socialmedia

EdTech Situation Room Episode 114

Welcome to episode 114 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 14, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the past week’s technology news through an educational lens. Topics for the show included college students at UC Berkeley developing browser extensions to identify political bot accounts on social media, prospects for liberal democracy portrayed in PBS Frontline’s recent series “The Facebook Dilemma,” and issues of both trust and due process involving Facebook, content takedowns and smart assistants like Alexa and Google Home. Microsoft’s problems with recent Windows10 updates and its new crowdsourced feedback process for updates, and new research on the value of doodling for learning and retention were also discussed with a shout out to Sylvia Duckworth’s (@sylviaduckworth) new book on sketchnoting. The “Shift Happens” video series 10 years later, problems with drone videos and wildlife harassment, Google’s pleas to content creators to help oppose new copyright legislation in Europe, and a Mozilla report identifying the “creepiest” tech gifts this holiday season from a privacy / surveillance standpoint rounded out the show. Geeks of the week included FFWorks / FFMpeg for video encoding, Thankful Bot from the Noun Project, a funny U.S. election meme on Twitter, and the virtual keyboard project CopyChar. 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.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. The College Kids Doing What Twitter Won’t (Wired, 1 Nov 2018)
  9. BotCheck.me
  10. The Facebook Dilemma Part 1 and Part 2 (PBS Frontline, 29 & 30 Oct 2018)
  11. Facebook Is the Least Trusted Major Tech Company When it Comes to Safeguarding Personal Data, Poll Finds (Fortune; 8 November 2018)
  12. Human rights groups want Facebook to offer ‘due process’ for takedowns (The Verge; 14 November 2018)
  13. Instagram starts rolling out dashboard that shows how much time you spend on it (Verge, 14 Nov 2018)
  14. Alexa, Should We Trust You? (The Atlantic, November 2018)
  15. Microsoft re-releases Windows 10 October 2018 Update today after pulling it offline (The Verge; 13 November 2018)
  16. Microsoft to focus on Windows 10 quality after a buggy year (The Verge; 13 November 2018)
  17. Drawing Is the Fastest, Most Effective Way to Learn, According to New Research (Inc Magazine, 31 Oct 2018)
  18. The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory (Sage Journals, 30 Aug 2018)
  19. “How to Sketchnote: A Step-by-Step Manual for Teachers and Students” by Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth
  20. Has ‘Shift’ Happened? Revisiting a Viral Video From 2008 (EdSurge, 6 Nov 2018)
  21. That Cute Baby-Bear Video Reveals a Problem With Drones (The Atlantic, 6 Nov 2018)
  22. A Final Update on Our Priorities for 2018 (YouTube Creator Blog, 22 Oct 2018)
  23. Google CEO’s China argument doesn’t hold water (Columbia Journalism Review, 9 Nov 2018)
  24. Mozilla Releases Creepy Gift Report (Mozilla Foundation)
  25. Wes’ Geeks of the Week:  FFWorks (backstory), “Thankful Bot” by @nounproject and the Twitter meme – “me voting in 2016 vs. me voting in 2018”
  26. Jason’s Geek of the Week: CopyChar.CC – Virtual Keyboard

EdTech Situation Room Episode 113

Welcome to episode 113 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 7, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Jason Kern (@jasonmkern) discussed the past week’s technology news through an educational lens. Topics for the show included virtual reality in the classroom, the use of social media worldwide to radicalize politics, hardware updates from Apple’s special event last week, and our need for media literacy everywhere. Anya Kamenetz’ excellent response article, “What the Times got wrong about kids and phones” was also highlighted. Professional courtesy with cell phones at meetings and in the classroom, the NetFlix documentary “The Eighties,” and Flickr’s important announcement about free and pro accounts rounded out the show. Geeks of the week included free “Unity” software licenses for schools, Raspberry Pi projects, the browser extension “OneTab,” and the “Pulse” SMS app on Android. 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.

