Welcome to episode 109 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 3, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Tye Campbell (@TyeJCampbell) discussed the past week’s technology news through an educational lens. Co-host Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was on special assignment. Topics highlighted in this week’s show included the recent “Presidential Emergency Text Alert,” paging and alert messaging at school, and Apple’s latest iOS 12 which brings improved performance at the price of faster battery consumption. The new screentime monitoring tools in iOS12, school conversations on digital citizenship relating to character education, and school partnerships with “The Social Institute” helping students, faculty and parents embrace a balanced approach to social media an technology were also discussed. A shout out to ATLIS (The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools) and their upcoming conference in April 2019 in Dallas, net neutrality in light of new European legislation relating to “the right to be forgotten” and the GDPR, protection of personal information / privacy, and digital identity verification via Yubikey were topics rounding out the show. Geeks of the week included iOS 12 Screen Time Controls (Tye) and recommended actions for scholars who are victims of online trolling (Wes). Check out edtechSR.com/links for all shownotes, including those listed below. 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. Note we will be starting earlier than usual occasionally to accommodate guest schedules in upcoming weeks, so please check Twitter for those updates.
“Suggested Discussion Questions” for our Upper and Middle Division teachers at Casady School addressing our revised Responsible Use Policy with students during advisory time.
Welcome to episode 108 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 26, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) discussed the past week’s technology news through an educational lens. Co-host Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was on special assignment. Topics highlighted in this week’s show included Microsoft’s MakeCode resources, the crooked path of a YouTube star to fan fame on new media platforms, and the emergence of “deep fake” videos. If we had a show title based on the show conversations, it would likely be Miguel’s comment, “The boy turned away from Linux, I thought he was doomed!” Miguel and Wes also discussed the importance of students learning how to effectively and responsibly create video today, the recent European Human Rights Court ruling finding the mass surveillance of Great Britain’s GHCQ intelligence organization illegal that was originally highlighted by Edward Snowden, and the prospect of worldwide surveillance through drone monitoring. The Australian government’s new anti-encryption legislation, an FBI alarm on student data privacy, the launch of FireFox’s “Privacy Monitor,” and the feared demise of Evernote as a notetaking cloud platform were also discussed. Miguel set a new global record for podcast “Geek of the Week” shares, including Paranoia Works for personal encryption of data, the book Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez, Glary Utilities for WindowsOS management, an Amazing 1Note Link from Microsoft, the TCEA TechNotes Blog, and Joplin Notes. Wes’ Geek of the Week was “Learning Creative Learning,” a Free online course by MIT Media Lab starting 9 Oct 2018. Check out edtechSR.com/links for all shownotes, including those listed below. 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. Note we will be starting earlier than usual occasionally to accommodate guest schedules in upcoming weeks, so please check Twitter for those updates.
Welcome to episode 100 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 11, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent announcements from the 2018 ISTE Conference in Chicago, Microsoft’s new Surface Go budget laptop, and the opening of Pandora’s Box for 3D printed guns. Security articles discussed included the worst cybersecurity breaches of 2018 (so far), the importance of never using a USB from an unknown source (including North Korea summit officials), and the potential danger of discarding a used USB flash drive. Google Chrome articles included the launch of the CTL rugged Chromebook, and Neverware’s “Bring Your Old Device” tour, which included an ISTE vendor hall appearance at the Google booth. On the Amazon front, Jason reminded us to look forward to Amazon Prime Day on July 16th, and to consider why Amazon continues to sell lots of tablets in an otherwise lackluster market. Twitter’s recent efforts to delete fake accounts in advance of 2018 midterm elections in the United States was also highlighted. Geeks of the week included a recent episode of the Wired Educator podcast, Wes’ shared podcast subscriptions from PocketCasts, The Scratch Team’s “Getting Unstuck” campaign for 25 days of creative coding, and the recommendation to restart your router to defeat variants of the “VPNfilter” malware outbreak and also optimize your bandwidth performance. Please follow us on Twitter at @edtechSR for updates and for live join links during our Wednesday night shows. Please reach out to us on Twitter if you enjoy the show and let us know you’re listening!
Welcome to episode 99 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 19, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed advice for attendees of the upcoming 2018 ISTE Conference, the AI robot debater from IBM, Facebook and social media privacy settings, and poor home wifi router security. Wes shared a weekly dose of cyberattack doom and gloom (shout out to NPR Fresh Air and their recent interview with author David E. Sanger) and highlighted Apple’s decision to make it harder for border customs officials to quickly copy data off of traveler’s iPhones. Microsoft’s announced purchase of Flipgrid, the demise of freemium platforms Padlet and Tenmarks, and the emergence of “Minecraft Story Mode” remote control game/story videos on Netflix were also highlighted. Jason shared an update on the ZigZag Podcast mentioned last week, and also highlighted two Android apps: Android Messages (now includes a desktop version) and Datally to gain more insight into your smartphone use habits. (Or perhaps addictions). Geeks of the Week included the Adobe Spark App’s port to Android OS, and the “Caliphate Podcast” series from the New York Times. A shout out to Peggy George, the PhotoMyne app, and the Classroom 2.0 Live Bucket List Google Sheet of apps and websites from last Saturday’s show rounded out this 99th episode of EdTechSR. We will NOT have a show next week, but may squeeze in a July 4th show on a day other than Wednesday that week. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter for updates. Stay safe and stay saavy, friends!
