Shows
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 170Welcome to episode 170 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 25, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) welcomed Eric Langhorst (@elanghorst) back as a special guest. Topics for the show included ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on schools, teachers and students, new product announcements from Apple, a discussion on whether or not home workers should leave smart speakers turned on, and more. Helpful and practical suggestions for remote teaching / online teaching for K-12 as well as university instructors / faculty from Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) and Jose Bowen (@josebowen) were highlighted. Geeks of the Week...
2020-03-261h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 165Welcome to episode 165 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 13, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed changes to "backup files" in Google Drive and the demise of Andy Rubin's "Essential" Android phone hardware company. After another consecutive week of shout outs to the "EdTech Takeout Episode 71," we discussed the requirement for YouTube creators to mark all videos "made for kids" which fit Google's guidelines, and provided some analysis on the demise of "branded accounts" on YouTube for GSuite for Education (GSFE) domains. On the topic of media literacy, the recent...
2020-02-131h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 164Welcome to episode 164 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 6, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed technology and mobile app woes in this week's Iowa Primary party caucuses and election, a case study of 'what not to do" with regard to copyright and Disney movies shown for a school fundraiser in California, and the 15 year birthday of Google Maps. The largest article collection in this week's shownotes concern the distressing and horrific exponential growth in child sexual abuse media as documented by a four part New York Times article series...
2020-02-071h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 161Welcome to episode 161 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 8, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new technology (including possible vaporware) revealed at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Apple's return to CES to champion digital privacy, and an exciting update to Bluetooth. Facebook's announced ban of "deepfake" videos and the potential problems they face with this laudable policy, a late December New York Times article highlighting the protean (rather than monolithic) nature of screentime and our need to stop bashing it, and an interesting historical as well...
2020-01-111h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 160Welcome to episode 160 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 1, 2020, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) kicked off the first show of the new year by discussing Audrey Waters' (@audreywatters) marathon post "The 100 Worst Ed-Tech Debacles of the Decade," and Dean Shareski's (@shareski) post "I Don’t Think I’m an EdTech Guy Anymore." On the security front, recent Amazon Ring "hack incidents" revealed to be caused by reuse of compromised passwords and a good article from USAToday highlighting the dangerous cleverness of bank account phishers were highlighted. The fruits of the...
2020-01-021h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 152Welcome to episode 152 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 23, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the demise of Nest smart thermostat installations by contractors following Google's acquisition, the Pixel 4 smartphone, Google fees for GMail storage, and Google's new "digital wellbeing" experimental apps. Enhanced genetic editing via CRISPR Prime / Primate Editing, the retirement of 8 inch floppy disks from the U.S. Air Force's nuclear arsenal control systems, the importance of home router firmware updates, credit card skimming software deployed on over 18,000 websites, and the poor password habits of Equifax network...
2019-10-251h 02
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 151Welcome to episode 151 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 16, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on a birthday special assignment, so returning guest Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) joined Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) to discuss the past week's technology news through an educational lens. Topics included disinformation in the Turkish/Kurd conflict in Syria, "deep fake" videos, surveillance and privacy in our connected age, and the shifting rationale for government encryption advocates. Wellness and "digital minimalism," a hacked Interstate billboard showing pornography, John Oliver's debt forgiveness program, the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, and the underwhelming...
2019-10-181h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 146Welcome to episode 146 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 4, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the release of Android 10, Carl Hooker's (@mrhooker) recent Twitter conversation and blog post on why banning smartphones in the classroom is a bad idea, and lessons we should all learn about security following the hack of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account. Imposter sellers and FCC-illegal cell phone signal boosters on Amazon, Apple's forthcoming September 10th event with rumors of a new iPhone, and the "deep fake" Zao iOS app craze in China were also...
2019-09-061h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 135Welcome to episode 135 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 22, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the threat posed by cyberattacks in the airline industry, a recent ransomware attack on Oklahoma City Public Schools (@okcps), and revelations of Google storing passwords as plaintext for over a decade. Wes discussed some of his takeaways from a recent Oklahoma education cybersecurity workshop, the importance of cybersecurity jobs, continued troubles with Microsoft Windows10 updates, and the security value of adding a recovery phone number to your Google account. The announced ban of Chinese...
