a degree program for a fraction of the cost? In theory, you could argue that the content comes from an accredited college and that an amalgamation of accredited content should equate to an accredited degree. And no rabbit ears required!

A few years ago, we started a pilot at eduKan to test a new biometric signature password to ensure that the students who used our online learning system, were in fact the student who should be logging. We’ve successfully launched this technology and have used it to build trust with our faculty and staff as well as deter cheating and unauthorized use.

Yesterday’s Security-Today.com article, by David Rizzo, entitled “The Next Step in ID Verification” talks about the recent security breaches at banks and how institutions need to up their game and positively identify online users with technology that can identify behavior and gestures that are unique to each individual. They contacted me to find out more about our switch to using biometric signature passwords to build trust and meet requirements to positively identify students who take our online courses.

“We have used signature biometrics for nearly three years with more than 10,000 student users, and it has exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Mark Sarver, CEO of eduKan, a consortium of community colleges offering online courses and degrees. “It provides an identity-proofing means that is transparent to our students while respecting their privacy. [It] is available anytime and stays cost-effective for the institution.”

                                                                       Dr. Mark Sarver, CEO, eduKan

Click here to read the complete article.

What are you using to secure your online systems? Share with me below or if you have questions, I’d be happy to share more about our cost effective system from Bio-SigID.