Welcome to episode 141 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 17, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the forthcoming commercial release of Boston Robotics’ “Spot” robot, Jony Ive’s announced departure from Apple, updates to the Apple portable laptops, and Amazon’s policy to basically keep user audio recordings from Alexa forever. Privacy concerns over the new FaceApp smartphone app, kids bullied into spending money in Fortnite, a Citizen’s Guide to Fake News, and the power of social media influencers were also explored. Additional topics included the possible return of Google Glass to help autistic children, YouTube educational playlists without recommended videos, and ‘the toxic potential of YouTube’s feedback loop.’ 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. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links.
Welcome to episode 118 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 12, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) co-hosted a special episode titled, the 2018 Technology Shopping Cart! They shared and discussed a variety of different technology and geek oriented gift ideas. Gift categories included smartphone stuff, The Internet of Things (IoT), books, robots, STEM/STEAM lab, miscellaneous gadgets, home networking equipment, photography and videography, software, nerd paper gear, baggage, stocking stuffers, and other ideas. 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. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links.
Welcome to episode 102 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 8, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed an update to this summer’s MacBook Pro Throttling Controversy, the upcoming death of Flash functionality in 2020, and the importance of being wary when you see pop-up ads to “update flash” and other software on your computer. The recent decisions by Apple, YouTube/Google and Facebook to ban / take down websites and media channels of Alex Jones / InfoWars was also addressed, along with Facebook’s takedown of suspected Russian network pages. Jason shared a shout-out to the helpful updating software “Ninite” for Windows, and Wes shared a shout out to his school’s “Digital Citizenship Conversations” website as well. The perils of digital voting was discussed, along with the ongoing controversy over 3D printable guns. Amy Webb’s recent prediction that “smartphones will be gone in 10 years” and other trends identified through her “Future Today Institute.” The recent news that voice-based phone calls are finally in decline in Britain, Logitech’s purchase of Blue Microphones, a cautionary tale for users of free VPN services whose data is sold to advertisers, and an eye opening Guardian article about Russian hacking forums were also highlighted in the show. Google’s required use of physical identity keys for two step verification and the perils of using SMS as well as app-based verification methods for two step authentication was explored as well. Geeks of the week included Promevo (by Jason) and Explorables (by Wes). Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows, and share feedback with us about the show on Twitter or via a comment on our website.
Welcome to episode 101 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 25, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed automation and the technological trajectory of our society, potentially toward dystopia, informed by Douglass Rushkoff’s “Survival of the Richest” article shared in early July. This led to discussions about the weaponization of news via social media, as highlighted by danah boyd in a recent lecture in Detroit available on YouTube, recent revelations about voting machine vulnerabilities to hackers via remote access, and the cautionary tale provided by Ukraine in recent years on Russian hackers’ capabilities to bring a society’s institutions to a standstill via cyberwarfare. On the less depressing technology news front, Jason and Wes discussed the recent hoopla of Apple throttling MacBook Pro laptops revealed by a user on YouTube, and Apple’s release of an iOS version which provides better support for privacy and travelers passing through customs inspections where equipment may be used to copy iPhone data via USB tools. On the Google front, Jason discussed identified speed issues with web browsers and the YouTube website, the recent EU fine of Google for anti-trust legal violations, the opinion that Android has (positively) created more choice in the global smartphone market, and an update on Google’s Chromecast technology which celebrated its 5th birthday. Facebook’s legal challenges and potential fines in Great Britain over Brexit, rumors of a Microsoft-branded smartphone, updates to Microsoft Teams software, slow growth in the PC industry, and the continued revelation of more backdoors in Cisco routers (5 at this point) rounded out this episode’s topics. Geeks of the Week included Loom, a Chrome extension for screencasting, the Apple Magic Pad running on Chrome, Reddit (it’s not just for trolls), DocHub (for PDF annotation and digital signing) and the new documentary “This is AI” by IBM and Discovery. Please follow us on @edtechSR for updates and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can for our show!
Welcome to episode 85 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 7, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Chrome blocking autoplay videos, Smartwatch privacy issues, amazing LIDAR discoveries in Guatemalan jungles, work by the Center for Humane Technology, and changing norms with Smartphone memory capacity. Additional topics included Apple’s HomePod release and Apple’s AI lag behind Google and Amazon, new smart glasses from Intel, Best Buy discontinuing CD sales, expected impacts of 5G cellular wireless, and recommendations for home mesh routers. Geeks of the week included the Common Voice Project by Mozilla (from Wes) and “Android Lite” apps for situations with poor connectivity (Jason). Note we will NOT have a show next week on February 14th / Valentine’s Day, but will return on our regular schedule February 21st, Check out all our shownotes (including articles we did not have time to discuss this week) on http://edtechSR.com – Stay safe and stay savvy, friends!
