EdTechSR Ep 286 Mom Isn’t Calling

Welcome to episode 286 (“Mom Isn’t Calling”) of the EdTech Situation Room from March 22, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer@mastodon.cloud) discussed the ongoing impacts of artificial intelligence / AI including ChatGPT, the release of Minecraft for Chromebooks by Microsoft, the challenges to actors and voice actors posted by corporate contracts in the age of AI-powered voice creation, and the pending copyright / intellectual property case involving the Internet Archive and publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House. AI-faked images of Donald Trump’s arrest, a new interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and AI voice scams tricking people into believing their loved ones are calling in crisis and need help were also explored. The fate of the pirate eBook site Z-Library and the resignation of an FCC appointee because of a deluge of personal attacks on social media were discussed. Geeks of the Week included the uber-powerful package tracking website 17Track, and a wonderful new post by Steven B Johnson about lessons to be learned from historical innovation mistakes. (ChatGPT and other AI tools were NOT used for this week’s podcast summary, btw!) Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

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 (Mastodon: @wfryer@mastodon.cloud – Twitter: @wfryer ) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Now for sale: Data on your mental health (Washington Post; 13 February 2023) – 🎁Link
  10. AI-faked images of Donald Trump’s imagined arrest swirl on Twitter (ArsTechnica, 21 March 2023)
  11. Sam Altman (English WikiPedia)
  12. Sam Altman Interview Video: OpenAI CEO, CTO on risks and how AI will reshape society
  13. Transcending Political Polarization (Wes Fryer, 21 March 2023)
  14. Google’s new AI chatbot seems boring. Maybe that’s the point. (Vox, 22 March 2023)
  15. “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models,” ARXIV/Cornell University; 23 March 2023
  16. Chat-GPT Pretended to Be Blind and Tricked a Human Into Solving a CAPTCHA (Gizmodo; 16 March 2023)
  17. Thousands scammed by AI voices mimicking loved ones in emergencies (ArsTechnica, 6 March 2023)
  18. Technology Fear Therapy | Wesley Fryer | TEDxUCO
  19. Stop Source-Shaming: Acknowledge Wikipedia in the research process (American Libraries, 1 Sept 2021)
  20. ‘Disrespectful to the Craft:’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI (Motherboard by Vice; 7 February 2023)
  21. Microsoft releases Minecraft for Chromebooks. Who needs the metaverse? (About Chromebooks / Kevin C Toefel, 15 March 2023)
  22. Hachette v. Internet Archive (EFF, date unclear?)
  23. Pirate e-book site Z-Library is back from the dead (Silicon Republic, 14 Feb 2023)
  24. Biden FCC nominee withdraws, blaming cable lobby and “unlimited dark money“ (ArsTechnica, 7 March 2023)
  25. Jason’s Geek of the Week: 17 Track
  26. Wes’ Geek of the Week: “The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two of History’s Biggest Mistakes” by #stevenbjohnson #GiftLink http://wfryer.me/43w 
New Phone” (CC BY 2.0) by Willy D

EdTechSR Ep 285 Sydney is Scary

Welcome to episode 285 (“Sydney is Scary”) of the EdTech Situation Room from March 1, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer@mastodon.cloud) discussed the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI), tech corrections, Google and Apple news, privacy, social media, hardware news, media literacy, and geeks of the week. One significant topic of discussion was OpenAI’s announcement of an API for ChatGPT and Whisper Speech to Text Tech. The hosts noted that this development could result in a host of new tools that utilize the power of the OpenAI platform and ChatGPT, enabling developers to create new and innovative solutions. They also cautioned against blindly accepting the information generated by AI tools and suggested that users fact-check the information they receive. The hosts also discussed the potential impact of ChatGPT on education, specifically on essay writing, assessment, and college admissions. They noted that ChatGPT’s capabilities pose significant challenges to traditional essay writing and assessment methods and that its ability to generate convincing responses could potentially disrupt the college admissions process. Another topic discussed on the show was Facebook’s new fee for verification. The hosts compared this fee to a protection fee and noted that while they would not pay to have a checkmark next to their name on social media platforms, some users might pay the fee to avoid having their data traded. Overall, the hosts emphasized the importance of experimenting with AI tools and sharing the results with the community. They also urged caution when using such tools and stressed the need to fact-check the information they generate. The show provided valuable insights into the latest developments in education technology and their potential impact on the future of education. Geeks of the Week included Camel – Camel – Camel, Durable AI website generator and “The Last Soviet” podcast. AI Use Disclosure: ChatGPT was used to summarize and generate the topics for this show description. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

