Welcome to episode 57 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 12, 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 Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed takeaways and “tired edtech trends” from the 2017 ISTE Conference in San Antonio. They demonstrated the new “Seeing AI” app from Microsoft, which amazingly has been FIRST released for iOS / iPhone / iPad, and discussed several noteworthy and recent podcasts, videos and articles relating to artificial intelligence. Other addressed topics included Google’s new integrated Drive & Photos ‘Backup & Sync’ app, a recent study finding the mere presence of a cell phone reduces brain power, #FontGate in Pakistan, a tragic story of attempted YouTube stardom, and reviews of the new Microsoft laptop. Geeks of the week included “Gypsy Guide” for iOS driving tours, the web series “Do Not Track,” and the amazing slide collection (for PowerPoint and Google Slides) SlideModel.com. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date on upcoming shows! Next week we will have a special episode focusing specifically on Net Neutrality. If you are a US citizen, but sure to visit www.savetheinternet.com NOW to contact both the FCC and your elected officials in Washington to voice your support for Net Neutrality and opposition to proposed regulations which would fundamentally harm the Internet as we know and use it today. Make your voice be heard – speak out! Then join us next week as we break down the issues at stake surrounding net neutrality in greater detail.
Welcome to episode 53 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 24, 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 more takeaways from the recent Google I/O event, genomics and biotechnology news involving CRISPR and DARPA, artificial intelligence advances by Google, and updates to the Surface Pro line by Microsoft amidst forthcoming rumors of MacBook updates at WWDC in June by Apple. They also talked about recent “bot blunders” (related to AI and machine learning), ongoing fake news challenges to information validation (thanks Newt Gingrich), a company demonstrating the potential for journalism platforms to make money with a subscription model, and the interesting ways Apple is reinventing its retail experience in malls for post-modern (and online) shoppers. Geeks of the week included the Burstio app for iOS (Wes) and the “Amazon Basics” product line (Jason). The next few weeks we’ll be having some guests on the show and may alter our start times, so please follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay updated about changes. As always thanks for tuning in and please share your feedback!
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 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.
Welcome to episode 35 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This was our first show of 2017, starting our second year of live webcasts on YouTube and archived audio podcasts! Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show (as well as some we didn’t have time to discuss.) This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed news coming out of the soon-to-start Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. They also discussed the rise of VPAs (virtual personal assistants), genomics and the potential of CRISPR to not only transform agriculture but also impact a wide variety of medical applications, our need for more family-oriented connection apps, and the recent legislative victory of French workers over the tyranny of work email. They also talked about “The Trump Effect” as described by Walt Mossberg as well as the ability for Google’s DeepMind AI to read lips better than human beings. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming show times. 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.
Welcome to the 2016 EdTech Year in Review, the final episode of the EdTech Situation Room for the year! Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Eric Langhorst (@elanghorst) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed many of the most notable topics and technology news stories from year as they relate to schools, education and teaching. These included fake news during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, artificial intelligence and Google’s new “AI First” strategies, cybersecurity, screentime, 3D printing, and the struggles of Apple with the new MacBook Pro. Geeks of the Week included inexpensive world phones / global GSM phones (Jason), the Photo Scan app from Google (Eric), and the book “Raising the Floor” by Andy Stern (Wes). Check out our shownotes on https://edtechsr.com/links for all referenced articles and resources from the show. Please fill out our listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr to let us know where you’re tuning in from and what you’ve liked from our shows. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date on upcoming shows in 2017!
Jason’s Geek of the Week: Travel with Cheap SIM Cards to Europe! Bring a “world phone” or a “global GSM phone.” Or, if you are on Sprint or AT&T, see if you can get your phone “unlocked” from your carrier. We used this one and this one. Find a cell phone store near where you are staying. Buy a pre-paid SIM. Ask for help using it.
