Welcome to episode 143 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 31, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s proposed “SMART Act” (the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act), the state of adblocking online in mid-2019, and amazing developments in the world of eSports with a recent Fortnight payout of over $30 million for a single tournament. Apple’s quarterly announcements including its continued transition to services for revenue, the implications of those trends for Apple portable hardware in schools, and ChromeOS updates including facial recognition “face unlock” as well as continued changes to default Flash support were also highlighted. Additional headlines analyzed during the show included FaceApp’s terms of service and privacy implications for users, the FTC’s class action lawsuit settlement against Equifax, Google’s banning of certain DIY advertisements for iFixIt, continued calls for smartphone backdoor encryption by the US Department of Justice, and an incredible “classified artificial brain” project underway by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the United States. Geeks of the Week included the “Unreal Mobile” smartphone service, the new website “”Hack the Moon,” and the podcast “Your Undivided Attention.” With the impending demise of “Google Hangouts on Air” for YouTube Live, this was our first 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.
Welcome to episode 142 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 24, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed why data privacy is complicated, the FTC’s $5 billion fine of Facebook, the limitations of SMS for 2 factor authentication (2FA) / multi-factor authentication (MFA), and exciting recent Apollo 11 50 year anniversary moon landing media coverage. Updates to Google’s smartwatch software (WearOS) as well as ChromeOS, Apple’s expected announcement of its new $3000 MacBook portable, the return of MDM-powered parental control apps like MyPact to the iOS App Store, and Apple’s pleas to avoid 25% tariffs on Chinese manufactured electronic components were also highlighted. The increasingly fractured landscape of podcasting (sadly coming to a walled garden paid app near you,) the prospect of “Peak Podcast” time, and Jason’s recent experiences with the wild world of urban electric scooters (where “the repo man” now thrives) were discussed with a remarkable tone of clarity laced with humor. Geeks of the Week included the DarkNet Diaries podcast (@darknetdiaries) and the “Timeline” tool from the Knight Foundation. 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.
Welcome to episode 98 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 13, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed “the day net neutrality died” (and what it means for schools now,) the coming tidal wave of giant media company mergers, and exciting developments in the world of ChromeOS. Jason unveiled his new Google PixelBook laptop, and 72 hours into ownership reports it’s the highest end laptop he’s ever owned. Additional topics included rumors of redesigned Surfacebooks by Microsoft, and Microsoft Office’s new “Fluent” design perhaps influenced by Google. On the Apple front, exciting announcements from WWDC18 including FaceTime for Groups and AppleTV Aerials recorded by the astronauts aboard the International Space Station were highlighted. Additionally, the potential impact of Apple making the “substrate” level of MacOS and iOS compatible was discussed, as highlighted in the WWDC 2018 keynote. Final articles discussed included one about Elon Musk and his noteable entrepreneurial work in so many areas, and charges that the FCC fabricated tales of DDOS attacks during its open commenting period on net neutrality. Geeks of the week included the ZigZag Podcast from Manoush Zomorodi, Saturday’s “Open Mic” show on Classroom 2.0 Live, upcoming “Make Media Camp” workshops, and Jive Voice, a VOiP Cloud-hosted Phone System. Check out all our links on https://edtechsr.com/links for these and all other referenced resources from the show. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates and remember to subscribe with PocketCasts, Stitcher, on YouTube, or wherever you prefer to aggregate your favorite podcasts!
