Welcome to episode 144 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 14, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Congressional interest in addressing the “digital divide” in the U.S. between rural and urban areas, a “sign of the times” story of a teen resorting to the use of IoT devices (including the family refrigerator) to contact friends and followers via Twitter, and the radicalizing influence of YouTube in Brazilian politics. Apple’s MacOS changes warning users of dire consequences if a 3rd party battery is installed in a laptop, falling iPhone sales, and the implications of Apple’s slow transition to services from hardware sales for profits and the education sector were also highlighted. The availability of “Course Kit” for the assignment functions using Google Drive files in LMS platforms like Moodle, the role (and attempted prevented role) of telecommunication services in ongoing civil unrest in both Hong Kong and Kashmir, and the emergence of Harmony OS from Huawei to potentially replace “regular” AndroidOS on Chinese phones were topics rounding on the show. Geeks of the week included AlgoTransparency (a tool providing a window into how YouTube’s video recommendation engine / algorithm works) and an update on CloudReadyHome Addition. This episode was our second show to use StreamYard.com as well as Restream.io to both live stream and archive our show simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as Facebook Live. 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
- America has a terrible digital divide. Elizabeth Warren has a plan for that too. (Recode; 7 August 2019)
- Teen’s tweets from her smart fridge go viral after mother confiscates phone (The Guardian, 13 Aug 2019)
- How YouTube Radicalized Brazil (New York Times, 11 August 2019)
- ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (Next Web, 14 June 2019)
- Apple explains why iPhones now show an ominous warning after ‘unauthorized’ battery replacements (The Verge; 14 August 2019)
- The iPhone now makes up less than half of Apple’s business (The Verge; 30 July 2019)
- Is Your MacBook Pro Allowed to Fly? (PC Magazine; 14 August 2019)
- Apple’s iPhone Nightmare Is Coming True (Forbes, 12 August 2019)
- Course Kit for schools is now Google Assignments with Originality Reports (9 to 5 Google; 14 August 2019)
- Inside Kashmir, Cut Off From the World: ‘A Living Hell’ of Anger and Fear (New York Times, 10 August 2019)
- Move Over Android: Huawei’s Harmony OS Is Plan B, But Could Be Implemented “In Days” If Needed (Forbes, 10 Aug 2019)
- Wes’ Geek of the Week: AlgoTransparency
- Jason’s Geek of the Week: Install CloudReady Home Edition (and Keep Getting Updates from iFixit
