Welcome to episode 52 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 17, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed an array of exciting announcements from today’s Google i/o conference, as well as an interesting but disturbing video from the May 10th Microsoft Build Conference perhaps foreshadowing our “privacy free future” powered by ubiquitous surveillance cameras, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Panelists also discussed the recent WCry worm whose ransomeware payload has made headlines and wreaked havoc on unpatched (as well as pirated) Windows-powered computers worldwide. The response of Microsoft’s President, Brad Smith, was a call for national governments to stop stockpiling computer exploits like this one originally developed by the NSA and leaked to the public. Topics also included the possibility of a forthcoming Siri-powered home assistant from Apple (perhaps to be announced in June at WWDC), a new aggregation of compromised 560 million email credentials (yes it might be time to change your password) making it even easier for hackers to ruin your life. Wes also mentioned the ATLIS 2017 session “Copyright & Intellectual Property: Who Owns What Teachers and Students Create in Your School?” in the context of photo sharing of student photos taken at school. Please follow us on Twitter (@edtechSR) to stay up to date on upcoming shows and infrequent show start time changes. Generally you can join us live at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific on Wednesday nights on YouTube Live! Please share feedback with us if you listen to the show, have ideas for future show topics, or have a suggestion for a guest on a future episode.
Welcome to episode 51 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 10, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Apple’s forthcoming (but rumored) “Today at Apple” retail sessions, and a TEDideas article suggesting we replace the term “digital natives” with the terms “digital orphans,” “digital exiles” and “digital heirs.” Additional subjects included the continued growth of the digital home assistant market and the new “Echo Show” product from Amazon, next-generation mesh-based home routers, and privacy articles highlighting surreptitious surveillance smartphone apps using “ultrasonic sounds” and new advice from NIST changing generally accepted safe password recommendations. Additionally, a new video promoting Microsoft’s Minecraft for Education’s Code Builder Tool and Google’s new tools to battle fake news in suggested search results were discussed. Geeks of the week included 5.11 Tactical Bags for Nerds from Jason and the TIDE Podcast (Today in Digital Education) by Dai Barnes (@daibarnes) and Doug Belshaw (@dajbelshaw) from Wes. Please follow us on Twitter (@edtechSR) to stay up to date on upcoming shows and infrequent show start time changes. Generally you can join us live at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific on Wednesday nights on YouTube Live! Please share feedback with us if you listen to the show, have ideas for future show topics, or have a suggestion for a guest on a future episode.
Welcome to episode 50 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 3, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) discussed today’s widespread Google Docs phishing attack, Microsoft’s newly announced Windows-S operating system, new Microsoft laptop announcements targeting the Chromebook market and MacBook users, and recent controversy regarding the website Unroll.me selling anonymized user data to advertisers. They also discussed Mark Zuckerberg’s recent forecast for the future of social media and screens (mixed-reality), a new Kickstarter campaign (Jelly, The Smallest 4G Smartphone), and cybersecurity. Geeks of the week included Google Trips (Jason), the Clips app for iPhone (Wes), and the Pocket Video from iOS (Ben). Be sure to follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates and show date/time changes. Normally we’re LIVE on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific. Please join us live if your schedule permits for our upcoming shows!
Welcome to episode 49 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 26, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Martin Horejsi from the University of Montana discussed Apple’s struggle to keep and win back school users, the new online newspaper from WikiPedia founder Jimmy Wales, and varying perspectives on robotics. Wes Fryer was out on assignment but will return next week. Please follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay up to date about our upcoming show schedule. Thanks for listening (and possibly watching) the EdTech Situation Room!
Welcome to episode 48 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 19, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the implications of Apple’s announcement to make all iLife apps free for both MacOS and iOS, Microsoft’s new licensing strategy for Windows 10 and the “Creator’s Update,” and the potential for Google’s AutoDraw website to be used for sketchnoting inside and outside the classroom. Additional topics included a recent study suggesting kids who use touchscreen devices sleep less at night, a New York Times article on a paper suggesting social media is NOT contributing significantly to political polarization, and the X-Prize victory by an underdog family team who created a “tri-corder” to accurately diagnose thirteen different medical conditions. Jason and Wes also discussed two cell phone company related articles, including Verizon’s announcement to purchase tons of new fiber and bring 1 Gbps connectivity to homes via 5G wireless technology, and T-Mobile’s recent spectrum purchases boosting their LTE network coverage. Geeks of the week included a new Chromebook for Jason (HP Chromebook 13 G1) and upcoming creativity strand presentations for the K-12 Online Conference by Wes. Despite some Fryer home connectivity challenges tonight we made it through the show! Thanks to Peggy, Ben and Simon who joined us live from Arizona, Colorado and Australia! Next week Wes will be “out on assignment” but Jason will carry on with some special guests. Please follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay up to date about our upcoming show schedule. Thanks for listening (and possibly watching) the EdTech Situation Room!
Welcome to episode 47 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 12, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Beth Holland (@brholland) joined Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) for discussions focusing on Anderson Cooper’s recent 60 Minutes Episode “What is ‘brain hacking?’ Tech insiders on why you should care,” new IoT (Internet of Things) home hacking episodes, the federated (and FREE / open source) social networking platform “Mastodon,” and helpful articles on finding a secure VPN to protect your privacy. Geeks of the Week included realtimeboard.com (from Beth), Google Flights (from Jason) and an $18 6 port smart ID USB charging hub (from Wes). Check our shownotes below for all referenced links from the show, which are also available on https://edtechsr.com/links. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates. Next week we’ll be back on Wednesday night at our regular time: 10 pm Eastern, 9 pm Central, 8 pm Mountain, 7 pm Pacific. If you listen to and enjoy the show, please provide us with feedback by submitting our short listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr.