Welcome to episode 31 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 30, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show (as well as some we didn’t have time to discuss.) This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Martin Horejsi discussed the implications of President-elect Trump’s use of Twitter and first direct use of YouTube to communicate with the U.S. electorate instead of calling a traditional press conference. They also discussed implications of our social media dominated news and information landscape, especially as it pertains to journalism and the historic role of journalists to be the “news reporters” and not necessarily the “new analyzers.” They discussed Apple’s recent announcement that “air pods are coming soon” as well as new rumors of an iPad Air 3, and what upgrades or improvements are even possible now in the iPad line beside speed bumps. Jason and Martin also discussed Netflix’ announcement about offline downloads being available for certain shows, and what this might mean for cord cutters at home as well as travelers. Geeks of the week included Amazon’s facial recognition system “Rekognition” (from Jason) and the FLIR Infrared Camera for iOS/Android (from Martin). Check out the shownotes below for links to referenced articles and websites from the show. Also please fill out our listener survey if you have not already!
Welcome to episode 30 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 22, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show (as well as some we didn’t have time to discuss.) This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the challenges of “fake news” continuing to be shared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, and the responsibilities we have to vet and verify articles before passing them on to others. The future of net neutrality in the Trump administration, the rumored end to development of Apple’s AirPort routers, and the impact of both robotics and artificial intelligence on global labor markets were also addressed. As always, Jason and Wes focused on the impact and relevance of these stories for teachers. Please follow @edtechSR for updates on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtechsr as well as on Facebook. If you listen to the show, please submit our listener survey using the shortened link http://wfryer.me/edtechsr which forwards to a Google Form. You can also reach out to Jason and Wes on Twitter to share feedback, questions, or just let them know you’re tuning into the show! If you’re in the United States on holiday this week, have a restful and joy-filled Thanksgiving break!
Welcome to episode 25 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 12, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment, so Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) joined Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) for a lively conversation about the positive power of Internet technologies to connect us to information as well as each other. Discussion also focused on Google’s new Duo videoconferencing and collaboration platform/app, the implications of AI (artificial intelligence) for our lives and our classrooms, and a recent anti-tech rant by educational policy wonk Diane Ravitch. Wes shared a shout-out to the new “Voices of DARPA” podcast, and Miguel reflected on how the outbreak of “predatory academic journals” reminds of the mid-2000’s as blogs exploded and many pundits heralded the end of information trust and credible sources. Miguel’s Geeks of the Week included the OneNote app and OneNote for Teachers, The Microsoft Selfie app (no that’s not a joke, it’s a real app) and Google Duo. Wes’ Geeks of the Week included the free “Simple Footnotes WordPress Plugin” and the amazing “Interactive Current Earth Wind Map” shared last week during landfall of Hurricane Matthew by @thekidshouldsee. Check out past episode shownotes on https://edtechsr.com/links and be sure to follow @edtechSR for updates on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtechsr as well as on Facebook. If you listen to the show, please submit our listener survey using the shortened link http://wfryer.me/edtechsr which forwards to a Google Form. Thanks to our live viewers who joined us for this show! Next week we’re likely to feature some special guests from Maine, and will be moving the show to start two hours earlier at 8 pm Eastern / 7 pm Central / 6 pm Mountain / 5 pm Pacific. Please join us live if you can, give us a shout out if you listen or watch later!
Welcome to episode 11 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 26, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. We’ve been off for a few weeks and we’re glad to be back! This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the evolving role of digital assistants powered by artificial intelligence, Google’s annoucement that the Google Play Store is coming to Chrome OS, and the continuing evolution of machine learning. Other discussion topics included learning experiences which cultivate “grit,” Apple Stock (and Warren Buffett’s response), and the sunset for floppy disks in US Air Force missile silos. Geeks of the week included Google’s Project Aura and the upcoming National Week of Making in the United States, June 17-23, 2016. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to these and other resources, which you can also find on http://edtechSR.com/links. Please follow us on Twitter (@edtechSR) http://twitter.com/edtechSR for updates. We expect to be back on our regular Wednesday night schedule for next week’s show. Hope you can join us live! Whether you listen to us live or in an archived format, we’d love your feedback on the show.
![Mac by [[[Matías]]], on Flickr](https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8474/8111170331_86f1922efd.jpg "Mac by [[[Matías]]], on Flickr")