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 Kern (@JasonMKern) – blog: jasonmkern.com
  7. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  9. ASU Online biology course is first to offer virtual-reality lab in Google partnership (ASU, 23 Aug 2018)
  10. Virtual Reality: A Safe Place to Learn (ATD, 5 Nov 2018)
  11. Can virtual reality revolutionize education? (CNN, 1 Nov 2018)
  12. Giving Classroom Experiences (Like VR) More … Dimension (Inside Higher Ed, 2 Nov 2018)
  13. Ready Player One (2018 – IMDB)
  14. Apple Abandons the Mass Market, as the iPhone Turns Luxury (Wired, 3 Nov 2018)
  15. The new MacBook Air answers fans’ hopes and gripes (FastCompany, 30 Oct 2018)
  16. What can you connect to the new iPad Pro with USB-C? (9 to 5 Mac, 7 Nov 2018)
  17. This Is How We Radicalized The World (BuzzFeedNews, 28 Oct 2018)
  18. We Should Teach Media Literacy in Elementary School (Scientific American, 7 Nov 2018)
  19. What the Times got wrong about kids and phones (Columbia Journalism Review, 5 Nov 2018)
  20. The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life by Anya Kamenetz (@anya1anya)
  21. A sharper focus for Flickr (Flickr blog, 1 Nov 2018)
  22. Flickr promises it won’t delete Creative Commons photos when it limits free storage (The Verge, 7 Nov 2018)
  23. Professional Courtesy Video (Edutopia video, Apr 24, 2017)
  24. Documentary “The Eighties” on Netflix
  25. Jason Kern’s Geeks of the Week: Free Unity Licenses for Schools and Raspberry Pi Projects
  26. Jason Neiffer’s Geek of the Week: Pulse SMS App on Android
  27. Wes Fryer’s Geek of the Week: OneTab Browser Extension (Example)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 111

Welcome to episode 111 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 17, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Beth Holland (@brholland) discussed the past week’s technology news through an educational lens, as well as a variety of educational issues relating to digital citizenship and digital equity. Co-host Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was on special assignment. Topics highlighted in this week’s show included algorithmic literacy, privacy, digital equity, digital citizenship, media literacy, digital literacy, Internet safety, digital citizenship week, and more. Other topics included the National Educational Technology Plan, the ongoing code wars between nation states, and the power of social networks / human connections in unlocking opportunity and innovation. The digital divide in rural America, the perils of IoT cameras in our homes, the Media Education Lab’s Mind over Media Project, Imagineering in Storytelling, and geomaps of Lewis and Clark’s journey of discovery rounded out the week’s topics. Check out our shownotes on edtechSR.com/links. 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.

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. Beth Holland (@brholland) – blog: brholland.com
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. The Social Institute: @thesocialinst
  9. Duck Duck Go (search engine without tracking social profiles)
  10. FireFox Focus (privacy-focused web browser)
  11. Friends Don’t Let Friends Use the Edge Web Browser (or Bing for Search) (Wes Fryer, 13 Oct 2018)
  12. Mind of Media: Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda (by Renee Hobbs @reneehobbs and the Media Education Lab)
  13. Summer Institute in Digital Literacy by the Media Education Lab
  14. Free Speech in the Age of Algorithmic Megaphones (Wired, 12 Oct 2018)
  15. Family Online Safety Institute
  16. Winning And Losing The Code War – Interview with John P. Carlin (NPR 1A, 16 Oct 2018)
  17. Searching for Alternative Facts: Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices (Data & Society, 2018)
  18. National Educational Technology Plan
  19. Higher Education Supplement to the National Education Technology Plan
  20. From Digital Divide to Innovation Divide (EdTech Researcher, 22 Sept 2018)
  21. About a quarter of rural Americans say access to high-speed internet is a major problem (Pew Research Center, 10 Sept 2018)
  22. Digital Equity Toolkit from CoSN
  23. Stanford History Education Group, Evaluating Information Executive Summary
  24. Facebook’s Portal Camera And The Growing Privacy Concerns Of Bringing Cameras Into Our Homes (Forbes, 8 Oct 2018)
  25. MLTalks: Experiential Storytelling with Walt Disney Imagineering (4 Oct 2018)
  26. The Lewis and Clark Trail from Space: NPS Story Map Journal (National Park Service)
  27. Beth’s Geeks of the Week: iCivics and Mind Over Media Project and Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students’ Networks by Julia Freeland Fisher (@juliaffreeland)
  28. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Uni – Magic AI Friend: Relax in a magical world (iOS) and “Dawn of the Code War – America’s Battle Against Russia, China, and the Rising Global Cyber Threat” by John P. Carlin & Garrett M. Graff ( – More #book2read reccs
  29.  Peggy George’s Geek of the Week Tiffany Whitehead (@librarian_tiff), “Fighting Fake News: Media Literacy for Students”

EdTech Situation Room Episode 109

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.

