EdTech Situation Room Episode 143

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.

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. Josh Hawley’s bill to limit your Twitter time to 30 minutes a day, explained (Recode, 31 July 2019)
  9. A lawmaker wants to end ‘social media addiction’ by killing features that enable mindless scrolling (Washington Post, 30 July 2019)
  10. How Phones Made the World Your Office, Like It or Not (New York Times, 31 July 2019)
  11. Fortnite World Cup has handed out $30 million in prizes, and cemented its spot in the culture (TechCrunch, 28 July 2019)
  12. Kyle Bugha Giersdorf 16 wins Fortnite World Cup singles and $3 million (ESPN, 28 July 2019)
  13. Esports celebs, influencers could push prize pools to new heights (ESPN, 28 July 2019)
  14. Adblocking: How About Nah? (EFF, 25 July 2019)
  15. The iPhone now makes up less than half of Apple’s business (The Verge, 30 July 2019)
  16. Apple Card: company reveals credit card launching next month (The Guardian, 30 July 2019)
  17. Google Chrome 76 arrives, makes it harder to use Flash and easier to dodge paywalls (The Verge, 30 July 2019)
  18. Face Unlock Coming Soon To Chrome OS And May Debut With ‘atlas’ Alongside Pixel 4 (ChromeUnboxed, 31 July 2019)
  19. FaceApp: Deleting it doesn’t mean you get your data back (CNN Business, 26 July 2019)
  20. FTC says ‘you will be disappointed’ if you choose $125 for Equifax payout (Verge, 31 July 2019)
  21. Equifax Breach Official Claim Filing Website (FTC)
  22. An Open Letter to the FTC on Google’s Banning of Repair Business Ads (iFixit; 16 July 2019)
  23. Tech firms “can and must” put backdoors in encryption, AG Barr says (ArsTechnica, 23 July 2019)
  24. IT’S SENTIENT: Meet the classified artificial brain being developed by US intelligence programs (Verge, 31 July 2019)
  25. Japan once again shoots a bullet at an asteroid… and the video is amazing (SyFyWire, 29 July 2019)
  26. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Unreal Mobile
  27. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Hack The Moon (@wehackthemoon) – VIDEO: “Deciphering The Vast Scale of the Universe” and Your Undivided Attention Podcast (@HumaneTech_)
  28. Our livestreaming tools: StreamYard.com and Restream.io

EdTech Situation Room Episode 140

Welcome to episode 140 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 26, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed options for live webinars like ours when YouTube’s “Hangouts on Air” goes away later this year, exciting updates to ChromeOS, Google’s addition of media literacy lessons to its free digital citizenship curriculum, and the theoretical cost of an advertisement-free Internet. Additional topics included privacy protecting web browser options, Bill Gates regrets concerning Microsoft’s mobile phone operating system, journalism lobbyists pandering Congress for protective legislation from Google and Facebook, and the perils of public referendums on complicated economic and political issues. Geeks of the week included the “Bunk 1” app which utilizes impressive (and somewhat creepy) facial recognition for summer camp students, and the benefits of following app / service hashtags on Twitter. 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.

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. Hangouts on Air livestreaming on YouTube ‘going away’ later this year (9 to 5 Google; 20 June 2019)
  9. OBS: Open Broadcaster Software
  10. Wirecast Encoding Software
  11. For LiveStreaming Zoom requires $15/month Pro account AND $40/month webinar add-on
  12. Facebook Live streaming via Open Broadcaster Software
  13. Chrome OS 75 Stable version arrives: Here’s what you need to know (About Chromebooks; 26 June 2019)
  14. Chrome OS 75 mounts third-party Android cloud storage to the native Files app on Chromebooks (About Chromebooks; 22 June 2019)
  15. Google Drive Offline Access Expands to All File Types (PC Magazine; 25 June 2019)
  16. No new Google-branded tablets; Pixel Slate is now a collector’s item (About Chromebooks; 20 June 2019)
  17. New (Old) Kid On The Block: Promethean Launches First Chromebox Ahead Of ISTE (ChromeUnboxed; 21 June 2019)
  18. Google’s new media literacy program teaches kids how to spot disinformation and fake news (TechCrunch, 24 June 2019)
  19. Apple Watch shipments grew 22% in 2018, thanks to popularity of the Series 4 (9 to 5 Mac; 25 June 2019)
  20. The cost of an ad-free internet: $35 more per month (Vox; 24 June 2019)
  21. It’s Time to Switch to a Privacy Browser (Wired, 16 June 2019)
  22. Microsoft missed out on $400B by letting Android take on Apple – Bill Gates (9 to 5 Google; 24 June 2019)
  23. Newspapers’ Embarrassing Lobbying Campaign (Politico, 10 June 2019)
  24. Richard Dawkins: Ignoramuses should have no say on our EU membership—and that includes me (Prospect Magazine, June 2016)
  25. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Bunk1 app (@/bunk1camps)
  26. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Follow App/Service Hashtags on Twitter