EdTech Situation Room Episode 103

Welcome to episode 103 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 15, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed universities deploying smart assistants in student dorms to answer questions, the privacy concerns of smart assistants in educational contexts, and the shortcomings of the latest MacBook Pro laptops relative to Windows-based competitors. Rumors of dual-booting Chromebooks (also booting to Windows), whether or not social media platforms are “publishers,” and strategies to stop or avoid “stalking ads” on social media were also addressed. Social media / fake news controversies over the temporary (7 day) banning of Alex Jones / InfoWars on Twitter, hacker threats to home routers (VPNfilter) and IoT devices, the advent of Fortnite on ALL Android devices (but not via the Google Play Store), and Google’s location tracking of users who turn off location services rounded out the news articles addressed in this show. Geeks of the Week included the Timer Tab app (ad-free), an incredible photo of our sun during a “Coronal Mass Ejection” with the earth shown to scale, and the recent PBS documentary, “Documenting Hate: Charlottesville.” Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.

Shownotes:

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. A University Is Putting 2,300 Echo Dots in Student Living Spaces and What Could Go Wrong? (Gizmodo, 15 Aug 2018)
  9. Resources on Privacy Issues for Smart Assistants in the Classroom: Common Sense Media Privacy (@cs_privacy) Bill Fitzgerald (@funnymonkey) and Susan Bearden (@s_bearden)
  10. 2018 MacBook Pro Owners Experiencing Crackling Audio (PC Magazine; 10 August 2018)
  11. HP, Dell, Microsoft Stay A Step Ahead Of The MacBook Pro: Three Metrics (Forbes, 12 Aug 2018)
  12. Chromebooks May Include Dual Boot Feature to Load Windows 10 (PC Magazine; 13 August 2018)
  13. Platforms Are Not Publishers (Jeff Jarvis, The Atlantic; 10 August 2018)
  14. Twitter suspends Alex Jones for urging people to keep “battle rifles” ready (ARStechnica, 15 Aug 2018)
  15. Are Targeted Ads Stalking You? Here’s How to Make Them Stop. (NYTimes, 15 Aug 2018)
  16. Free FoxIt Reader software (for PDFs)
  17. Inside Twitter’s Struggle Over What Gets Banned (New York Times; 10 August 2018)
  18. Hackers could hijack devices using a laptop’s USB-C charger (TechRadar; 9 August 2018)
  19. Russian Military Spy Software is on Hundreds of Thousands of Home Routers (DefenseOne, 13 Aug 2018)
  20. Hackers account for 90% of login attempts at online retailers (Quartz, 18 July 2018)
  21. Your smart air conditioner could help bring down the power grid (CNET, 14 Aug 2018)
  22. How to Install Fortnite on Android (PC Magazine; 14 August 2018)
  23. Google tracks your movements, like it or not (AP, 13 Aug 2018)
  24. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Timer Tab
  25. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Documenting Hate: Charlottesville (PBS) and This Photo Of A Solar Coronal Mass Ejection Is Beyond Comprehension (Digg, 13 Aug 2018)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 68

Welcome to episode 68 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed today’s exciting Google event and product announcements, with (as always) an eye toward the educational implications of the news. Discussed Google product announcements included the new Pixel2 smartphone, Pixelbuds supporting real-time translation in 40 languages, the updated Pixelbook, the Google Clip Camera, and new Google Home products including the Home Max and Home Mini. Geeks of the week included the Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso (from Jason), an update on the cross-platform video projection option Via Connect Pro, and Google Maps Treks (from Wes). Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!

Shownotes:

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. The 5 biggest announcements from Google’s Pixel 2 event (The Verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  9. Here’s everything Google announced today by (@TechCrunch, 4 Oct 2017)
  10. Behold The Pixel 2, Google’s New Flagship Android Phone (Wired, 4 Oct 2017)
  11. Google’s Pixelbook Is The First High-end Chromebook In Years (Verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  12. Up Close With Pixel Buds, Google’s Answer To Airpods (Verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  13. Google Clips: A mini camera from Google that costs $249 (9 to 5 Google, 4 Oct 2017)
  14. The Google Clips camera puts AI behind the lens (@verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  15. New Google Homes: Google Beefs Up Home Lineup With Home Max, Mini (PC Mag, 4 Oct 2017)
  16. VIDEO: A few new things made by Google (1 min)
  17. VIDEO: TWIT Live Specials 326 – Made By Google (2+ hours)
  18. Google Hardware Is No Longer A Hobby (The Verge, 4 October 2017)
  19. Geek of the Week from Jason: Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso
  20. Geeks of the Week from Wes: Via Connect Pro update,  Google Maps Treks (Example: Pyramids of Giza in Egypt!)