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 (Mastodon: @wfryer@mastodon.cloud – Twitter: @wfryer ) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Archive.today – website capture (similar to Archive.org WayBack Machine)
  10. OpenAI announces an API for ChatGPT and its Whisper speech-to-text tech (The Verge; 1 March 2023)
  11. Bing’s A.I. Chat: ‘I Want to Be Alive. 😈’ (New York Times; 17 February 2023) 🎁Link – archive.today version
  12. A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled (New York Times; 17 February 2023)🎁Link – archive.today version
  13. Sunday Special: An Episode of ‘Hard Fork’ (NYTimes The Daily)
  14. Microsoft limits Bing chat to five replies to stop the AI from getting real weird (The Verge; 17 February 2023)
  15. Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happy (ArsTechnica, 17 Feb 2023)
  16. Google’s AI chatbot Bard makes factual error in first demo (The Verge; 8 February 2023)
  17. Sci-fi becomes real as renowned magazine closes submissions due to AI writers (ArsTechnica; 21 February 2023)
  18. Inside the Minds of Spiders, Octopuses and Artificial Intelligence (Ezra Klein podcast, 24 Feb 2023)
  19. Episode 409: ChatGPT takes on the smart home (Internet of Things Podcast, Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin C. Tofel, 9 Feb 2023)
  20. Ban TikTok? (Today Explained podcast, 21 Feb 2023) – Mastodon quote on Project Texas
  21. Project Texas: The Details of TikTok’s Plan to Remain Operational in the United States (Lawfare, 26 Jan 2023)
  22. YouTube tests adding podcasts to ‘Create’ button alongside other new podcast tools & analytics (9 to 5 Google; 20 February 2023)
  23. Apple flexes lobbying power as Apple Watch ban comes before Biden next week (The Hill; 17 February 2023)
  24. Will Meta Begin Charging for Verified Accounts?  Yes!  (Snopes; 28 February 2023)
  25. Twitter’s two-factor authentication change “doesn’t make sense” (ArsTechnica, 20 Feb 2023)
  26. Facebook’s new $12 fee is straight out of Don Corleone’s playbook (Washington Post, 23 Feb 2023) #GiftLink
  27. Social media used to be free. Not anymore. (Vox, 21 Feb 2023)
  28. Jason: Camel Camel Camel
  29. Wes: Durable AI website generator and The Last Soviet Podcast
Sydney AI from Microsoft (MidJourney)” (CC BY 2.0) by Wesley Fryer

EdTechSR Ep 282 OpenAI Kenyan Laborers?

Welcome to episode 282 (“OpenAI Kenyan Laborers?”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 25, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer@mastodon.cloud) discussed AI, Apple news, Google news, Twitter news, media literacy, security, connectivity, miscellaneous tech topics, and “Geeks of the Week.” Specific topics included: OpenAI and Microsoft have announced a multi-billion-dollar partnership extension. The Alperovitch Institute published an article discussing a five-day experience with ChatGPT. Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with just 3 seconds of audio. The Observer published an article about the AI ethics war and how it will make the content moderation debate look like a picnic. Apple recently released a new full-size HomePod with new features, and has reportedly delayed AR glasses and is putting all hopes on mixed reality headsets. AT&T will pay out a $60 million settlement to thousands of customers, and there is hope that Google won’t kill off “Assistant Memory.” The DOJ is suing Google for ad dominance and wants to break the company up. The Supreme Court is poised to reconsider key tenets of online speech. There has also been an upturn in affordable Chromebooks and Google Docs has become a better listener with more accurate voice typing tools. On a separate note, white nationalist Nick Fuentes is back on Twitter. (end of summary) The previous show summary was generated by ChatGPT by OpenAI. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