Welcome to episode 97 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 6, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) welcomed special guest Michael J. Crawford (@mjcraw). Topics discussed included Mary Meeker’s essential 2018 Internet Trends report and new microcontrols for iOS announced at WWDC 2018 available to developers to potentially exercise more control over user screentime. The value of limiting the length of shared video as well as the availability of those videos for others to watch and interact with them was also discussed. EdSpace Live (www.edspace.live) is Michael’s current product focusing on these questions and potentials. Instagram’s announced launch of a long form video platform to compete with YouTube, and Microsoft’s recently released book “Transforming Education” challenging K12 school leaders to be more thoughtful, deliberate, and intentional in their deployment of technologies in the classroom were also highlighted. Michael shared a shout out to Angela Maiers’ article “Tactical Serendipity” as it relates to the value of teachers being connected and collaborating with each other. New revelations about the VPNFilter router vulnerability which potentially affects half a million routers worldwide, and the FBI is recommendation to reboot your router, was also discussed. Jason provided commentary about a recent article highlighting the privacy differences between the FireFox and Chrome browsers, and Wes recommended an article giving specific instructions about changing default privacy settings on social networks including Facebook. Check out all our links on https://edtechsr.com/links for these and all other referenced resources from the show. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates and remember to subscribe with PocketCasts, Stitcher, on YouTube, or wherever you prefer to aggregate your favorite podcasts!
Welcome to episode 96 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 30, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) welcomed special guest Dave Quinn (@EduQuinn) to discuss Amazon Alexa’s latest (and improbable) privacy snafu, Facebook marketing videos to restore public trust, Redit’s ascendency over Facebook to become the number three most popular website in the United States, and the much anticipated release of the Acer Chromebook Spin 13. Additional topics included Europe’s GDPR (General Data Privacy Regulation), Apple’s new patent on an “ultra-flexible ‘living hinge’ laptop design,” the newly refreshed Google News app and it’s “full coverage” feature, and the value of Google’s Custom Search Engines. In the course of conversations Dave also mentioned the excellent work Mike Caulfield (@holden) has done on information literacy and web literacy focusing on “4 Moves,” and a shoutout to Nevada STEM educator Brian Crosby (@bcrosby) for his awesome balloon project “High Hopes” (@HighHopesSTEM). Geeks of the week included the Netflix original movie “Into the Inferno” by Werner Herzog, the 1st Inspired Learning Convention, Hummingbird Robotics Kits, and the value of pre-purchasing GoGo InFlight WiFi credits. Check out all our links on https://edtechsr.com/links for these and all other referenced resources from the show. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates and remember to subscribe with PocketCasts, Stitcher, on YouTube, or wherever you prefer to aggregate your favorite podcasts!
Facebook Opens Up About False News (Wired, 23 May 2018) Outstanding 12 minute film by Facebook about Facebook addressing #FakeNews following the 2016 Election hacks)
Welcome to episode 92 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 25, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new national standards for online courses in the USA, a strange case of liability for an ewaste recycler, exciting updates for Gmail from Google, and several other tidbits of Google news. These included the movie editor in Google Photos, controversy at Google over proposed AI contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, and a strange Gmail spam issue which modified email headers so new messages showed up as “sent mail.” Forthcoming updates to the YouTube Kids app featuring human-moderated channels and a new Google Tasks update rounded out the Google focused news updates. On the Apple front, Tim Cook’s announcement that MacOS and iOS will NOT be merging was mentioned, along with sizable reported profits from the iOS port of the game Fortnite. A few thoughts about SmugMug’s recent purchase of Flickr from Verizon were shared. Security hacks including hotel door locks and home wifi routers by Russian agents were also discussed. It was great to have Jason back after a multi-week hiatus as he completed his dissertation, which he’s scheduled to defend in early May. Follow the show on Twitter @edtechSR for updates and please try and join us live on Wednesday evenings if you can on YouTube Live. Thanks for watching / listening!
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 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 78 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 20, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) revived a Neiffer classroom holiday tradition: the “Airing of Grievances” (#edtech focused) inspired by “The Holiday of Festivus” and the 1997 Seinfeld episode, “The Strike.” In addition to sharing technology grievances, Jason and Wes discussed the remarkable backstory to the Mirai botnet attacks revealed in an Alaska courtroom last week. Other security related topics included the U.S. government’s fingering of North Korea for the WannaCry ransomware attack, China’s livestreaming servers for public surveillance cameras, and DARPA’s “unhackable” computer currently under development at the University of Michigan. Apple related topics included recent reports that the iPhone is designed to slow down with age, tips on how to increase iPhone performance, and a predication that Apple will allow developers to create universal apps in 2018 which run on both iOS and MacOS devices. Google articles included the expected launch in February of Google Chrome’s built-in ad blocker and the updated function of Google Sites (the new version) to permit embedding and Javascript. Tears were shed for the death of AOL’s instant messenger platform. Geeks of the week included the “Broadcast Voice Messages” feature of Google Home, the 2017 documentary “Unacknowledged” by Dr. Steven Greer (@DrStevenGreer), and the 6 year anniversary price ($1) for the Nova Launcher for Android. Note next week’s “2017 EdTech Year in Review” show will start an hour earlier for east coast guests and livestream fans. Please join us, and follow @edtechSR on Twitter for updates.
"Special Access Projects" in the US military's black budget are a Constitutional violation of the chain of command. Glad to see coverage referring to SAPs in @nytimeshttps://t.co/aazKX17nam For more on this listen to @DrStevenGreer
