Welcome to episode 319 (“Tech Titans Testify”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 31, 2024, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week, Dr. Jason Neiffer (aicentrist.com) and Dr. Wesley Fryer (wesfryer.com) delved into a variety of current topics at the intersection of technology, education, and policy. Discussions kicked off with an exploration of the unusual weather patterns affecting the United States, including an unprecedented heatwave followed by a forecast of more snow, showcasing the bizarre weather phenomena exacerbated by climate change. The conversation quickly pivoted to pressing cybersecurity concerns, highlighting FBI warnings about potential Chinese cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure. The episode also covered the testimony of tech CEOs before Congress, where topics ranged from social media’s impact on youth to digital privacy challenges and the responsibilities of tech companies in moderating content. In a lighter vein, Dr. Fryer shared exciting updates from the Webb Space Telescope, offering a glimpse into the universe’s marvels and the scientific community’s latest discoveries. The episode further discussed the rise of artificial intelligence, its implications for education and security, and the innovative uses of AI in creating new educational content and tools. Reflecting on the digital landscape, the hosts touched upon the evolving role of smart speakers and the potential shifts in browser technologies, pointing to a future where technology is increasingly integrated into our daily lives and learning environments. “Geeks of the Week” included a nod to the Hardfork podcast for its insightful analysis of media and journalism’s digital transformation and the Voices of DARPA podcast, shedding light on defense research projects that could influence future educational technologies. Our show was live-streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as Facebook Live via StreamYard.com. Please follow our @EdtechSR page on Facebook, mastodon.education/@edtechsr 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 a custom GPT on ChatGPT, as well as options for our show title! Stay savvy and safe!
Welcome to episode 162 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 15, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Microsoft’s new Edge Chromium web browser, Instagram’s new policy to hide ‘faked’ images, ‘Techlash” against the big tech companies on college campuses, and new research about blue light and sleep with our digital screens. More U.S. states mandating media literacy education, the arrival of WiFi 6 at last, the NSA’s laudable decision to share a zero day exploit with Microsoft, and an update on recent drone formation sightings at night in eastern Colorado were also highlighted topics. On the security front, terrible password advice from the South China Morning Post and an update emergency for FireFox highlighted by U.S. Homeland Security officials were discussed. Boeing employees provided a good case study and reminder for us all about email retention with recently revealed “FAA mocking” messages, SpaceX as the world’s top satellite operator, and a recent critical article in Oklahoma City news about the Norman Public Schools’ laptop initiative rounded out the show. Geeks of the Week included Luke Miani’s YouTube Channel (amazing hacks and repurposing of older MacOS and iOS devices), Twinkly, and the “No Dumb Questions” podcast episode 72 on “How Did Humans Find Hawaii?” Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com. 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. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links.
Welcome to episode 136 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 29, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed school cybersecurity, a shocking iPhone security vulnerability for WhatsApp, NASA’s free media library, and copyright issues in Houston ISD as well as for YouTube Creators. Distorted political videos about Nancy Pelosi, Google’s disappointing move to disable ‘modern browser ad blocking extensions,’ and the new iPod Touch from Apple were also discussed. The availability of “Adobe Premiere Rush” for Android, Chromebook support expiration dates, and projected price increases for cheap Chromebooks were topics rounding out the show. Geeks of the Week included a Google Home podcast mystery, the killer robot documentary, “Slaughterbots,” and the “Against the Rules” podcast, from Michael Lewis. 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 135 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 22, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the threat posed by cyberattacks in the airline industry, a recent ransomware attack on Oklahoma City Public Schools (@okcps), and revelations of Google storing passwords as plaintext for over a decade. Wes discussed some of his takeaways from a recent Oklahoma education cybersecurity workshop, the importance of cybersecurity jobs, continued troubles with Microsoft Windows10 updates, and the security value of adding a recovery phone number to your Google account. The announced ban of Chinese telecommunications technologies from the US Government this week affecting Huawei (among other companies), the US Supreme Court ruling against Apple involving their App Store monopoly lawsuit, ChromeOS news from Adobe, and some eye opening statistics about eSports and the earnings of young gamers rounded out the show topics. Geeks of the Week included SuperHosts from AirBnB, TextExpander for Chrome, and a great video from Derek Muller (@veritasium) explaining big changes to the YouTube algorithm affecting creators, viewers, and the overall quality of YouTube video content. 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 74 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 24, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent news articles addressing Apple’s MacBook in our post-PC computing environment, net neutrality and the FCC’s upcoming plan to roll it back, as well as various security news reports from the past two weeks. These included WikiLeaks release of CIA cyber weapon source code, the reported impersonation of Kaspersky by CIA hackers, Uber’s $100,000 cover-up of a large cyber breach, and the dangers posed by a WiFi Pineapple. The 10th birthday of the Amazon Kindle was also discussed, including its history of iterative design and function improvements. Geeks of the week included What’s App (from Wes) and fakespot.com (from Jason), a helpful website to identify fake product reviews on Amazon, Yelp, TripAdvisor and the Apple App Store. 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
Welcome to episode 54 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 31, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit https://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week while Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment, returning special guest Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) joined Wes Fryer (@wfryer) to discuss cybersecurity and recommended anti-malware computing solutions. They also talked about efforts to salvage Twitter and Internet discourse by web 2.0 pioneer Evan Williams (@ev), the perils of moderating live video moderation, and recent commercial space milestones by SpaceX as well as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s company, Vulcan Aerospace. For Geeks of the Week, Miguel shared Multcloud.com and CloudHQ.net as solutions for creating backup copies of cloud-based storage files, and Wes extolled TabPilot as a Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform. Next week we’ll be back to our regular live show time (Wednesday at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific) and will welcome special guest, Dr. Scott McLeod (@mcleod). Please follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay updated. 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 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.