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. Tye Campbell (@TyeJCampbell) – LinkedIn
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. Why you got a Trump text: FEMA’s new test alert, explained (CNet, 3 Oct 2018)
  9. Blackboard Connect Alert Messaging
  10. Informacast: Web & Office Emergency Paging System & Software
  11. iOS 12 on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini 2: It’s actually faster! (ArsTechnica, 17 Sept 2018)
  12. iOS 12, thoroughly reviewed (ArsTechnica, 17 Sep 2018)
  13. Apple TV’s new TVOS 12 is available now: What’s new and how to get it (CNET, 17 Sept 2018)
  14. Moment – Screen Time Tracker (iOS)
  15. The Social Institute: @thesocialinst (Facebook) (An organization focusing on digital citizenship, partnering with schools)
  16. DigCit.us (Digital Citizenship resource website from The Casady School in Oklahoma City)
  17. More Great Digital Citizenship Resources: @mattscully – pdsdigitalcitizenship.org
  18. Gaggle: Safety Monitoring Technology Use at School
  19. Digital Health and Wellness: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach (Wes’ ATLIS 2017 session notes)
  20. “Suggested Discussion Questions” for our Upper and Middle Division teachers at Casady School addressing our revised Responsible Use Policy with students during advisory time.
  21. ATLIS Annual Conference 2019 (@theatlis)
  22. This European Ruling Could Break the Internet (Bloomberg, 1 Oct 2018)
  23. Trump admin claims Calif. net neutrality law causes “irreparable harm” to US (ARStechnica, 1 Oct 2018)
  24. Beware of Phishing Cell Phone Calls: Don’t Share Personal Info with Strangers (Wes’ blog post, 4 Oct 2018)
  25. Facebook Security Breach Exposes Accounts of 50 Million Users (NY Times, 28 Sept 2018)
  26. The Facebook Security Meltdown Exposes Way More Sites Than Facebook (Wired, 28 Sept 2018)
  27. The New Yubikey Will Help Kill The Password (Wired, 24 Sept 2018)
  28. Tye’s Geek of the Week: iOS 12 Screen Time Controls (Wired, 25 Sept 2018)
  29. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Trolling Attacks on Scholars – Faculty Action (Tips from the Univ of Illinois via @kay314159)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 107

