The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is a recent advancement in technology that can read emotions from facial expressions. Many people speculate where it could be used, from marketing to video games. Some might wonder whether it could be used in classrooms, which is a definitive "No." FACS is not valuable to read student's emotional expressions because the classroom shouldn't include emotion, it has better uses elsewhere, and is invasive of privacy.

Emotion shouldn't dictate the lesson in schools. In the passage, Mr. D'Alto quotes, " 'A classroom computer could recognize when a student is becoming confused or bored,' Dr. Huang predicts. 'Then it could modify the lesson, like an effective human instructor.' " (6). Everyone has walked into class one day, seen the lesson and then silently grumbled to themselves. This type of emotion shouldn't change what the lesson is or how it is taught. The goal of teaching techniques is to effectively teach the broadest audience. This type of system would switch up the lesson for the few people who get confused easily, but then it hurts the majority's learning experience. This is why the classroom shouldn't include emotion.

Systems such as FACS have better economical value elsewhere. In the passage, Mr. D'Alto says, "For example, if you smile when a Web ad appears on your screen, a similar ad might follow. But if you frown, the next ad will be different." (6). This is one example of other industries that could utilize this type of technology. In the classroom, there is no economical value of being able to read the students emotions. Mr. D'Alto goes on to say, "The same technology can make computer-animated faces more expressive- for video games or video surgery." These are other industries that would love FACS-like technology. It's a better investment to use FACS elsewhere other than the classroom.

Privacy is held dear by many. FACS can be invasive of this. Some students may wish to save their grief for a counselor, therapy, or simply a designated time to cry. FACS completely disrespects this fact and exposes an individual to everyone else. In the passage, D'Alto quotes, " 'Most human communication is nonverbal, uncluding emotional communication," notes Dr. Huang. 'So computers need to understand that, too.' " (6). This quote implies that computers are not yet able to comprehend whether or not the individual wishes to be "scanned", for a lack of a better term. This can be invasive. Until technology reaches a point until this changes, FACS should stay out of the classroom where students may not wish to have their emotions expressed involuntarily.

In conclusion, FACS is not only worthless, but harmful to the learning quality of students. This is because it has better uses elsewhere, is a breach of privacy and includes emotion into the classroom. FACS is, and may never be suitable for a classroom environment.