Edtech Situation Room By @techsavvyteach & @wfryer

Welcome to episode 209 ("Google Education Pivots") of the EdTech Situation Room from February 17, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google News including significant changes to PAID services for educational customers, privacy, security, Apple, podcasting and connectivity related news headlines. The LastPass password manager's forthcoming change to STOP supporting free accounts with both mobile and laptop/desktop computer access was highlighted and lamented. "The Tech Correction" (of course) was also discussed. Geeks of the Week included a new "Doodle for Google" challenge and tips on how to get more space in your Google online storage quota. 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

Welcome to episode 208 ("North Dakota and Apple") of the EdTech Situation Room from February 11, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed "The Technology Correction," Apple News, Google Chrome and Chromebook news, and privacy updates, including Chrome's forthcoming ban of third party browser cookies. Security news included a recent hacker attack of a Florida city water treatment plant, and a damning New York Times op-ed, "How the United States Lost to Hackers," which details how the focus on offensive cyberattacks by US agencies and military units has opened a pandora's box of cyber weapon capabilities which is utilized by a variety of nation-state and non-state actors against a wide variety of individuals and groups. Articles about connectivity and space rounded out the show. Geeks of the Week included a LiveScience article about the use of artificial intelligence to bring statues and images of ancient Roman emperor

Welcome to episode 207 ("Scraping is NOT a Crime") of the EdTech Situation Room from February 3, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed digital security, 5G / Connectivity, Apple news, Google news, burgeoning Chromebook sales, and "the tech correction." This included the threat and possibility of Google discontinuing its search service in Australia in response to newly proposed tax laws. Ongoing disclosures via Parler following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. capitol were also discussed, including a Lawfare article explaining why the "web scraping" which was done to archive / backup Parler's terabytes of user submitted media was NOT illegal / a violation of U.S. law. We also briefly mentioned two new videoconferencing / video chat platforms, Kumospace (via Peggy George and Teachers Teaching Teaches) and Class.com from Zoom. Geeks of the Week included Stack Social, Jimmy Wales' nascent social network (WT Social

Welcome to episode 206 ("Tech Regulation Approaches") of the EdTech Situation Room from January 27, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed our ongoing "tech correction" with social media companies, users and governments: The potential for new regulations on technology companies in response not only to the January 6, 2021 Capitol Riot in Washington D.C. but also the overall polarizing effects of social media on our society and government. Additional topics addressed in the show include broadband access challenges in the United States, updates from Google to ChromeOS and other product platforms, Apple M1 chip user reports and forthcoming software updates (including Google Drive File Stream in April.) Geeks of the Week included an amazing simulation video from MIT in 2014 about the CRISPR gene editing technology, Jason's favorite (and top rated) standing desk, and the opening of NECC 2021 online registrations. Our sho

Welcome to episode 205 ("Struggling with Information Abundance") of the EdTech Situation Room from January 20, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent technology news involving connectivity / bandwidth, Microsoft's embrace of open source software development, the return of the 3:2 laptop monitor aspect ratio, and David Perell's thought provoking recent article, "The Paradox of Abundance." On the topics of social media and "The Technology Correction," topics included over 80 terabits of archived video posted on Parler during the January 6th Capitol Riot, the potential of the social media bans on President Trump to be an inflection point for global Internet fragmentation and censorship, and practical strategies to use when engaging in dialog with someone who believes a "fruit loop conspiracy theory." Geeks of the Week included the upcoming February 17-18 "Learn with Google" conference, Wes' GigaOM Twitter list,

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.

Welcome to episode 203 ("Adios 2020") of the EdTech Situation Room from December 30, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the amazing Apple M1 chips, neuromorphic computing, "the case for edtech minimalism," and some of the amazing milestone in space exploration during 2020. "Public domain riches from 1925," the vast scope of Amazon's role in our economy and society, the possible end of privacy as we know it, and security concerns for Google Chrome extensions and the Google Play Store were also discussed. The continuing challenges of conspiracy theories in the age of COVID, changes to the landscape of drones for 2021, and Amazon's acquisition of Wondery to compete with Spotify for podcasting dominance were topics rounding out this week's show. Wes' Geek of the Week was his newly created website, "Fryer & Ward Family Recipes" (food.wesfryer.com) and Jason's was The Internet Archive (archive.org). Our show was liv