Welcome to episode 107 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 12, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the days announcements from Cupertino at the special Apple Event including Apple Watch 4 and 3 new iPhone models. The forthcoming iOS 12 and the benefits of the new Apple watch providing ECG / EKG data which is FDA approved was highlighted. Under the heading of “Social Media Correction,” Jason and Wes discussed an fascinating and in-depth article from the New Yorker focusing on the challenges faced by Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook in moderate content for 2.2 billion people worldwide, and specifically the impact that is having on democratic processes and institutions. The banning of Alex Jones by both Apple and Facebook, and the devastating impacts of false rumors spread via social media in Myanmar, India and Brazil were also discussed. The public availability of mind-blowingly high resolution maps of Antarctica, The FCC’s “pause” of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the ongoing exploration of our “Red Planet” by robots amidst the challenge of a summer planet-wide dust storm, and Twitter’s release of audio-only broadcasting options rounded out the articles in this week’s shortened show. 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 at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. Apple announces 3 new iPhones, a new watch, not much else (CNN, 12 September 2018)
  9. Why an Apple Watch with EKG matters (Verge 12 Sept 2018)
  10. iOS 12 is coming on September 17th, but here’s how to install it today (The Verge; 12 September 2018)
  11. Apple research continues on combining iPhone, iPad with MacBook-style accessory (AppleInsider, 11 Sept 2018)
  12. Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy? (New Yorker, 17 Sept 2018)
  13. After Multiple Provocations, Twitter Has Banned Alex Jones And Infowars (BuzzFeed; 6 September 2018)
  14. Facebook followed Apple’s lead on Alex Jones purge, Zuckerberg (AppleInsider, 10 Sept 2018)
  15. Vicious Rumors Spread Like Wildfire On WhatsApp — And Destroyed A Village (BuzzFeedNews, 9 Sept 2018)
  16. These fact-checkers were attacked online after partnering with Facebook (Poynter, 10 Sept 2018)
  17. Google Wants to Kill the URL (Wired 4 Sept 2018)
  18. Reddit has banned the QAnon conspiracy subreddit r/GreatAwakening (The Verge; 12 September 2018)
  19. New Antarctica Map Is Like ‘Putting on Glasses for the First Time and Seeing 20/20’ (NYTimes, 7 Sept 2018)
  20. FCC pauses review of Sprint and T-Mobile merger (AppleInsider, 11 Sept 2018)
  21. NASA’s Opportunity Rover on Mars Still Silent 2 Months into Epic Dust Storm (Space.com, 17 Aug 2018)
  22. Twitter and Periscope now offer audio-only live broadcasts (Engadget, 7 Sept 2018)
  23. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: The Internet of Garbage by Sarah Jeong (@sarahjeong) – free eBook and Algorithms of Oppression – How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Noble @safiyanoble
  24. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Take Better Naps By Drinking Coffee First (Lifehacker)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 105

Welcome to episode 105 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 29, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the challenges of filtering / censoring Internet content at school and now (in the U.K.) at a national level through ISPs. The privacy perils and potential subpoena conflicts relating to cell phone location tracking, the ethical challenges of “native advertising” in podcasts, rumors of Apple removing 3D touch in forthcoming iPhones, and the security danger of sideloading Fortnight software on Android devices were also discussed. Final topics included the monstrous challenges facing Facebook in moderating user generated content on its platform worldwide for 2 billion people and the way Facebook is adopting a trustworthy scale for users in its fight against fake news. Geeks of the week included the Stikbot Studio app for iOS, Google Assistant’s “Tell me something good” new feature, YouTube’s new built-in screen monitoring / management tools, and the keyboard shortcut Control/Command K in Google Docs to add links. 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 at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. The U.K. Is About To Regulate Online Porn, and Free Speech Advocates Are Terrified (Time; 20 August 2018)
  9. Gaggle Safety Management
  10. Digital Citizenship Resources for Parents (including filtering tools / strategies) on DigCit.us
  11. To Catch A Robber, The FBI Attempted An Unprecedented Grab For Google Location Data (Forbes, 15 Aug 2018)
  12. How to start a community network – NYC Mesh
  13. End of a Legacy: Chromebook Pixel Updates Ceased (ChromeUnboxed; 28 August 2018)
  14. Ads for Podcasts Test the Line Between Story and Sponsor (NYTimes, 26 July 2018)
  15. “Today, Explained” – An Edgy New Vox Podcast to Compete with “The Daily” (New Yorker, 15 March 2018)
  16. Apple could remove 3D Touch from new iPhones, analyst says (The Verge, 27 August 2018)
  17. Apple to launch three new iPhones, Watch with larger screen, updated iPad Pros, says Bloomberg (The Verge, 27 August 2018)
  18. Android vulnerability leads to Google/Epic Games spat (ArsTechnica, 27 August 2018)
  19. The Impossible Job: Inside Facebook’s Struggle to Moderate Two Billion People (Motherboard; 23 August 2018)
  20. Facebook is rating the trustworthiness of its users on a scale from zero to 1 (Washington Post, 21 Aug 2018)
  21. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: StikBot Studio app for iOS and New Google Assistant feature: Hey Google, tell me something good and New YouTube Screentime Management Tools
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Control/Command K for Hyperlinks in Google Docs