Welcome to episode 46 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Apple’s announced spec update for the Mac Pro, a recent Google sponsored survey indicating teens think Google is cooler than Apple, and a variety of articles and movies tangentially related to intelligence, artificial intelligence, and cyborgs. As usual they discussed continuing improvements to home assistant technologies like Google Home, as well as articles about recent privacy protection rule changes in the United States and their implications for US consumers. Privacy discussions also included Quincy Larsen’s February 2017 post, “I’ll never bring my phone on an international flight again. Neither should you.” Jason shared a shout out to the Note to Self Podcast episode, “Blind Kids, Touchscreen Phones, and the End of Braille?” On the topic of digital distractions, Jason provided an update about his continuing use of the Google WiFi router and hotspot, which now provides potentially helpful parental controls. Geeks of the week included the multi-platform wireless projection streaming solution “Prijector” from Wes (via the @gsfeadmins Episode 12 podcast) and a hearty endorsement of two-factor authentication from Jason , inspired by the Reply All Podcast Episode #91: The Russian Passenger. Check our shownotes below for all referenced links from the show, which are also available on https://edtechsr.com/links. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates. Next week we’ll be back on Wednesday night but will broadcast 2 hours earlier than normal. If you listen to and enjoy the show, please provide us with feedback by submitting our short listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr.
Another Seedlings podcast mini-reunion! Welcome to episode 45 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 29, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was again out on assignment, so Wes Fryer (@wfryer) joined Maine educators Alice Barr (@alicebarr) and Cheryl Oakes (@cheryloakes50) for a discussion about their recent trip to Brazil and experiences at the “Amplifica Conference” in Sao Paulo. Alice and Cheryl also shared some updates about 1:1 learning in their respective schools, and discussed a few recent technology news articles. These included articles about tech moguls who severely restrict their own children’s access to technology and social media, a recent National Geographic (April 2017) article about cyborgs (“Beyond Human”) and recent announcements by Apple about updates to the Classroom app as well as less expensive, entry-level iPads. Check out all our shownotes on edtechsr.com/links, and be sure to follow us on Twitter @edtechSR. Next week we anticipate being back at our “normal time” (10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific) and Jason may make another appearance on the show after a four week hiatus of travel and conferences. Please take a moment to fill out our listener survey, linked in the shownotes, and also reach out to us on Twitter if you listen to and enjoy the show. We’re very interested in and responsive to your feedback! Also turn back to Episode 26 on October 19, 2016, for the first Seedlings mini-reunion on EdTechSR with Alice and Cheryl.
Beyond Human (April 2017, @natgeo magazine – Not available online, just in iPad version and print right now) – about cyborg @neilharbisson – WikiPedia article)
Welcome to episode 44 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 22, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment this week. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Wes Fryer “flew solo” in tonight’s episode which featured discussion about Apple’s new iPad announcements this week, new “Share to Kindle” features in iOS, and Screentime / Digital Citizenship. In addition (as usual) articles relating to security, surveillance, and privacy were discussed, as well as some very insightful (and troubling) articles falling within the topic “Fake News, AI and Technology Dark Arts in Elections.” Wes’ Geek of the Week was the company Securi, which specializes in security hack prevention and hack cleanup for WordPress websites. Please refer to our podcast shownotes for links to all referenced articles, videos, and resources from the show, and take a few minutes to complete our listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr. Tune in next week for a special show with Maine educators Alice Barr (@alicebarr) and Cheryl Oakes (@cheryloakes50) who recently presented at an educational technology conference in Brazil. Next week we will also start 1 hour earlier than normal, at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 6 pm Pacific.
Welcome to episode 43 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 8, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment this week. Carrying the #edtechSR torch forward, Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the lackluster state of iBooks and the “abandonware” status of iBooks Author. They also explored the implications of Vault 7, the WikiLeaks archive of alleged CIA documents which highlights security vulnerabilities in supposed “secure” messaging apps and platforms, as well as the hackability of smartTVs and other iOT devices. Miguel and Wes talked about the educational implications of these announcements, especially as they relate to digital citizenship, privacy, and Constitutional / human rights. Wes briefly highlighted the DNA storage milestone of the past week (215 petabytes per gram) as well as an enlightening article on the future of Apple’s Macintosh computer and various revenue streams. Shout outs were shared by Wes to Susan Bearden’s excellent book “Digital Citizenship: A Community-Based Approach,” Brian Krebs’ book “Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime-from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door,” and the Committed Podcast (a weekly tech podcast.) Miguel’s Geeks of the Week included an excellent smartphone microphone for podcast interview recording (iRig Mic Cast), an amazing web-based audio editor (Beautiful Audio Editor for Chrome), and the book “Digital Media in the Classroom.” Please refer to our podcast shownotes for links to all referenced articles, videos, and resources from the show, and take a few minutes to complete our listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr.
If you're writing about the CIA/@Wikileaks story, here's the big deal: first public evidence USG secretly paying to keep US software unsafe. pic.twitter.com/kYi0NC2mOp
![Mac by [[[Matías]]], on Flickr](https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8474/8111170331_86f1922efd.jpg "Mac by [[[Matías]]], on Flickr")
