Welcome to episode 95 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 16, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the recent vote in the U.S. Senate to preserve net neutrality, Android-related updates from Google promoting more frequent security patches by smartphone manufacturers / OEMs, and the forthcoming Oneplus 6 Smartphone. The U.S. President’s reversal of a trade ban on ZTE smartphones in the United States, updates to Gmail, Google Drive, and Google News, and imminently expected announcements about new Chromebooks rounded out the Android and Google-focused news articles in the show. Computer security firm Kaspersky’s decision to relocate from Russia to Switzerland amidst continued concerns over its integrity, NASA’s plan to send a drone helicopter to Mars, and the recent Toronto Declaration calling on algorithms to respect human rights were also discussed headlines. Under the title of “Technology Correction,” the release of over 3500 advertisements funded by Russians to influence the 2016 US Presidential election were discussed, along with articles highlighting how over fifty percent of those ads focused on race and many ads targeted U.S. teens. Cambridge Analytica, which has been in the news constantly in the Facebook / Russian election influence story, declared bankruptcy but has apparently reformed as the company Emerdata. Wes shared his pessimism that these kinds of election psyops are going to continue unabated in the upcoming mid-term and regular term elections in the United States. Microsoft’s work on a $400 tablet to compete with the iPad rounded out the discussed tech news. Geeks of the week included “The Most Useful Podcast in the World” by Popular Mechanics (from Jason), and two from Wes: a YouTube video of Sylvia Martinez INTED2018 Keynote Speech, “The Maker Movement” and the July 15-20, 2018 Summer Institute in Digital Literacy. Check out our shownotes for links to all these articles and referenced resources, and please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates. Stay safe and stay savvy!
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- Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
- Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
- Senate votes to restore net neutrality: Here’s how every senator voted (CNET, 16 May 2018)
- AT&T will ask Supreme Court to cripple the FTC’s authority over broadband (ArsTechnica, 7 May 2018)
- Upcoming Chromebooks: New Devices Aplenty (Chrome Unboxed; 13 May 2018)
- Oneplus 6 Announced With A Glass Back And A Notched 6.3-inch Display (The Verge, 16 May 2018)
- Trump helps sanctioned Chinese phone maker after China delivers a big loan to a Trump project (Vox, 15 May 2018)
- Project Treble is turning out to be more important than we thought (Android Central, 13 May 2018)
- Google is starting to require that OEMs roll out regular security patches (XDA Developers, 10 May 2018)
- Enable hosted S/MIME for enhanced message security (Google Support)
- Google Drive Getting a Redesign, Looks More Like The New Gmail (Chrome Unboxed, 14 May 2018)
- Google News to be revamped, incorporate YouTube videos and magazines (ArsTechnica, 4 May 2018)
- The Internet is going the wrong way (Dave Weiner @davewiner, 10 May 2018)
- NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars to get a bird’s-eye view of the planet (Verge, 11 May 2018)
- Common Sense Supports BOT Act to Identify Bot Accounts on Social Media (@CommonSenseED)
- New Toronto Declaration calls on algorithms to respect human rights (Verge, 16 May 2018)
- Kaspersky Lab relocating infrastructure to Switzerland amid Russian spying allegations (Washington Times, 15 May 2018)
- Russian trolls targeted teens on Facebook with memes (CNet, 11 May 2018)
- House Democrats Release 3,500 Russia-linked Facebook Ads (Wired, 10 May 2018)
- More Than Half of Russian Facebook Ads Focused on Race (NY Magazine, 12 May 2018)
- Cambridge Analytica dismantled for good? Nope: It just changed its name to Emerdata (2 May 2018)
- Microsoft reportedly working on $400 Surface tablets to compete with the iPad (The Verge, 16 May 2018)
- Jason’s Geek of the Week: The Most Useful Podcast in the World by Popular Mechanics
- Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Sylvia Martinez – The Maker Movement – INTED2018 Keynote Speech (@smartinez) and Summer Institute in Digital Literacy: July 15-20, 2018 (@reneehobbs)
