Ignored Subjectivity in the Informational Panopticon: Restricted Classroom Interaction Under Technical Discipline

Abstract

Purpose This article aims to provide a portrait of classroom interactions supported by information technology and discuss the complex impact of technical elements on teaching and the time–space distance of student subjectivity in a technology-dominated world. Design/Approach/Methods Based on Foucault's panopticism, this study examines a smart classroom in East Asia to observe classroom teaching and learning processes; conducts semi-structured interviews with teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders; and analyzes the hidden mechanism of the smart classroom on interaction from the perspective of perceivers. Findings The smart classroom has the distinctive structural features of a Panopticon. Artificial intelligence, which coalesces cultural capital through technological authority, has a significant capital advantage over students, producing a false spectacle of efficient learning. Panoramic surveillance causes the “backstage” of students’ roles to be gradually consumed by the “front” and makes students exhibit “make-work” behavior. Refined information management mechanisms produce invisible digital walls that separate interactive groups, making it difficult for students to obtain sufficient information about the gestures and behaviors of their classmates to interact effectively. Originality/Value This study reveals the ignorance of human subjectivity in the orientation of instrumental rationality by understanding the expressions of witnesses.