EdTech Situation Room Episode 104

Welcome to episode 104 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 22, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the impact of social media platforms on journalism and the ascendency of China seeking to influence global Internet standards. Rumors of Apple updates to the Mac Mini, a browser extension to identify fake news, the amplified burnout of Elon Musk on Twitter, the “right to disconnect,” and a tense meeting at Google discussing China plans while an employee live-tweeted the event were also highlighted and analyzed. Geeks of the Week included the Amazon Firestick (great for hotel travel), the SurfSafe browser extension, ways you should “Treat your passwords like your underwear,” and a free podcasting course sponsored by the Knight Foundation. 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 at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. Book: “The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero” by Timothy Egan
  9. When China Rules the Web (Foreign Affairs, Sept/Oct 2018)
  10. Platforms Are Not Publishers (Jeff Jarvis in The Atlantic, 10 Aug 2018)
  11. 4 Reasons to Wait for the 2018 Mac Mini & 4 Reasons Not To (Gotta Be Mobile; 22 Aug 2018)
  12. Spot a Bot: Identifying Automation and Disinformation on Social Media (Data for Democracy on Medium, 5 June 2018)
  13. This Browser Extension Is Like an AntiVirus for Fake Photos (Wired, 20 Aug 2018)
  14. In the Tesla drama, Saudi Arabia reminds Silicon Valley of its weight (Recode, 13 Aug 2018)
  15. “A huge outlier”: Musk’s Tesla buyout tweet could get him in legal trouble (ARStechnica, 15 Aug 2018)
  16. The right to disconnect: The new laws banning after-hours work emails (New Atlas, 13 Aug 2018)
  17. A tense internal meeting between Google CEO Sundar Pichai and employees went sideways as execs addressed rumors about the company’s China plans (Business Insider, 16 Aug 2018)
  18. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Bring a Fire Stick when you travel!
  19. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: SurfSafe (free browser extension) and How to Launch and grow a Hit Podcast (free course from The Knight Foundation)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 103

Welcome to episode 103 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 15, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed universities deploying smart assistants in student dorms to answer questions, the privacy concerns of smart assistants in educational contexts, and the shortcomings of the latest MacBook Pro laptops relative to Windows-based competitors. Rumors of dual-booting Chromebooks (also booting to Windows), whether or not social media platforms are “publishers,” and strategies to stop or avoid “stalking ads” on social media were also addressed. Social media / fake news controversies over the temporary (7 day) banning of Alex Jones / InfoWars on Twitter, hacker threats to home routers (VPNfilter) and IoT devices, the advent of Fortnite on ALL Android devices (but not via the Google Play Store), and Google’s location tracking of users who turn off location services rounded out the news articles addressed in this show. Geeks of the Week included the Timer Tab app (ad-free), an incredible photo of our sun during a “Coronal Mass Ejection” with the earth shown to scale, and the recent PBS documentary, “Documenting Hate: Charlottesville.” Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. A University Is Putting 2,300 Echo Dots in Student Living Spaces and What Could Go Wrong? (Gizmodo, 15 Aug 2018)
  9. Resources on Privacy Issues for Smart Assistants in the Classroom: Common Sense Media Privacy (@cs_privacy) Bill Fitzgerald (@funnymonkey) and Susan Bearden (@s_bearden)
  10. 2018 MacBook Pro Owners Experiencing Crackling Audio (PC Magazine; 10 August 2018)
  11. HP, Dell, Microsoft Stay A Step Ahead Of The MacBook Pro: Three Metrics (Forbes, 12 Aug 2018)
  12. Chromebooks May Include Dual Boot Feature to Load Windows 10 (PC Magazine; 13 August 2018)
  13. Platforms Are Not Publishers (Jeff Jarvis, The Atlantic; 10 August 2018)
  14. Twitter suspends Alex Jones for urging people to keep “battle rifles” ready (ARStechnica, 15 Aug 2018)
  15. Are Targeted Ads Stalking You? Here’s How to Make Them Stop. (NYTimes, 15 Aug 2018)
  16. Free FoxIt Reader software (for PDFs)
  17. Inside Twitter’s Struggle Over What Gets Banned (New York Times; 10 August 2018)
  18. Hackers could hijack devices using a laptop’s USB-C charger (TechRadar; 9 August 2018)
  19. Russian Military Spy Software is on Hundreds of Thousands of Home Routers (DefenseOne, 13 Aug 2018)
  20. Hackers account for 90% of login attempts at online retailers (Quartz, 18 July 2018)
  21. Your smart air conditioner could help bring down the power grid (CNET, 14 Aug 2018)
  22. How to Install Fortnite on Android (PC Magazine; 14 August 2018)
  23. Google tracks your movements, like it or not (AP, 13 Aug 2018)
  24. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Timer Tab
  25. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Documenting Hate: Charlottesville (PBS) and This Photo Of A Solar Coronal Mass Ejection Is Beyond Comprehension (Digg, 13 Aug 2018)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 86