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 (Mastodon: @wfryer@mastodon.cloud – Twitter: @wfryer ) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. OpenAI and Microsoft announce extended, multi-billion-dollar partnership (ArsTechnica, 23 Jan 2023)
  10. Five Days in Class with ChatGPT (Alperovitch Institute, Thomas Rid, 22 Jan 2023)
  11. Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio (Ars Technica; 9 January 2023)
  12. The AI Ethics War Will Make the Content Moderation Debate Look Like a Picnic (Observer; 20 January 2023)
  13. Apple’s full-size HomePod is back with new features (ArsTechnica, 18 Jan 2023)
  14. Apple Reportedly Delays AR Glasses and Puts All Hopes on Mixed Reality Headsets (GizModo, 18 Jan 2023)
  15. Why It’s Okay to Buy A Mac With Only 8 GB RAM (How-to Geek; 17 January 2023)
  16. The new Mac mini is proof that Google needs to rethink Chromeboxes (Android Central; 19 January 2023)
  17. AT&T to pay out $60M settlement to thousands of customers (WBTV Charlotte, 20 Jan 2023)
  18. I really hope Google doesn’t kill off “Assistant Memory” before it sees the light of day (Chrome Unboxed; 31 December 2022)
  19. CES 2023 highlights an upturn in affordable Chromebooks (Chrome Unboxed; 10 January 2023)
  20. Google Docs becomes a better listener with more accurate voice typing tools in its latest update (Chrome Unboxed; 10 January 2023)
  21. The DOJ sues Google for ad dominance, wants to break company up (ArsTechnica, 24 Jan 2023)
  22. White Nationalist and Nazi Nick Fuentes Is Back on Twitter (New Republic, 24 Jan 2023)
  23. Supreme Court Poised to Reconsider Key Tenets of Online Speech (NYTimes, 19 Jan 2023) #GiftLink
  24. OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour to Make ChatGPT Less Toxic (Time, 18 Jan 2023)
  25. You Toot Too, Right? – Twitter API fallout, Section 230, TikTok ban, tech layoffs, AmazonSmile RIP (TwIT Podcast, 23 Jan 2023)
  26. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Dan Willingham’s New Book: Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy
  27. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: AirTable of Pending Journalists for Verification on PressCheck and TextSplit for iOS
Photo by Glenn Horgan on Unsplash

EdTechSR Ep 272 Metaverse Confusion Likely

Welcome to episode 272 (“Metaverse Confusion Likely”) of the EdTech Situation Room from October 12, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the 2022 “Hype Cycle” for educational technology in the United States, the merger of ISTE and ASCD, Tim Cook’s view of the metaverse, the new $1500 VR headset from Meta / Facebook, and Microsoft prescience in creating its tablet computer series. Web apps as a leading attack vector for security attacks, election worker cyber-attacks, and another Alex Jones civil trial judgement were also discussed topics. Geeks of the Week included software enabling MacOS updates for older hardware systems, FEMA’s “Build a Kit” website for emergency preparedness, a $22 portable Chinese-manufactured HAM radio, and a power meter tester for USB-C devices. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  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 (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Microsoft was right all along (The Verge; 14 September 2022)
  10. Hype Cycle for K-12 Education, 2022 (Gartner; 19 July 2022)
  11. Education Professional Development Superpower? ISTE and ASCD Set to Merge (Education Week, 29 Sept 2022)
  12. Tim Cook in new interview: ‘I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is’ (9 to 5 Mac; 30 September 2022)
  13. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg debuts Meta Quest Pro VR headset that will cost $1,500 (MSNBC, 11 Oct 2022)
  14. Meta hasn’t “really learned the right lesson,” whistleblower Frances Haugen says (Vox; 6 September 2022)
  15. Why web apps are one of this year’s leading attack vectors (Venture Beat; 7 October 2022)
  16. Election officials worry about potential poll worker interference this November (NPR, 9 Oct 2022)
  17. Malicious Emails Surged for Election Workers in 2 Battleground States Ahead of Primaries (NextGov, 12 Oct 2022)
  18. Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies (AP, 12 Oct 2022)
  19. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: OpenCore Legacy Patcher (h/t Jason!) – FEMA Ready.org “Build a Kit”BAOFENG UV-5R
  20. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Plugable USB C Power Meter Tester for Monitoring USB-C Connections – Digital Multimeter for USB-C Cables, Laptops, Phones and Chargers

