Welcome to episode 127 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 6, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google’s new Chromebook App Hub website, OpenAI’s decision to NOT share a new AI text generator, and Microsoft’s forthcoming “Windows Lite” operating system. Dipayan Ghosh & Ben Scott’s advocacy to promote intelligent regulation of Facebook and other Silicon Valley companies enabling “precision propaganda” was also highlighted, along with ways outrage over common threats can hijack parents’ common sense. Facebook’s declining US user base, Facebook’s announcement to emphasize point-to-point “ephemeral” messaging, and SpaceX’s recent success launching its Dragon crew module were also discussed. The future of “the technology correction” and our prospects for changing the “Surveillance Capitalism” model of many Silicon Valley companies, implications of the Huawei CFO extradition controversy, and the importance of media literacy in our age of fake news were additional topics. Updates to the PocketCasts app for Android, the addictive math-focused multiplayer app Prodigy, the gloomy prospects for BotNet death in the near future, the importance of unlimited data plans in the forthcoming 5G data environment, and the importance of carefully using “freemium” software platforms at school rounded out the show. Geeks of the week included an 18,000 mAh battery powered Android phone from Energizer, a fantastic video from Linda Yollis (@lindayollis) on improving student blogging quality, and Wes’ planned ATLIS 2019 bootcamp workshop “Filtering the ExoFlood”. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can (normally) at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links.
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- Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
- Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
- Find ideas and activities on the new Chromebook App Hub (Google Blog; 4 March 2019)
- OpenAI Won’t Release AI Text Generator, Branding it Too Dangerous (Digit)
- Microsoft is creating Windows Lite for dual-screen and Chromebook-like devices (The Verge; 4 March 2019)
- This Week in Tech (TWiT) Podcast
- How to make technology a force for good (CNN, 26 Sept 2018)
- Fake news is part of a bigger problem: automated propaganda (Columbia Journalism Review, 22 Feb 2019)
- “Digital Deceit: The Technologies Behind Precision Propaganda on the Internet” (New America, 23 Jan 2018)
- Wes’ GigaOM Vets Twitter List
- How outrage over relatively uncommon threats can hijack parents’ common sense (Washington Post, 5 March 2019)
- Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will shift to emphasize encrypted ephemeral messages (The Verge; 6 March 2019)
- Facebook’s US user base declined by 15 million since 2017, according to survey (The Verge; March 6, 2019)
- Why You Should NOT Quit Facebook or Twitter (Wesley Fryer, 15 January 2019)
- Book: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff (@shoshanazuboff)
- SpaceX launches Crew Dragon on its way to the space station (ArsTechnica, 1 March 2019)
- Tim Cook touts Apple’s commitment to education in meeting with President Trump & others (9 to 5 Mac; 6 March 2019)
- iPhone sales are falling, and Apple’s app fees might be next (AP; 6 March 2019)
- Pocket Casts 7 for Android exits beta w/ Material Theme, improved queuing (9 to 5 Google; 5 March 2019)
- What You Need to Know About the Huawei Court Case in Canada (NY Times, 6 March 2019)
- Huawei CFO suing Canada over December arrest (Reuters, 3 March 2019)
- What is a botnet? And why they aren’t going away anytime soon (CSO Online, 27 Feb 2019)
- Mirai (malware) (English WikiPedia)
- The Ethically Questionable Math Game Taking Over U.S. Schools (Jeff Wise on Medium, 27 Feb 2019)
- Movie: Ready Player One (2018)
- 5G will be crazy fast, but it’ll be worthless without unlimited data (Mashable; 28 February 2019)
- How I Fell Out of Love with the Internet – And how you will too (Avery Erwin, 14 Feb 2019)
- Wes’ Geeks of the Week: “Tips to Ensure Quality Blogging” by @lindayollis and “Filtering the ExoFlood: Strategies for Media and Information Literacy” (ATLIS 3 hour Bootcamp, 14 April 2019, Dallas, Texas)
- Jason’s Geek of the Week: Energizer 18,000 mAh smartphone