2019-05-231h 11
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 133Welcome to episode 133 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 8, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed lots of news from this week's Google I/O Conference. Topics included Google's renewed focus on user privacy, shift in focus from search and answers to productivity, improved digital well-being tools, the mid-range price Pixel 3A smartphone, and the amazing "Google Lens" text to speech as well as translation capabilities. On the Microsoft front, the return of "PowerToys" to Windows10 and forthcoming support for Linux were discussed. Additional topics included NASA's robotic detection of...
2019-05-111h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 131Welcome to episode 131 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 17, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed proposed changes to the way Twitter is designed and works, the challenges of online discussion / dialog, buzz around the release of the Samsung Fold Android smartphone, and the continuing DNS hacks on core Internet infrastructure. Inexpensive facial recognition machines, Google location data in the hands of law enforcement, and harassment on WikiPedia rounded out the show. Geeks of the week included the free textbook "Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers," Wes' Mastondon profile address (mastodon...
2019-04-181h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 130Welcome to episode 130 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 10, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed YouTube's challenges moderating objectionable content, the human costs of that content moderation, and the incredibly hostile digital infrastructure which is now online amplifying that content for apparently malicious purposes. HUD's new lawsuit against Facebook for illegally targeted housing advertisements, and privacy and security challenges posted by pre-installed apps on Android were also discussed. Exciting recent Google announcements were highlighted including native editing of MS Office documents via Google Docs, forthcoming 3rd party add-ons to...
2019-04-121h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 127Welcome to episode 127 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 7, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google's new Chromebook App Hub website, OpenAI's decision to NOT share a new AI text generator, and Microsoft's forthcoming "Windows Lite" operating system. Dipayan Ghosh & Ben Scott's advocacy to promote intelligent regulation of Facebook and other Silicon Valley companies enabling "precision propaganda" was also highlighted, along with ways outrage over common threats can hijack parents' common sense. Facebook's declining US user base, Facebook's announcement to emphasize point-to-point "ephemeral" messaging, and SpaceX's recent success launching...
2019-03-081h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 125Welcome to episode 125 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 13, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the death of NASA's Mars Opportunity rover, cybersecurity incidents in K12 schools, weak U.S. government enforcement of privacy laws, and criticism of both Apple and Google for allowing Saudi men to use apps to track and oppress women. Controversy over developer use of iOS screen recording capabilities, the unlimited powers of Israeli officials to surveil and utilize personal information of citizens without judicial oversight, and Cisco's push for privacy regulation were also addressed...
2019-02-151h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 124Welcome to episode 124 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 6, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed YouTube's most recent letter to Creators, Google's Jigsaw project which uses AI to help human moderators identify toxic posts which violate community standards, and the Japanese government's plans to hack into citizen's IoT devices to update firmware. Additional topics included Spotify's recent acquisitions of Gimlet Media and Anchor, predictions for podcasting in 2019, and the woes of crypto currency investors when the only person with the controlling password dies unexpectedly. The Google Chrome extension "Password...
2019-02-071h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 119Welcome to episode 119 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 26, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed copyright and intellectual property issues on the Teachers Pay Teachers (@tptdotcom) website, YouTube creator backlash amidst other "trust issues" with Google, and the challenges of radicalization and "outlier content" on YouTube based on its attention-maximizing algorithms. Continuing warnings from U.S. security officials to avoid Huawei smartphones and telecommunications gear because of the Chinese government's hacking threat, the four variations of recommended 2 step verification for account security, and the promise of podcasting for the "...
2018-12-271h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 112Welcome to episode 112 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 24, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Jennifer Carey (@thejencarey) 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 data privacy, the "hackability" of the human mind, the recent FBI warning on student data privacy, and Tim Cook's recent criticism of Silicon Valley over privacy. Additional topics included a U.S. cyberoperation against Russia aimed at protecting U.S. elections, the book "Algorithms of Oppression" by Safiya U...
2018-10-2649 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 110Welcome to episode 110 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 10, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Jun Kim (@mpstechnology) 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 alleged hack of computer hardware by Chinese authorities affecting major tech companies including Apple and Amazon, which is very controversial and has been firmly denied by technology companies as well as government agencies. The dangers of connecting to open WiFi in public spaces, ways to avoid phishing...
2018-10-111h 07
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 109Welcome 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...
2018-10-041h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 108Welcome 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...
2018-09-271h 11
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 107Welcome to episode 106 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...
2018-09-1343 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 102Welcome 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...
2018-08-091h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 101Welcome 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...
2018-07-261h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 100Welcome 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...