EdTechSR Ep 258 Facebook Kills Podcasts

Welcome to episode 258 (“Facebook Kills Podcasts”) of the EdTech Situation Room from May 4, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google news, Microsoft news, privacy issues, the end of Facebook / Meta’s podcasting platform, Wordle’s impact on New York Times subscription rates, TMobile’s tempting home connectivity offer, and more! Geeks of the Week included “How to view your internal Chrome OS engagement metrics,” a podcast audio recording of Wes’ recent ATLIS presentation, “Teaching About Conspiracy Theories And Media Literacy,” and Google’s Teachable Machine. Check out our shownotes for links to all the articles we discussed, and subscribe to our Substack to receive all the links we discussed and also didn’t have time to talk about in this week’s show in your email inbox! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  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 (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Google Docs’ updated tables are designed for project management (The Verge; 3 May 2022)
  10. YouTube fully rolls out Super Thanks, here’s how to enable it for your channel (9 to 5 Google; 26 April 2022)
  11. Google Docs is reorganizing and shrinking toolbar menus on the web (9 to 5 Google; 26 April 2022)
  12. Google previews I/O 2022 schedule, ‘What’s new’ keynotes, and sessions (9 to 5 Google; 28 April 2022)
  13. Google fires another AI researcher who reportedly challenged findings (updated) (Engadget, 2 May 2022)
  14. Windows 11 is getting a big security upgrade — may require OS reinstall (Tom’s Guide; 7 April 2022)
  15. Could Windows 12 become Microsoft’s first cloud-based operating system? (Tech Radar; 11 April 2022)
  16. T-Mobile 5G Home Internet promises $50/month lifetime rate, $20 off for phone subscribers, covering fees for switchers (9 to 5 Mac; 4 May 2022)
  17. Mental health apps have terrible privacy protections, report finds (The Verge; 2 May 2022)
  18. What Your Period Tracker App Knows About You (Consumer Reports, 28 Jan 2020)
  19. Data Broker Is Selling Location Data of People Who Visit Abortion Clinics (Motherboard, 3 May 2022)
  20. Why You Should Buy the Dumbest TV You Can Find (LifeHacker; 8 April 2022)
  21. Facebook is shutting down its podcast platform after less than a year (The Verge; 3 May 2022)
  22. Buying Wordle brought ‘tens of millions of new users’ to The New York Times (The Verge; 4 May 2022)
  23. Jason’s Geek of the Week: How to view your internal Chrome OS engagement metrics (About Chromebooks)
  24. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Podcast – Teaching About Conspiracy Theories And Media Literacy and Google’s Teachable Machine

EdTechSR Ep 254 ChromeOS Oh My

Welcome to episode 254 (“ChromeOS Oh My”) of the EdTech Situation Room from March 30, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google / ChromeOS news, Microsoft news, Apple news, technology headlines from the ongoing war in Ukraine, BigTech / The “Tech Correction,” and one article about Space Force. Geeks of the Week included an excellent Ezra Klein interview with Margaret Atwood, and early bird pricing for NCCE 2022! Check out our shownotes for links to all the articles we discussed, and subscribe to our Substack to receive all the links we discussed and also didn’t have time to talk about in this week’s show in your email inbox! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes:

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  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 (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Chrome OS virtual desks are getting a useful upgrade (About Chromebooks; 24 March 2022)
  10. Cameyo introduces PWA Windows apps for Chrome OS (Chrome Unboxed; 23 March 2022)
  11. Chrome OS: “A better Linux than Linux” so you can forget about Windows (TechRadar, 18 March 2022)
  12. How to identify images in Chrome using Google Lens (Chrome Unboxed; 23 March 2022)
  13. Chrome for Mac, Windows, & CrOS add Side Panel for accessing bookmarks, Reading List [U] (9 to 5 Google; 25 March 2022)
  14. Windows 11 version 22H2: Everything we know about Microsoft’s next big OS update (Windows Central; 23 March 2022)
  15. Microsoft Surface Laptop Se Review: Just Get A Chromebook (The Verge; 25 March 2022)
  16. Apple is reportedly planning a 15-inch MacBook Air (The Verge; 25 March 2022)
  17. Russia is risking the creation of a “splinternet”—and it could be irreversible (Technology Review; MIT Technology Review; 17 March 2022)
  18. How War in Ukraine Roiled Facebook and Instagram (NY Times, 30 March 2022)
  19. TikTok faces investigation into its impact on young people’s mental health (The Verge; 8 March 2022)
  20. Facebook paid GOP firm to malign TikTok (Washington Post, 30 March 2022)
  21. WithFed Up  Google, Conspiracy Theorists Turn to DuckDuckGo (The New York Times; 23 February 2022)
  22. The free speech search engine that never was (Recode; 16 March 2022)
  23. Space Force Gets Roughly 40% Increase in Biden Request (Defense One, 28 March 2022)
  24. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Margaret Atwood on Stories, Deception and the Bible (Ezra Klein Podcast)
  25. Jason’s Geek of the Week: NCCE 2022 Early Bird Pricing Ends THURSDAY!