Welcome to episode 60 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 9, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the celebrated death of a podcasting patent, revised password recommendations for users, hacked school Twitter accounts, new STEM-focused badges for Girl Scouts, and summer experiments with BadgeList.com. Additional topics included the recent Google broohaha over a sexist employee-authored memo, a new study further debunking the “digital native” myth, digital identity with Yoti, a predicted cyborg evolution for humanity, Jason’s new Windows 10S experiment, and a creepy prototype of a self-driving truck. Geeks of the week included The Hackable Podcast by McAfee (from Jason) and “Send by FireFox” (from Wes). Wes also shared a flashback memory from 2010 involving the “FireSheep” extension for FireFox. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.
Welcome to episode 59 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 2, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Apple’s recent favorable quarterly earnings report, Tim Cook’s alleged statements to President Trump about Apple manufacturing returning (at least in part) to the USA mainland, the relatively low influence of peer-journaled research in most K-12 educational purchasing decisions, and the implications of genetic modification / genomics in recently announced insect eradication campaigns in the US as well as a breakthrough human embryo genetic mutation “edit.” Other topics addressed included solar eclipse sunglasses scams on Amazon (buyer beware!), some excellent explanatory videos and articles about cryptocurrencies and the “blockchain” (including Bitcoin), the announced death of Flash as a supported web technology from Adobe in 2020, and recent hacks to Verizon customers as well as an alarmingly saavy web user whose AT&T iPhone account was compromised in a targeted attacked even though he had 2-step verification turned on as well as an account passcode. (The AT&T call center rep was the weak link and granted account access to the hacker without the required customer pass phrase.) Lastly, an article prediction that SpaceX will become the leading global Internet Service Provider (ISP) when they triple the number of communication satellites in earth orbit, and the current battle of Snopes to raise money and remain financially solvent were discussed. Geeks of the week included ShoutKey, a website for sharing time-limited shortened web links / URLs with plain English words easy to spell (Wes) and an Anker solar charger for digital devices (Jason). Jason also announced the “Chromebook App List” on the NCCE blog, and Wes shared he will be presenting for Classroom 2.0 Live on Saturday, August 12th. (Note: This is a correction from the date shared during this episode). Please check our shownotes below and links on http://edtechsr.com/links for all referenced articles and resources from this episode. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.
Welcome to episode 57 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 12, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://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 43 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 8, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment this week. Carrying the #edtechSR torch forward, Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the lackluster state of iBooks and the “abandonware” status of iBooks Author. They also explored the implications of Vault 7, the WikiLeaks archive of alleged CIA documents which highlights security vulnerabilities in supposed “secure” messaging apps and platforms, as well as the hackability of smartTVs and other iOT devices. Miguel and Wes talked about the educational implications of these announcements, especially as they relate to digital citizenship, privacy, and Constitutional / human rights. Wes briefly highlighted the DNA storage milestone of the past week (215 petabytes per gram) as well as an enlightening article on the future of Apple’s Macintosh computer and various revenue streams. Shout outs were shared by Wes to Susan Bearden’s excellent book “Digital Citizenship: A Community-Based Approach,” Brian Krebs’ book “Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime-from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door,” and the Committed Podcast (a weekly tech podcast.) Miguel’s Geeks of the Week included an excellent smartphone microphone for podcast interview recording (iRig Mic Cast), an amazing web-based audio editor (Beautiful Audio Editor for Chrome), and the book “Digital Media in the Classroom.” Please refer to our podcast shownotes for links to all referenced articles, videos, and resources from the show, and take a few minutes to complete our listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr.
If you're writing about the CIA/@Wikileaks story, here's the big deal: first public evidence USG secretly paying to keep US software unsafe. pic.twitter.com/kYi0NC2mOp
Welcome to episode 40 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 15, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the dangers posed by IoT (Internet of Things) hacks, the new 802.11ax wifi standard which will bring greater capacity to our networks, strategies to address fake news, and the ongoing demise of Twitter from a financial / investment perspective. They also discussed automation and the danger it poses to middle class jobs, a recent Guardian editorial piece about rejecting standardization in schools, and the amazing capabilities technology has brought us in the last 20 years. Geeks of the week included iThemes Security Pro for WordPress (Wes) and the “3-2-1 backup strategy” (Jason). Please refer to our podcast shownotes for links to all referenced articles, videos, and resources from the show, and take a few minutes to complete our listener survey on http://wfryer.me/edtechsr.
