Welcome to episode 204 (“Forecasts for 2021”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 12, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) shared some predictions for educational technology in 2021, as well as a few technology news headlines from the past two weeks. 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.

Shownotes

1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
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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) – Family Food Blog – Playing with Media Video Library
8. Ex-Apple engineer: Apple’s ‘Privacy Nutrition Labels’ have a fatal flaw (Fast Company; 11 January 2021)
9. Uganda Blocks Facebook Ahead of Contentious Election (NY Times, 13 Jan 2021)
10. Uganda elections 2021: Facebook shuts government-linked accounts (BBC News, 11 Jan 2021)
11. If You Were on Parler, You Saw the Mob Coming (NYTimes Opinion Podcast by Kara Swisher, 7 Jan 2021)
12. Op-Ed: For right-wing extremists, this was a victory (DFR Lab, Emerson T Brooking, 7 Jan 2021)
13. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Jason: www.castironcollector.com and Cast Iron Enamel Descoware
14. Wes’ Geek of the Week:  [PODCAST] Larry Brilliant and Peter Hotez: Vaccinating Our Way Out of the Pandemic (World Affairs Podcast, 12 Dec 2020)

Jason’s Predictions for 2021:

1. Distance learning will continue to grow as a viable option for students that want or need that model after the pandemic.
2. Intel will continue to lose market share to ARM-based processors and AMD processors.  A whole new generation of devices will appear, prioritizing long battery life and speedy, responsive interfaces.
3. The Technology Correction will continue, but, without the guidance of regulation.  Trump’s ban on most social media platforms will push some conversations ahead.
4. The pandemic will diminish its impact, but, video conferencing and doing some personal and professional connections will continue with technology.
5. Using the Internet for information will become more complicated, as more and more alternative platforms develop.  The information landscape requires persistent information education in schools.

Wes’ Predictions for 2021

1. US / China Relations and Technology: Deployment of 5G networks and infrastructure will exacerbate technology interoperability issues and force nations to choose Chinese or US/European network infrastructure solutions. Response of Biden administration to Chinese security threats will reveal the validity / sincerity of security threats
2. The Tech Correction: A constituency and agenda will coalesce further around regulation and limitations of social media companies, increasing liability and extending mandated collaboration standards and requirements for content moderation / censorship (like the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism – GIFCT)
3. Media Literacy: Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories will continue to be weaponized to subvert democratic governments, teachers will be asked to address these issues through civics education. COVID Vaccination efforts worldwide will be significantly impeded by anti-vax misinformation
4. Security: Hacks, identify theft, ransomware and password breaches will continue to increase in frequency and magnitude: Password security, MFA and password managers will continue to grow in importance

“Crystal ball shining” (CC BY 2.0) by Anderson Smith2010