Welcome to episode 89 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 22, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the transition of iPadPalooza into LearningFest, Virtual Reality at SxSW 2018 and in the classroom, and the upcoming Apple Education Event in Chicago on March 27th. Additional topics included Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and the response of Mark Zuckerberg to allegations his social media platform has become “a weapon” posing an existential threat to democracies worldwide. Geeks of the week included the forthcoming movie, “Ready Player One,” and a new Cadillac ad, “Future Cars.” Check our shownotes for links to these and additional referenced articles and websites.
Welcome to episode 88 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 13, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Jennifer Carey (@TheJenCarey) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the admirable way Florida teens have used social media to advocate for political change following the Parkland school shooting, how we can help curb trolling and harassment on Twitter by reporting it when we see it, and how YouTube seems coded to be a radicalizing influence through its recommendation engine. Social media analysis continued with discussion about a recent Wired article highlighting how Russia’s “abuse” of Facebook during the 2016 elections essentially constituted an adept use of the platform as it’s been designed to serve advertisers through micro-targeting, and the ways “the smartphone has become the new bogeyman” for many parents decrying the ills of social media much like parents blaming television watching in the 1980s. The need for expanded digital citizenship conversations at school to include “digital hygiene” including a focus on password managers and two-step verification was discussed, as well as the solution to a recent mystery involving laughing Amazon Alexa smart assistants. A discussion about Apple’s emphasis on privacy but lagging innovation with artificial intelligence and Siri rounded out the discussion, including rumors of a new (and less expensive) MacBook Air laptop coming in the second quarter. Geeks of the week included a discounted laser cutter from Glowforge, Gaggle’s Safety Management service, Slack for team messaging, the new Google Sites, and amazing augmented reality examples from the New York Times featuring Olympic athletes. Check out our full list of links on edtechsr.com/links, and be sure to follow us on Twitter for show updates @edtechSR. Next week special guest Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) will join Wes at our regular show time (9 pm central on Wednesday) as Jason Neiffer continues to hunker down and finish his dissertation this month. Please share feedback by reaching out on Twitter or leaving a comment on our website at edtechsr.com.
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!
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 84 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 31, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the weaponization of information as propaganda via online advertising and what this portends for open / democratic societies, exhortations from leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos relating to education and artificial intelligence, and the financial impact of Facebook’s recently announced changes to its news feed algorithm. Additional topics included the EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and what those privacy directives might mean for schools and educational technology use, Google’s embrace of Neverware, Apple rumors about new processors to power new Macs, dramatic reductions in iPhone 10 production numbers, and Google’s success (as well as struggle) vetting apps and removing those which violate its terms of service. Access all our shownotes (including links to articles we didn’t have time to discuss) on http://edtechSR.com/links and follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates. Thanks for tuning in, please shout out to us on Twitter and consider writing a favorable review of us on iTunes or elsewhere online. We love listener feedback!
Welcome to episode 83 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 24, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the Montana governor’s announcement to require net neutrality respect from ISPs with state contracts, the Hawaii governor’s Twitter password gaffe during the recent false ICBM alert incident, and a series of new Google announcements relating to an IT certification program and cybersecurity spinoff company. Additional topics included new affordable laptops from Lenovo, Acer, and Microsoft targeting the education market, wifi issues with Chromecast and Google Home devices, and some Apple updates on battery throttling, HomePod, and the Siri Assistant who can new read daily news briefings like Google Home and Alexa. The show rounded out with a discussion of new YouTube changes to channel monetization eligibility, the issues raised around “YouTube pranking culture” by the Logan Paul Japan suicide video, and a shout out to Ben Wilkoff’s new “Educator and Student Youtube 1000 List.” Please follow us on Twitter for updates and links to our live shows on Wednesday night on YouTube. Check out the full list of links, including some we did not cover in this episode, on http://edtechSR.com/links.
Welcome to episode 82 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 17, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed upcoming changes to the Facebook news feed, the performance impact of software patches for Meltdown and Spectre, our human tendency to anthropomorphize technologies, and new highlights from CES 2018. Geeks of the week included Google’s Art App (Jason), the Microsoft Launcher for Android and the YouTube Safety Center (Wes). Check out all our links and shownotes, including many articles we didn’t have time to address in this week’s show, on http://edtechSR.com/links – Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edtechSR to stay up to date on upcoming shows. Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes and anywhere else you find us! Remember you can listen to our latest episode on Google Home by simply saying, “Hey Google, play the latest episode of The EdTech Situation Room podcast!”
Welcome to episode 81 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 10, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed important updates on the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerability issues, a few videos and articles focusing on the rise of Artificial Intelligence and the importance of putting ethics into coding, and some update from CES 2018 including the competition between Amazon and Google with smart assistants. The importance of the blockchain and the rise of cryptocurrencies were also discussed, along with a late December CNN Op-Ed advocating for the banning of all cell phones in U.S. middle schools. Geeks of the week included NeverWare for Chrome, Digital Citizenship Conversations (digcit.us) and the newest, blazingly fast FireFox browser from Mozilla with Tracking Protection turned ON. Check out these links in our shownotes, as well as more news links we didn’t have time to discuss on edtechsr.com/links. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter for updates on upcoming shows.
Welcome to episode 80 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 3, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed trends to watch at the upcoming 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (#CES2018), Apple Battery Gate, and hoopla over newly discovered processor flaws posing security risks. Additional topics included recent revelations over how antivirus software (specifically Kaspersky) can be readily manipulated to become spy software, and an article about the effect of social media in reducing adolescent partying. Geeks of the week included an article describing how to host podcast audio on Google Drive, and the best recommended home cable modem from Wirecutter. Check out these links in our shownotes, and even more we did not have time to discuss this week on edtechsr.com/links. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter for updates on upcoming shows.
Welcome to episode 79 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 27, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Beth Holland (@brholland) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed “The 2017 EdTech Year in Review.” The first discussion topic was the misinterpretation of “research” in educational technology and how it leads to editorials about banning technology in classrooms. Secondly, the line between “creepy surveillance” (by social media companies for advertising as well as governmental mass surveillance) and helpful artificial intelligence / algorithm powered information filtering was explored, but definitely not definitively resolved since many of the recent disclosures related to data mining and privacy have multiple facets of benefit and trade offs which make “black and white” conclusions difficult. The third topic of the show was the ways in which Google and Microsoft faced off in educational technology circles in 2017, from the Chromebook to Windows 10 S, to Google Docs and Microsoft 365 (including OneNote). Several additional topics were included in the show planning document (linked in our shownotes) but not addressed because of time limitations. Geeks of the week included $20 Amazon Fire Tablets, ways to view and correct information Twitter has collected and analyzed about your personal account, and great MakerEd / STEM gifts for young people in your life: Makedo and Bloxels. Don’t miss our referenced links, resources, articles and books in our shownotes, as well as the articles and topics we didn’t discuss on our special show planning Google Doc. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter for updates, and tune in next week for our first “regular” show of 2018. Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, and Happy New Year to everyone!