EdTechSR Ep 248 Rogan Spotify Kerfuffle

Welcome to episode 248 (“Rogan Spotify Kerfuffle”) of the EdTech Situation Room from February 9, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed technology-related news about Microsoft, Apple, The Technology Correction, Google, Security, and Privacy. In this episode, we especially focused on the issues raised with the Joe Rogan and Spotify situation, involving musical artists like Neil Young, who threatened and then removed all their music from Spotify’s library in protest of the platform’s support for Rogan and disinformation. Check out our shownotes for links to all the articles we discussed, and subscribe to our Substack to receive all the links we discussed and also didn’t have time to talk about in this week’s show in your email inbox! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  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 (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Microsoft Surface Laptop SE vs Chromebooks: A limited but capable competitor (About Chromebooks; 7 February 2022)
  10. Every M1 Mac is due for a 2022 refresh with faster M2 chip, new designs (MacWorld; 8 February 2022)
  11. Apple will introduce new iPhone, iPad on March 8 (ArsTechnica, 7 Feb 2022)
  12. Meta’s threat to close down Facebook and Instagram in Europe backfires as EU leaders embrace shutdown: ‘Life would be very good without’ (City AM; 9 February 2022)
  13. Facebook loses users for the first time in its history (The Washington Post; 2 February 2022)
  14. FB Stock (Google)
  15. The Spotify-Rogan saga highlights the distinction between publishers and platforms (Tech Crunch; 9 February 2021)
  16. Spotify to Pull Neil Young’s Music After Artist’s Objections to Joe Rogan (Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan 2022)
  17. Spotify Publishes Content Guidelines in Response to Rogan Kerfluffle
  18. Everything you need to know about the bill that could blow up the app store (The Verge, 9 Feb 2021)
  19. LumaFusion, a popular video editor on iOS, is coming to Android in the ‘first half’ of 2022 (9 5o 5 Google; 9 February 2022)
  20. Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s massive screen makes it basically an Android laptop (CNet; 9 February 2022)
  21. Chrome OS 98 Offers A Screen Capture Update, A New Virtual Desk Shortcut, And More (Chrome Unboxed; 8 February 2022)
  22. Reports Of Declined Chromebook Shipments Disregard The Bigger Picture (Chrome Unboxed; 1 February 2022)
  23. Google still thinks 3 years of updates provide a ‘great experience’ ahead of cutting off Pixel 3 (9 to 5 Google; 25 January 2022)
  24. YouTube CEO: More Creators Are Making At Least $10K a Year (Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan 2022)
  25. Google account hacks drop 50% for 150 million who got 2-factor login (CNet; 8 February 2022)
  26. Hacker Circulates Fake, Malware-Laden Windows 11 Installer (PC Magazine; 9 February 2022)
  27. Russia could cyberattack Ukraine — again — and disrupt the entire world (NPR, 29 Jan 2022)
  28. Phishing Simulation Study Shows Why These Attacks Remain Pervasive (Dark Reading, 7 Feb 2022)
  29. Lawmakers call on feds to drop Clearview AI facial recognition contracts (Verge, 9 Feb 2022)
  30. IRS stops requiring selfies after facial recognition system is widely panned (ArsTechnica, 7 Feb 2022)
  31. Health sites let ads track visitors without telling them (ArsTechnica, 7 Feb 2022)
  32. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Teach With Chrome Series by ⁦@GoogleForEdu⁩ (free online learning starts Feb 22! – “Coded Bias” Netflix documentaryControl-F Project
  33. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Vista Create