Welcome to episode 202 ("Google Down") of the EdTech Situation Room from December 16, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google news including Wednesday's temporary service outage, acquisition of Neverware, the death of Cloud Print, and the controversial firing of AI researcher and ethicist watchdog Timnit Gebru. Updates to Firefox and Microsoft Office for native MacOS M1 processor support, and developer-mandated revelations about the jaw-dropping ways Facebook's iOS app tracks user behavior and collects private data. Facebook's new PR ad campaign "advocating for small businesses" (ok, whatever...), YouTube's streaming music dominance over all other players, the huge popularity of gaming videos on streaming networks, and disinformation commentary from Roger McNamee as well as Facebook's oversight board's initially selected cases were topics rounding out this week's show. Geeks of the Week included T-Mobile's fi

Welcome to episode 201 ("Facebook's Reckoning Approaches") of the EdTech Situation Room from December 9, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new lawsuits brought against Facebook by the FTC and 48 state attorneys general. Apple's new privacy disclosure requirements for developers, the last update for Adobe Flash, and a critical expose of the website PornHub were also highlighted. A recent nation-state hack of the top tier cybersecurity company FireEye, the sufficiency of Windows Defender for security protection of WindowsOS systems, Google and password manager audit tools, and the Apple / Cloudflare initiative to secure DNS via new protocols were discussed. Ways to protect privacy with a smart speaker in your house, the vulnerability of both passwords and SMS-based two factor authentication, and the website HaveIBeenPwned.com were topics rounding out this week's show. Geeks of the Week included the recent #digiU

Welcome to episode 200 ("A Bicentennial Conversation") of the EdTech Situation Room from December 2, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), special guest Eric Langhorst (@ELanghorst) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed technology news influenced by the upcoming U.S. Presidential transition, the imminent death of Google Cloud Print, and forthcoming services and products from Apple including Apple Fitness and a possible 16 inch MacBook Pro. Amazon's expanding efforts to completely erode all remaining consumer privacy, Amazon's new effort to open up your network to security vulnerabilities via its 'creepy' new service called "sidewalk," and the ongoing, common poor password practices of MANY people today were also discussion topics. Microsoft365's new workplace surveillance tools for administrators, the vital role of WordPress in powering most 2020 U.S. election campaign websites, and five reasons you should DELETE Telegram from your smartphone were ar

Welcome to episode 199 ("Fake Selfies Everywhere") of the EdTech Situation Room from November 25, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Black Friday technological temptations, China's robotic rocket launch this week to bring back moon rocks to earth, and a remarkable New York Times multimedia article on fake photo generation websites and services for hire. Google Meet's new support for up to 100 breakout rooms in a single call, promising updates for native webpage (non-app) Chromebook annotation, and the best Chromebooks of 2020 were also discussed. Chromebook manufacturers following Apple's lead and ditching Intel, surprisingly positive youth perceptions of YouTube videos as educational / instructive, and home networking troubleshooting tips were highlighted. Geeks of the Week included a new and fairly simple method to "clean up" shared YouTube video links for students, and a technique to "play thousands of retro

Welcome to episode 198 ("We Loved Thee, Google Expeditions''") of the EdTech Situation Room from November 18, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed FCC changes to United States bandwidth spectrum affecting WiFi and automotive emergency communication, faster Google Chromebook chips and Google Product Black Friday specials, and the benefits of YouTube Premium. The depressing demise of both Google Expeditions and Google Tour Creator in Summer 2021, Google Pay's impressive upgrade, GitHub's decision to support fair use, and favorable reviews of Apple's new M1 chip powered laptops which are convincing Jason to return to the Apple user fold were also highlighted. An alarming revelation about the poorly perceived reach of Facebook's economic surveillance methods was also discussed. Geeks of the Week included Wes' preview video for the December #digiURI Media Club meeting (discussing the March 2020 TED Radio Hour, "IRL On

Welcome to episode 197 ("Bring Forth Thy M1 Chip''") of the EdTech Situation Room from November 11, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed ongoing information pollution relating to the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, the new Apple M1 chip and other announcements from the November 10th Apple Event. Educator concerns about remote test monitoring during COVID-19, Google announcements about the end of free, unlimited Photo and Cloud document storage, and Roku's support for Apple HomeKit and AirPlay2 were also highlighted. Geeks of the Week included three recommended YouTube videos from Wes and a free Stadia gaming bundle for U.S. and U.K. YouTube Premium Subscribers from Jason. 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 Twitt

Welcome to episode 196 ("Election Disinformation Brewin''") of the EdTech Situation Room from October 28, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed election disinformation and countermeasures, deepfake threats, amplification of divisive issues by foreign and domestic actors, battles over WikiPedia facts, privacy and podcast tracking, and more. Adversarial interoperability, The Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure efforts to reimagine and rearchitect the Internet, smoking's lesson for social media regulation, forthcoming updates to Internet Explorer, and Apple's apparent foray into Internet search. Geeks of the Week included MS Edge on a Chromebook, Tour Creator by Google, a web-based teleprompter that listens to your voice and keeps pace with the speaker, and a new start engine startup (Neeva.) Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYar