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.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. Life on an iPad (The Overspill, 19 February 2018)
  9. Apple files for updated Apple TV trademark potentially hinting at more advanced gaming capabilities (9 to 5 Mac, 21 February 2018)
  10. Opinion: Almost no one should get a HomePod over a Google Home Max (9 to 5 Google, 19 February 2018)
  11. Thumbs Down on Apple HomePod from TwIT Podcast (11 Feb 2018)
  12. The aftermath of the Parkland mass shooting exemplifies the ugly side of social media (Recode, 20 February 2018)
  13. Apple just won regulatory approval for two mystery iPads in Eastern Europe (The Verge, 21 February 2018)
  14. On Russia, Facebook Sends a Message It Wishes It Hadn’t (NYTimes, 19 Feb 2018)
  15. Inside The Two Years That Shook Facebook—And The World (Wired, 12 Feb 2018)
  16. Facebook to use postcards in anti-election meddling effort (CNN, 20 February 2018)
  17. Twitter is trying to crack down on spam bots (CNN, 21 February 2018)
  18. UK PM seeks ‘safe and ethical’ artificial intelligence (BBC News; 24 January 2018)
  19. The Great A.I. Awakening (The New York Times Magazine, 14 Dec 2016)
  20. Google Looks To Be Heavily Investing In PWAs For Chromebooks (Chrome Unboxed, 21 February 2018)
  21. Core M7 ASUS C302 W/16GB RAM Arrives On The Scene (Chrome Unboxed, 21 February 2018)
  22. Hardware: Intel ships update for newest Spectre-affected chips (TechCrunch; 21 February 2018)
  23. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Reply, by Google and Textra SMS
  24. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Twitter Moments (Example – HowTo)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 80

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.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. The Big Tech Trends to Follow at CES 2018 (NY Times, 3 Jan 2018)
  9. CES 2018: What To Expect From The Year’s Biggest Tech Show (The Verge, 3 January 2018)
  10. For CES 2018, security of connected devices still a core fear (CNet; 3 January 2018)
  11. 12 questions that CES 2018 needs to answer (CNet; 3 January 2018)
  12. Apple will replace old iPhone batteries, regardless of diagnostic test results (The Verge; 3 January 2018)
  13. Apple’s response to its iPhone slowdown controversy is good — and a lesson to be more proactive about communicating (Recode; 28 December 2017)
  14. How to check how many battery cycles is your Apple iPhone battery on (Phone Arena)
  15. Kernel-memory-leaking Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign (The Register, 2 Jan 2018)
  16. Google’s Project Zero team discovered critical CPU flaw last year (TechCrunch; 3 January 2018)
  17. A Critical Intel Flaw Breaks Basic Security For Most Computers (Wired; 3 January 2018)
  18. New details emerge on severe processor flaw affecting Windows, macOS, and Linux (The Verge; 3 January 2018)
  19. Microsoft issues emergency Windows update for processor security bugs (The Verge; 3 January 2018)
  20. How Antivirus Software Can Be Turned Into a Tool for Spying (NY Times, 1 Jan 2018)
  21. Why Teens Aren’t Partying Anymore (Wired; 27 December 2017)
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Host your Podcasts on Google Drive for Free from Digital Inspiration
  23. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Best Cable Modem According to Wirecutter