EdTechSR Ep 234 Regulate Facebook Please

Welcome to episode 234 (“Regulate Facebook Please”) of the EdTech Situation Room from October 6, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Microsoft news including how to update to Windows 11 without waiting in line, recommended preparatory steps to take BEFORE upgrading to Windows 11, and positive reviews of the new Surface Pro 8 computer. In Google news, the forthcoming Chromebook launcher with smaller icons and folders, the option to create meeting notes directly connected to a Google Calendar event, and YouTube Germany’s suspension of Russia Today’s (RT’s) misinformation plagued channel, were highlighted. Facebook’s mysterious global service outage from this week and the impact of the related WhatsApp’s outage on small businesses were also addressed. Several articles summarizing Frances Haugen’s testimony this week before Congress about the knowing malicious acts of Facebook to favor profits over safety or ethics were discussed. Google’s quest to imagine and invent “the next phase of online search” was the final article discussed in this weeks’ show. Geeks of the Week for Wes included the new app Audm for listening to longform audio versions of news articles, the Project N95 website for ordering COVID masks, and Hope Haley’s (an 8th grade YouTuber at Dr. Fryer’s school) YouTube channel. Jason’s Geek of the Week was the TMobile Google Drive Plan, free for subscribers. Please see our shownotes for links to all these articles and resources! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

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) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. How to upgrade to Windows 11 without waiting in line (The Verge; 4 October 2021)
  9. Planning to upgrade to Windows 11? A checklist before you do (The Verge; 4 October 2021)
  10. Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Review: The Best Of Both Worlds (The Verge; 5 October 2021)
  11. Smaller Icons And Folders Give The New Chromebook Launcher An Air Of Maturity (Chrome Unboxed; 5 October 2021)
  12. New Google Calendar shortcut lets you quickly create meeting notes in Docs (9 to 5 Google; 5 October 2021)
  13. YouTube deletes RT′s German YouTube channels after COVID misinformation strike (DW News, 28 Sept 2021)
  14. Facebook is back online after a massive outage that also took down Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus (The Verge; 5 October 2021)
  15. Everything You Need To Know From The Facebook Whistleblower Hearing (The Verge; 5 October 2021)
  16. More than social media: The WhatsApp outage affected small businesses worldwide (NPR, 6 Oct 2021)
  17. 9 Horrifying Facts From the Facebook Whistleblower’s New 60 Minutes Interview (Gizmodo; 3 October 2021)
  18. [VIDEO] Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen: The 60 Minutes Interview (13.5 minutes)
  19. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen tells lawmakers that meaningful reform is necessary ‘for our common good’ (Washington Post, 5 Oct 2021)
  20. Google Search’s Next Phase: Context Is King (The Verge; 29 September 2021)
  21. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Audm – Listen to Longform Journalism You Don’t Have Time to Readshop.projectn95.orgHope Haley on YouTube
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: T-Mobile Google Drive Plan

EdTechSR Ep 230 Don’t Shame WikiPedians

Welcome to episode 230 (“Don’t Shame WikiPedians”) of the EdTech Situation Room from September 9, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google’s new ChromeOS notetaking web app, Cursive, Microsoft’s addition of “Reading” to MS Teams, and Windows 11 CPU requirements for older computers. Apple’s upcoming September 14th iPhone event and Twitter powered notification service, a call to stop “source shaming” the use of WikiPedia in academic research, and the regulatory effort in Germany to required 7 years of smartphone operating system updates were highlighted. Also on the Google front, an op-ed advocating for a ‘fix’ to auto-installs on new Chromebooks, a UK study highlighting the high frequency of extremist views among students in schools, and a report revealing continued problems with AI-powered facial recognition for black men were discussed. Additional topics included the start of “Super Follower Subscriptions” on Twitter, the expected dramatic reduction in price for Starlink Internet connectivity, Starlink’s projected expansion of production, and Logitech’s new technology to improve security for wireless computer peripherals. Geeks of the Week included the recent Angry Planet podcast episode, “Space: Final Frontier or Billionaires Playground,” the web advertising and data harvesting demo site how-i-experience-web-today.com, and the subscription-based iOS / WatchOS app, SleepWatch. Please see our shownotes for links to all these articles and resources! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