Welcome to episode 195 ("Search History Overreach'") of the EdTech Situation Room from October 21, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed privacy-violating subpoenas Google is now complying with, which provide identifying information about ALL people in a certain context who are searching for particular terms online. Historically, accessing knowledge (like checking out or reading particular library books) has not been something to which law enforcement officials in the United States have NOT had ready access. Our conversations touched on privacy issues involving VPNs, the TOR browser, how TCP/IP header packets include identifying MAC address information for the device(s) people use to access the Internet, and more. Additional topics discussed included surveillance capitalism, revelations that antivirus company AVAST secretly sold user data, Cory Doctorow's decision to write less dystopian SciFi, and a new competito

Welcome to episode 194 ("Yes Another New iPhone'") of the EdTech Situation Room from October 14, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Apple's new announcements about iPhone12 and HomePod Mini, actions taken by social media companies to curb election-related misinformation and malinformation, and some proposals by tech correction advocates for technology company anti-trust legislation advocates. Developments in fast battery charging technology, the CRISPR / CAS9s discovering female scientists recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the promises of faster bandwidth over both cellular 5G and residential cable modems, and the mindblowing power of the average smartphone today were topics rounding out this week's show. Geeks of the Week included a call to audit your own autopay subscriptions, a great opportunity for high school students to learn about AI from Stanford alums and grad students, and the podcast "In

Welcome to episode 193 ("Oops Google Did It Again'") of the EdTech Situation Room from October 7, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed monopolistic behavior of big tech companies, rebranding of Google' GSuite as "Google Workspace," updates to Google/Nest WiFi, availability of Google Drive File Stream for consumer accounts, and the release of a powerful new Chromebox by CTL. On the Apple front, rumors about the new iPhone set to be announced October 13th and an iOS14 battery drain solution (wipe your iOS) were highlighted. Several articles on social media and our ongoing "Technology Correction" were discussed from the Mozilla Foundation and other sources, seeking to curb the harmful impacts of virtual disinformation and conspiracy groups on the upcoming U.S. election. These include new steps by Facebook and Twitter to crack down on user accounts violating terms of service agreements and community standards. Ongoin

Welcome to episode 192 ("Delete All Your Idle Smartphone Apps'") of the EdTech Situation Room from September 30, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the marathon nature of the COVID-19 pandemic for society and schools, the challenges of rural broadband connectivity, and the biggest announcements from Google's Pixel 5 Event. Upgrades to Google Meet, new HP Chromebooks, AI that can draw reasonably good pictures based on captions, and a call from futurist Amy Webb for a U.S. National Strategic Office for AI and other critical science and technology initiatives were also highlighted. COVID-19 era controversies over surveillance and biometric powered online assessment tools were discussed. Geeks of the Week included Wes' recent posts on Lesson Cast workflows for teachers, and Jason's call to "delete all your unused smartphone apps." Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our

Welcome to episode 191 ("COVID-19 and Our New Educational 'Normal'") of the EdTech Situation Room from September 23, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the likelihood of long term COVID-19 impacts on education and our society, new Apple Watch and iPad announcements from the September 15th Apple Event, and Chromebook news from HP and the Dev channel. On the subject of U.S. - China relations, the proposed restructuring of TikTok and the possibility that differences over 5G infrastructure rollouts portends a tectonic shift in international relations was discussed. Continuing observations and analysis of the looming "tech correction," articles on Twitter and Facebook actions to censor disinformation and bad actors on their platforms, Facebook's thread to leave the EU over proposed data regulations in Ireland, and a fantastic TED Radio Hour podcast episode highlighting issues of privacy, surveillance capitalism, su

Welcome to episode 190 ("Jason on the Apple Edge") of the EdTech Situation Room from September 9, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed forthcoming announcements by Apple for the Apple Watch and iPad ecosystems, the return of Google Maps to the Apple Watch, and Apple's compelling arguments in litigation with Epic Games over Fortnight App Store payments. A review of Android 11, the integration of Google WiFi app functions into Google Home, and the possible demise of the open source FireFox web browser were also highlighted. T-Mobile's plan to give limited free data plan hotspots to 10 million U.S. students, China's nationwide ban of MIT's Scratch programming software for students, and the question of whether or not China and the United States are reaching a competitive tipping point in relations were explored. A rather wild story of disinformation over 5G cell towers in Peru leading to a hostage situation rounded o