Here's the product page for CourseSmart Analytics[0], the product referred to in the link.
By my read it's just as bad as the OP suggests; the screenshots even show specific students' names with their "engagement index".
An aggregated view of student engagement seems like it would be quite useful, e.g. "hmm, only 5% of my students are spending more than a minute looking at this really important chart, I should emphasize it in my next lecture". But Panopticon-style policing, and as you say, comfort with that policing -- shudder.
By my read it's just as bad as the OP suggests; the screenshots even show specific students' names with their "engagement index".
An aggregated view of student engagement seems like it would be quite useful, e.g. "hmm, only 5% of my students are spending more than a minute looking at this really important chart, I should emphasize it in my next lecture". But Panopticon-style policing, and as you say, comfort with that policing -- shudder.
(edit - fixed product name)
[0]: http://instructors.coursesmart.com/go/institutions/analytics