EdTechSR Ep 303 Happy Birthday Google!

Welcome to Episode 303 (“Happy Birthday Google!”) of the EdTech Situation Room from August 30, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week, Dr. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Dr. Wesley Fryer (wesfryer.com/after) discussed a range of technology topics, analyizing the latest news at the intersection of education and technology. They covered the 25th Birthday of Google, developments in artificial intelligence, including Google’s new image generation tool in Google Slides, a watermarking technique from Google to help track AI-generated images, and Ideogram, a powerful new free AI image generation tool Neiffer discovered. Fryer shared insights on military AI, highlighting the US Air Force’s plans to use autonomous drone “wingmen” alongside human pilots. The hosts also talked about upcoming Apple announcements, anticipating the likely release of the iPhone 15. They weighed the potential benefits of switching to USB-C charging and the need for schools to adapt. Social media topics included Facebook’s staff cuts impacting content moderation, lawsuits against tech companies related to student mental health, and the risks of election misinformation with weakened oversight. In other news, hosts highlighted the new US Cybersecurity Trustmark for IoT devices and Google’s plans to integrate AI writing assistance across Chromebooks. For their “Geeks of the Week,” Fryer shared a tutorial on using Voice Memos for student oral history projects, and Neiffer highlighted a deal on the MacBook Air M1, praising its speed and value. The show was live-streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as Facebook Live via StreamYard.com. Please follow @edtechSR on Twitter and @edtechsr@mastodon.education on Mastodon for updates, and join LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can. All shownotes are available on edtechSR.com/links. AI Disclosure: An initial draft of this episode summary was generated using youtubetranscript.com and claude.ai, as well as options for our show title!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter and on Mastodon!
  4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  5. Video version on YouTube
  6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  7. Jason Neiffer (Mastodon: @neif@mastodon.cloud – Twitter: @techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer – wesfryer.com/after
  9. OMG APPLE EVENT
  10. Google is 25 Years Old!!! (Android Police; 8 August 2023)
  11. AI images are getting harder to spot. Google thinks it has a solution (The Washington Post; 29 August 2032)🎁Link
  12. Guy Puts Artist Back Into AI System After He Begs to Be Removed (Futurism , 2 Aug 2023)
  13. Stephen Wolfram on Computational Thinking (Wes’ blog post from 7 Aug 2023)
  14. A.I. Brings the Robot Wingman to Aerial Combat (NY Times, 27 Aug 2023) 🎁Link
  15. AI Image Generation in Google Slides is Here (Flipped Classroom via YouTube)
  16. Google’s “Help Me Write” AI is coming to Chromebooks on a system-wide level (Chrome Unboxed; 25 August 2023)
  17. Following Elon Musk’s lead, Big Tech is surrendering to disinformation (Washington Post, 25 Aug 2023) 🎁Link
  18. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education sues social media companies over mental health impacts (25 Aug 2023) 
  19. The ‘US Cyber Trust Mark’ finally gives device makers a reason to spend big on security (TechCrunch, 23 Aug 2023)
  20. Jason’s Geek of the Week: MacBook Air M1 on Sale! 
  21. Wes’ Geek of the Week: [VIDEO] Sharing Voice Memos (Family Oral History Project)full lesson
Google Birthday Box!” (CC BY 2.0) by clevercupcakes

EdTech Situation Room Episode 100

Welcome to episode 100 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 11, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent announcements from the 2018 ISTE Conference in Chicago, Microsoft’s new Surface Go budget laptop, and the opening of Pandora’s Box for 3D printed guns. Security articles discussed included the worst cybersecurity breaches of 2018 (so far), the importance of never using a USB from an unknown source (including North Korea summit officials), and the potential danger of discarding a used USB flash drive. Google Chrome articles included the launch of the CTL rugged Chromebook, and Neverware’s “Bring Your Old Device” tour, which included an ISTE vendor hall appearance at the Google booth. On the Amazon front, Jason reminded us to look forward to Amazon Prime Day on July 16th, and to consider why Amazon continues to sell lots of tablets in an otherwise lackluster market. Twitter’s recent efforts to delete fake accounts in advance of 2018 midterm elections in the United States was also highlighted. Geeks of the week included a recent episode of the Wired Educator podcast, Wes’ shared podcast subscriptions from PocketCasts, The Scratch Team’s “Getting Unstuck” campaign for 25 days of creative coding, and the recommendation to restart your router to defeat variants of the “VPNfilter” malware outbreak and also optimize your bandwidth performance. Please follow us on Twitter at @edtechSR for updates and for live join links during our Wednesday night shows. Please reach out to us on Twitter if you enjoy the show and let us know you’re listening!

