Welcome to episode 94 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 9, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week newly minted Ph.D. Dr. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Dr. Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed lots of news from the Google IO developer’s conference, as well as news from the Microsoft Build Conference. The continued march of artificial intelligence is evident in the forthcoming release of Google Duplex, which was demonstrated at Google IO and allows your Google Assistant to make phone calls to real people and book appointments for things like haircuts and restaurant reservations. Google’s new Android P operating system will focus on wellness and greater awareness of screentime to promote healthy living. They also discussed Facebook’s “Sauron Alert” feature for employees, now called “Security Watchdog,” which is not available publicly but warns when someone is using content or personal information in unauthorized ways on the platform. Microsoft’s announcements for WindowsOS features which integrate with both Android phones as well as iPhones were discussed, as well as their efforts to bring machine learning benefits to all their applications. The use of AI technologies to potentially open up access to the Vatican’s Secret Library was highlighted, along with an older article (September 2017) from “The Conversation” about how software licensing restrictions affecting objects we purchase for our homes is bringing a property rights / intellectual property rights situation into our lives which is regressive and feudal in nature. Geeks of the week included open source software for DVD ripping (Handbrake) and YouTube video downloading (y2mate), as well as software for identifying and installing optimal Windows OS drivers on older computer systems (Snappy Driver Installer). Check out our shownotes for links to all referenced resources, and links to articles we didn’t have time to discuss in this week’s show on edtechSR.com/links. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us live weekly on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.
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 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 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!
Welcome to episode 71 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 25, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Microsoft’s play to offer its universe of applications (including the Edge web browser and the Cortana assistant) on Android phones, upgrade woes with iOS 11, and Coda’s efforts to create a new document format merging word processing documents and spreadsheets. Security articles included a shout out to Nicole Perlroth’s September 11th interview on cybersecurity on the World Affairs Council podcast, Facebook security issues and the Facebook privacy checkup, and new attacks including “BadRabbit ransomware” and “The Reaper Botnet.” Jason Snell’s recent article hoping for / predicting a forthcoming Mac Mini update, the incredible learning speed and accomplishments of AlphaGo Zero, SeeSaw’s addition of “Activities” to its classroom app, and new/updated clear solar cells were also discussed. Jason finished out the week’s articles talking about “containers on Chromebooks.” Geeks of the week included discounted Amazon Echos on Woot, the BBEDIT text editor for batch-editing documents, and Storyspheres from Google. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechSR.com/links
Welcome to episode 70 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 18, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google’s new “Advanced Protection” security mode, hacker threats in several US states to parents of students, Microsoft Windows 10 “Creator Updates,” and reports that our solar system has a mysterious “Super Earth” 9th planet well beyond the orbit of Neptune. Additional topics included several updates to Google Earth and Google Maps mashups, recent Amazon advertising mistakes, the importance of media literacy education, and the emerging narrative of how Russian operatives appear to have subverted democracy in the U.S. 2016 Presidential election using Facebook targeted ads. “Speed round” article topics included a new Russian cryptocurrency, Netflix’ push for original movie and show content, Equifax hack blame falling on “one IT guy,” RSA encryption hacks, the cost of product placement advertisements, Eli Pariser’s “Filter Bubble,” and the secrets of Yahoo search. Geeks of the week included a $10 “FIDO U2F Security Key” and the weather website and app “Dark Sky.” Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!
Welcome to episode 69 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 11, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Twitter’s plans to double the character limit to 280, Microsoft giving up on Windows Phone, Google’s Investment in Neverware, and the emerging details about Russian election hacking and Russian company Kaspersky. Additional topics include the role of social media in distributing news today, “what happens in an Internet minute in 2017,” and podcast hosting services going offline (Opinion and AudioBoom). Gene therapy for Leukemia, Dropbox innovation, Tim Cook’s surprising comment about AR computing hardware, and Facebook’s new VR headset rounded out the week’s articles. Geeks of the week included Facebook Messenger Lite and Podiant for podcast hosting. Teachable Machine from Google was also shared by Ben Wilkoff in the chat room. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!
Welcome to episode 57 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 12, 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) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed takeaways and “tired edtech trends” from the 2017 ISTE Conference in San Antonio. They demonstrated the new “Seeing AI” app from Microsoft, which amazingly has been FIRST released for iOS / iPhone / iPad, and discussed several noteworthy and recent podcasts, videos and articles relating to artificial intelligence. Other addressed topics included Google’s new integrated Drive & Photos ‘Backup & Sync’ app, a recent study finding the mere presence of a cell phone reduces brain power, #FontGate in Pakistan, a tragic story of attempted YouTube stardom, and reviews of the new Microsoft laptop. Geeks of the week included “Gypsy Guide” for iOS driving tours, the web series “Do Not Track,” and the amazing slide collection (for PowerPoint and Google Slides) SlideModel.com. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date on upcoming shows! Next week we will have a special episode focusing specifically on Net Neutrality. If you are a US citizen, but sure to visit www.savetheinternet.com NOW to contact both the FCC and your elected officials in Washington to voice your support for Net Neutrality and opposition to proposed regulations which would fundamentally harm the Internet as we know and use it today. Make your voice be heard – speak out! Then join us next week as we break down the issues at stake surrounding net neutrality in greater detail.
Welcome to episode 53 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 24, 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) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed more takeaways from the recent Google I/O event, genomics and biotechnology news involving CRISPR and DARPA, artificial intelligence advances by Google, and updates to the Surface Pro line by Microsoft amidst forthcoming rumors of MacBook updates at WWDC in June by Apple. They also talked about recent “bot blunders” (related to AI and machine learning), ongoing fake news challenges to information validation (thanks Newt Gingrich), a company demonstrating the potential for journalism platforms to make money with a subscription model, and the interesting ways Apple is reinventing its retail experience in malls for post-modern (and online) shoppers. Geeks of the week included the Burstio app for iOS (Wes) and the “Amazon Basics” product line (Jason). The next few weeks we’ll be having some guests on the show and may alter our start times, so please follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay updated about changes. 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.
