Welcome to episode 106 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 5, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) reflected on the 20th anniversary of Google and the 10th anniversary of the Chrome web browser, and the long way we’ve come in the ensuing years. Other topics included “the technology correction” with an excellent article arguing for the breakup of Facebook based on current U.S. anti-trust law, proposed revisions to anti-trust law which could be applied to large technology companies including Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple, and this week’s Congressional testimony by technology leaders in Washington D.C. The ethical dimensions of corporate developed and sold spyware, the question of liability for developers when their spyware is used by governments against human rights advocates and political opponents, and the ongoing advocacy by Western governments for security “back doors” in technology platforms were also discussed. The threat posed by new European copyright laws to the open Internet, Apple’s upcoming event on September 12th and leaks suggesting new iPhone models and a 4th generation Apple watch, and the success of the Google Pixelbook in sparking the availability of higher end Chromebooks rounded out the show’s articles. Geeks of the Week included the GeoMap website and application Relive, and CloudReady by Neverware for breathing new Chrome life into older computers. Check out edtechSR.com/links for all shownotes, including those listed below. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.
Welcome to episode 105 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 29, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the challenges of filtering / censoring Internet content at school and now (in the U.K.) at a national level through ISPs. The privacy perils and potential subpoena conflicts relating to cell phone location tracking, the ethical challenges of “native advertising” in podcasts, rumors of Apple removing 3D touch in forthcoming iPhones, and the security danger of sideloading Fortnight software on Android devices were also discussed. Final topics included the monstrous challenges facing Facebook in moderating user generated content on its platform worldwide for 2 billion people and the way Facebook is adopting a trustworthy scale for users in its fight against fake news. Geeks of the week included the Stikbot Studio app for iOS, Google Assistant’s “Tell me something good” new feature, YouTube’s new built-in screen monitoring / management tools, and the keyboard shortcut Control/Command K in Google Docs to add links. Check out edtechSR.com/links for all shownotes, including those listed below. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.
Welcome to episode 86 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 21, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Apple’s HomePod and the generally negative reviews it hass received in the technology press, Chrome news including PWAs (progressive web apps), and social media’s dark side revealed through the Parkland, Florida, school shooting incident. Additional topics included the need for ethics in artificial intelligence (AI), a recent historical look at AI’s ascendency at Google, and Facebook’s role in the Russia probe / election hack over time. Geeks of the week included Reply, by Google and Textra SMS (from Jason) and Twitter Moments (from Wes). Subscribe to @edtechSR on Twitter for updates.
Welcome to episode 75 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 29, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed rumors on other edtech podcasts that they are “a bit nerdy,” recent Apple security issues with the default root user account, and YouTube with respect to protecting kids and restricting content. Additional topics included the state of email in 2017 and useful apps / email workflow strategies, the amazingly fast new FireFox browser from Mozilla, exciting new announcements for more Android apps on Chromebooks, and the continued march of automation via AI, especially involving trucking. Geeks of the week included the upcoming December 15-31 “Ditch that Textook Digital Summit” (from Wes) and Google Voice (from Jason.) Refer to our podcast shownotes for all referenced news articles and links. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain most weeks on Wednesday night. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechSR.com/links
iReading: Automation could kill 73 million U.S. jobs by 2030 https://t.co/60c1ttlIcG by @USATODAY via @techsavvyteach#edtechSR (This issue is the canary in the coalmine when it comes to the labor force in the United States. We need to prepare for this NOW!) #OklaEd
Welcome to episode 73 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 8, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed how to run Windows software on newer Chromebooks using CodeWeavers’ CrossOver, recent congressional testimony by Silicon Valley leaders, and Twitter’s expanded 280 character limit. Additional topics included the EPA’s recent approval to release genetically modified mosquitoes in 20 U.S. states and the rise of global “Net States.” Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechSR.com/links
Welcome to episode 68 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed today’s exciting Google event and product announcements, with (as always) an eye toward the educational implications of the news. Discussed Google product announcements included the new Pixel2 smartphone, Pixelbuds supporting real-time translation in 40 languages, the updated Pixelbook, the Google Clip Camera, and new Google Home products including the Home Max and Home Mini. Geeks of the week included the Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso (from Jason), an update on the cross-platform video projection option Via Connect Pro, and Google Maps Treks (from Wes). Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!
Welcome to episode 64 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 6, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed rumors of Apple’s September 12th event and expected iPhone updates, enhanced Android app performance on Chromebooks, Gimlet Media’s significant funding round supporting podcasting, and the recent NY Times article about ethics and teacher product promotion. Additional topics addressed included Apple’s newly announced support for network neutrality, pacemakers at risk for hacks, and social media file vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. Geeks of the week included Manoush Zomorodi’s new book, “Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self,” Google File Stream for G-Suite, Plow for socially filtered web news, and Hop as a new/transformative email client. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.
Welcome to episode 63 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 30, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed iPhone 9 rumors, Apple’s recent Emmy Award, CRISPR and human DNA embryo editing (“DNA surgery”), fake news surrounding Hurricane Harvey, and Google’s forthcoming Chromebook Pixel laptop. Additional topics included the newly announced collaboration between Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana and YouTube updates removing black bars on vertical videos. Geeks of the week included the Blue Yeti Mic and a $26 HDMI to Component Video converter with the power to rescuccitate a HDMI-disabled flatscreen TV. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.
Welcome to episode 38 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 25, 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 in-depth the new Chromebook announcements by the Google Chrome team, Samsung and Asus, and Microsoft’s announcement of “Intune for Education,” a cloud-based tool offering functionality to manage Windows10 devices similar to the Administration console in Google Apps for Education (gSuite). They discussed the alarming aggregation of data on millions of U.S. citizens by private companies using innocuous sounding web interactives like “Facebook quizzes.” Topics also included a recent major ransomware security event in U.S. libraries, China’s new crackdown on VPN connections, Walt Mossburg’s reflection on FireFox (the first serious alternative to the dominant Internet Explorer browser from Microsoft), and Trump’s new appointee to lead the FCC who may be hostile to network neutrality. Geeks of the week included resources and tutorial videos to help with USB-C dongle confusion (Jason), a very cool family Raspberry Pi project with local weather (Ben), and TinkerCAD’s 3D design export functionality to Minecraft (Wes). 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 episode 20 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 24, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the ascendency of smartphones as the primary media consumptive screen in U.S. households, NASA’s recent announcement to make all its research openly accessible, Google’s decision to discontinue Chrome apps for Mac and Windows, and Verizon’s continuing metamorphosis from a “baby bell” telco to a global corporate player in digital media. The November 2015 article in the Atlantic by Walter Kirn, “If You’re Not Paranoid, You’re Crazy” was also a catalyst for reflections in the show, as well as NASA’s press release about it’s newly installed docking portal in the International Space Station for commercial space vehicles from SpaceX, Boeing, and other companies. Check out all our podcast shownotes on https://edtechsr.com/links and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edtechSR. Please submit our short (6 question) listener survey using this link: http://wfryer.me/edtechsr