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) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. Microsoft Brings Reading Progress to Teams (Thurrott; 24 August 2021)
  9. Google’s note taking web app, Cursive, can be used on any Chromebook (XDA Developers, 6 Sept 2021)
  10. How to install and use Google’s new Cursive app for Chromebooks (About Chromebooks; 31 August 2021)
  11. Microsoft is threatening to withhold Windows 11 updates if your CPU is old (The Verge; 28 August 2021)
  12. Stop Source-Shaming: Acknowledge Wikipedia in the research process (American Libraries Magazine, 1 Sept 2021)
  13. Germany reportedly pushing EU to require 7 years of updates on Android, iOS devices (9 to 5 Google; 5 September 2021)
  14. Opinion: Google Needs To Fix Android App Auto-installs When Logging Into A New Chromebook (Chrome Unboxed; 25 August 2021)
  15. Racism, Islamophobia and conspiracy theories among extremist views witnessed in classrooms, study (Independent, 6 Sept 2021)
  16. Facebook apologises after algorithm puts ‘primates’ label on video of black men (Sky News, 4 Sept 2021)
  17. Twitter opens Super Follow subscriptions for some creators (Engadget, 1 Sept 2021)
  18. Cost of $499 Starlink terminal set to plunge (MS Power User; 29 August 2021)
  19. Starlink currently makes 5000 dishes a week, plans to boost this by “multiples” later this year (MS Power User, 8 Sept 2021)
  20. Logitech’s Bolt USB dongle bolsters encryption for its new wireless mice and keyboards (The Verge; 1 September 2021)
  21. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Angry Planet Podcast: Space: Final Frontier or Billionaires Playground and how-i-experience-web-today.com
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: SleepWatch

EdTechSR Ep 226 Big YouTube EDU Changes

Welcome to episode 226 (“Big YouTube EDU Changes”) of the EdTech Situation Room from August 4, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed news articles on Microsoft Office running on Chromebooks, PWAs (progressive web apps), emojis, cloud-based Windows 365 computers for rent, and the near-disaster on the International Space Station involving the new Nauka module from Russia. Problems with M1 MacBook displays, “The Day the Good Internet Died,” improvements to Google’s native office document editing, and substantial changes to the way YouTube can be used by students under 18 in schools were also highlighted. The security dangers of password autofill in browsers, the reliability of “Have I Been Pwned,” the influencer army hired by the White House to battle COVID disinformation, and the battle over remote work at large companies were also topics discussed in this week’s show. Several app options for “proving” your COVID vaccine status digitally were highlighted as well. Geeks of the Week included the online flight simulator Geo FS, Wes’ presentation for faculty at his school, “Google Classroom August 2021: Updates and Tips,” and Wes’ recent blog post, “More YouTube Restriction Options for Schools.” Please see our shownotes for links to all these articles and resources! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) 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. Stay savvy and safe!

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) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. Microsoft is pushing Chromebooks to run Office on web? Not exactly. (About Chromebooks; 29 July 2021)
  9. Turn any website into a real Mac app with Fluid
  10. Jason’s favorite Emoji website: getemoji.com
  11. Microsoft is ready to rent Windows 365 cloud PCs for as little as $20 per month (The Verge; 2 August 2021)
  12. It Was His Day Off. Then the Space Station Went for a Spin (NY Times, 2 Aug 2021)
  13. Nauka module’s near miss raises concerns about future of space station (ArsTechnica, 2 Aug 2021)
  14. M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Displays Randomly Cracking for Users (iPhone Hacks; 30 July 2021)
  15. Google Meet is now a simple PWA on Mac, Windows, and Chrome OS (9 to 5 Google; 30 July 2021)
  16. The Day the Good Internet Died (The Ringer; 21 July 2021)
  17. Google’s Native Office Editing Becomes More Native – Directly Opens Links, Skips The Preview (Chrome Unboxed; 2 August 2021)
  18. Google introduces new Chrome, YouTube defaults for education accounts (The Tribune, 30 June 2021)
  19. Safer learning with Google for Education (Google Education Blog, 29 June 2021)
  20. Control access to Google services by age (Google Support article)
  21. Manage your organization’s YouTube settings (Google Support article)
  22. Add YouTube video approvers for your organization (Google Support article)
  23. Don’t let your browser autofill your passwords — here’s why (Tom’s Guide; 29 July 2021)
  24. Can You Trust Have I Been Pwned? (Make Use Of, 24 July 2021)
  25. To Fight Vaccine Lies, Authorities Recruit an ‘Influencer Army’ (NY Times via Yahoo News, 2 Aug 2021)
  26. Big tech companies are at war with employees over remote work (ArsTechnica, 1 Aug 2021)
  27. You’re going to be asked to prove your vaccination status. Here’s how to do it. (Washington Post, 3 Aug 2021)
  28. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Geo FS — online flight simulator
  29. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: “Google Classroom August 2021: Updates & Tips” (Slides 18 & 19 on YouTube access restrictions for students) and “More YouTube Restriction Options for Schools”