EdTech Situation Room Episode 92

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!

Shownotes:

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
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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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. K-12 National Standards for Quality Online Courses, Teaching and Program to be Revised by QM and VLLA
  9. Electronics-recycling innovator faces prison for trying to extend computers’ lives (Los Angeles Times, 25 April 2018)
  10. 5 New Gmail Features to Check Out Now (PC Magazine, 25 April 2018)
  11. Gmail’s biggest redesign is now live (The Verge, 25 April 2018)
  12. How to enable the new Gmail right now (The Verge, 25 April 2018)
  13. Google Photos is rolling out a friendlier and more powerful movie editor (Android Police, 20 April 2018)
  14. Google is Pursuing the Pentagon’s Giant Cloud Contract Quietly, Fearing An Employee Revolt (NextGov, 13 April 2018)
  15. Gmail accounts appear to send out spam, and their owners are baffled (Mashable, 22 April 2018)
  16. YouTube Kids adding human curated channel collections, more parental restrictions (9 to 5 Google, 25 April 2018)
  17. Google debuts a standalone to-do app, Google Tasks (TechCrunch; 25 April 2018)
  18. Making Media Mondays at Casady School
  19. Tim Cook says Apple won’t merge Mac and iPad (AppleInsider, 19 April 2018)
  20. iOS release of ‘Fortnite’ rakes in over $25M in first 30 days (AppleInsider, 18 April 2018)
  21. Flickr acquired by professional photo hosting service SmugMug (The Verge, 20 April 2018)
  22. Flickr has been sold after 13 years at Yahoo. Can Flickr be relevant again? (Recode, 20 April 2018)
  23. PSA: There’s a new fake Flash Player installer for Macs, and it’s nastier than usual (9 to 5 Mac; 25 April 2018)
  24. Hotel door locks worldwide were vulnerable to hack (BBC News; 25 April 2018)
  25. Has a Russian intelligence agent hacked your wifi? (The Guardian, 17 April 2018)
  26. US, UK warn of Russian hackers targeting millions of routers (CNet, 16 April 2018)
  27. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Spotify Free
  28. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Wordable and Mentimeter (h/t @kjarrett)