Shownotes:

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. All the Upgrades and Updates From Apple, Google and More at ISTE 2018 (EdSurge; 29 June 2018)
  9. Surface Go Is Microsoft’s Big Bet on a Tiny-Computer Future (Wired, 9 July 2018)
  10. A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora’s Box for DIY Guns (Wired, 10 July 2018)
  11. The Worst Cybersecurity Breaches of 2018 So Far (Wired, 9 July 2018)
  12. What was on a USB fan given at the Trump-Kim summit? Security experts say nothing —  but don’t plug it in. (Washington Post; 3 July 2018)
  13. Ready to ditch your old flash drive? Don’t just erase and recycle (USA Today; 5 July 2018)
  14. CTL Launches The Ultra-Rugged Chromebook NL7X (Chrome Unboxed; 22 June 2018)
  15. Neverware Embarks On “Bring Your Old Device” Tour (Chrome Unboxed; 19 June 2018)
  16. Amazon Prime Day is July 16th! (Android & Me, 3 July 2018)
  17. Why Amazon keeps making tablets when the market has been struggling (Washington Post; 5 July 2018)
  18. Twitter is sweeping out fake accounts like never before, putting user growth at risk (Washington Post, 6 July 2018)
  19. Wired Educator Podcast 105: Wes Molyneux on How to Rock 1:1 Deployment and Professional Development (@WiredEducator)
  20. Wes’ Podcast Subscriptions via PocketCasts
  21. Getting Unstuck: 25 Days of Scratch Challenges
  22. Remember to periodically reboot your home router!

EdTech Situation Room Episode 87

Welcome to episode 87 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 28, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed news from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, net neutrality debate in the U.S. Congress, the forthcoming freemium option in Microsoft Teams, and new Chromebooks from Lenovo. Additional topics included Facebook’s facial recognition features, outlier conspiracy theories focusing on the recent Florida school shooting fueled by social media, and YouTube’s reinvigorated policing of videos required to adhere to community guidelines. Challenges for Android OS security, a possible replacement of Android OS by Google (with Flutter), and the prevalence of “credential stuffing” with online accounts rounded out the show’s main topics. Geeks of the week included a new Google MOOC focusing on AI and machine learning, compatibility of Mac Magic trackpads with Chromebooks, and the free Google Docs Add-On “OrangeSlice: Teacher Rubric.” Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates on our show. Thanks for viewing / listening!

Shownotes:

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. How To Turn Off Facebook’s Face Recognition Features (Wired, 28 Feb 18)
  9. Catfishing (English WikiPedia)
  10. We studied thousands of anonymous posts about the Parkland attack — and found a conspiracy in the making (WaPo, 28 February 2018)
  11. YouTube says new moderators might have mistakenly purged right-wing channels (Verge, 28 Feb 2018)
  12. Embedding a tweet could be copyright infringement, says new court ruling (Verge, 16 Feb 2018)
  13. How to get around the Google Arts & Culture app’s block on Texas and Illinois (Houston Chronicle, 17 January 2018)
  14. The best and worst of Mobile World Congress 2018 (The Verge, 28 Feb 18)
  15. These will be the first cities getting 5G from Sprint and T-Mobile (Techcrunch, 27 Feb 2018)
  16. The Senate’s big fight over net neutrality officially starts today (The Verge, 27 February 2018)
  17. Microsoft’s Slack competitor might get a free version soon (The Verge, 27 February 2018)
  18. Lenovo’s rugged Chromebooks for schools make note-taking a breeze (The Verge, 26 February 2018)
  19. Lenovo’s New Chromebooks Are Official And Priced To Sell (Chrome Unboxed, 26 Feb 2018)
  20. Only two Android brands score reasonably well in analysis of security updates (9 to 5 Google, 28 February 2018)
  21. Is Google quietly laying the groundwork for Android’s demise? (Boy Genius Report, 28 Feb 2018)
  22. Cybersecurity Enforcers Wake Up to Unauthorized Computer Access Via Credential Stuffing (Big Law Business, 20 Feb 2018)
  23. 1Password now lets you see if your password has been leaked (Engadget, 23 Feb 2018) – based on haveibeenpwned.com
  24. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Learn with Google AI: Making ML education available to everyone
  25. Wes’ Geek of the Week: OrangeSlice: Teacher Rubric (via @ericcurts)