As surveillance technologies expand and authoritarian impulses rise both in the U.S. and globally, digital privacy is no longer a niche concern—it’s an urgent classroom conversation. Join us for this timely Media Education Lab webinar where we’ll unpack the forces shaping our digital lives and explore how educators can help students understand, critique, and protect their privacy. Together, we’ll examine the ways platforms, policies, and power dynamics intersect to track, monitor, and influence behavior—online and off. Through engaging media, hands-on tools, and critical conversations, we’ll equip educators with strategies to help learners become savvy, empowered participants in a networked society. *
Date: Monday, July 7, 2025
Time: 12 pm EST | 6 pm CET | 10:30 pm IST
LOCATION: Register here for the webinar series.
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Required Media (please preview before attending)
EFF Podcast – About Face (Recognition) YouTube (26 Mar 2024)
An audio podcast conversation exposing the risks of facial recognition technologies in public spaces and how local activism can resist surveillance creep.
Tool Spotlight
- Privacy Badger – A browser extension that automatically blocks invisible trackers.
- Block Party – A tool to manage online harassment and protect your mental health on social media.
Optional Media (enrich your learning)
Documentary: United States of Secrets (Part 2 - PBS Frontline)
A critical examination of privacy erosion in the digital age and the challenges of holding power accountable. ("Part 1" is from 2014, "Part 2" is from June 2025)
Podcast: Data Doppelgängers (EFF)
How ad tech builds a shadow profile of you—and how to push back.
Conversation: Edward Snowden on Surveillance (EFF30 Fireside Chat)
A foundational reflection on global surveillance and civil liberties.
Podcast: Dr. Seuss Warned Us
A playful but powerful dive into cultural storytelling and privacy themes.
Podcast: From Your Face to Their Database
A look at how facial recognition disproportionately affects communities and protestors.
Host: Dr. Wesley Fryer
Wesley Fryer, PhD, is a middle school STEM and media literacy middle school teacher at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. As an educational technology “early adopter / innovator” since the late 1990s, Wes shares a variety of resources on social media platforms including BlueSky, Mastodon, YouTube, Linked In, Facebook, TikTok, etc. Learn more about him on wesfryer.com/bio. Watch one of his TEDx talks (or another presentation) via this YouTube playlist.
Please get in touch with us if you want to suggest future Media Club meeting topics to discuss an article, book, podcast, video or any media related to our interests.
Dr. Wes Fryer, Webinar Series Manager | wes.fryer@providenceday.org
* AI Image (for this webinar) generated by Wes Fryer using ChatGPT 4o.