2018-07-121h 01
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 99Welcome 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...
2018-06-201h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 97Welcome 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 th...
2018-06-071h 12
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 95Welcome to episode 95 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 16, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the recent vote in the U.S. Senate to preserve net neutrality, Android-related updates from Google promoting more frequent security patches by smartphone manufacturers / OEMs, and the forthcoming Oneplus 6 Smartphone. The U.S. President's reversal of a trade ban on ZTE smartphones in the United States, updates to Gmail, Google Drive, and Google News, and imminently expected announcements about new Chromebooks rounded out the Android and Google-focused news articles in the show. Computer security...
2018-05-171h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 91Welcome to episode 91 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 4, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guests Alice Barr (@alicebarr) and Cheryl Oakes (@cheryloakes50) along with host Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the accessibility Chrome extension Plazma, the "Teach Wonder" robotics and PD program from Wonder Workshop, and Ripple's amazing fund of all DonorsChoose classroom projects recently. Additional topics included iOS 11.3's battery problems, Apple's new hire to improve Siri's AI abilities, favorite uses of smart assistants (Madame A and the Google Home Mini), and new DNS projects speeding up Internet access and improving security.New developments in...
2018-04-051h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 90Welcome to episode 90 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 28, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Felix Jacomino (@FelixJacomino) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed a gripping tale of iPhone10 survival on the SheiKra Roller Coaster in Busch Gardens, Apple's Education Event in Chicago on Tuesday, digital citizenship themes surrounding the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica hoopla as well as Florida school shootings, and the upcoming closure of WikiSpaces. Additional topics included some amazing, recent biotech headlines about protein engineering and the discovery of a new human organ, YouTube's decision to use WikiPedia links to fight online conspiracy theories...
2018-04-021h 11
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 89Welcome to episode 89 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 22, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the transition of iPadPalooza into LearningFest, Virtual Reality at SxSW 2018 and in the classroom, and the upcoming Apple Education Event in Chicago on March 27th. Additional topics included Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and the response of Mark Zuckerberg to allegations his social media platform has become "a weapon" posing an existential threat to democracies worldwide. Geeks of the week included the forthcoming movie, "Ready Player One," and a new Cadillac ad, "Future Cars."...
2018-03-231h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 88Welcome to episode 88 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 13, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Jennifer Carey (@TheJenCarey) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the admirable way Florida teens have used social media to advocate for political change following the Parkland school shooting, how we can help curb trolling and harassment on Twitter by reporting it when we see it, and how YouTube seems coded to be a radicalizing influence through its recommendation engine. Social media analysis continued with discussion about a recent Wired article highlighting how Russia's "abuse" of Facebook during the 2016 elections essentially constituted...
2018-03-141h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 87Welcome 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 (w...
2018-03-011h 01
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 86Welcome 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 T...
2018-02-221h 02
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 85Welcome 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 (f...
2018-02-081h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 84Welcome to episode 84 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 31, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the weaponization of information as propaganda via online advertising and what this portends for open / democratic societies, exhortations from leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos relating to education and artificial intelligence, and the financial impact of Facebook's recently announced changes to its news feed algorithm. Additional topics included the EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and what those privacy directives might mean for schools and educational technology use, Google's embrace of Neverware, Ap...
2018-02-011h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 83Welcome to episode 83 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 24, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the Montana governor's announcement to require net neutrality respect from ISPs with state contracts, the Hawaii governor's Twitter password gaffe during the recent false ICBM alert incident, and a series of new Google announcements relating to an IT certification program and cybersecurity spinoff company. Additional topics included new affordable laptops from Lenovo, Acer, and Microsoft targeting the education market, wifi issues with Chromecast and Google Home devices, and some Apple updates on battery throttling, H...
2018-01-251h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 82Welcome to episode 82 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 17, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed upcoming changes to the Facebook news feed, the performance impact of software patches for Meltdown and Spectre, our human tendency to anthropomorphize technologies, and new highlights from CES 2018. Geeks of the week included Google's Art App (Jason), the Microsoft Launcher for Android and the YouTube Safety Center (Wes). Check out all our links and shownotes, including many articles we didn't have time to address in this week's show, on http://edtechsr.com/links - F...
2018-01-191h 00
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 81Welcome to episode 80 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...
2018-01-111h 11
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 80Welcome 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 r...
2018-01-041h 12
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 79Welcome to episode 79 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 27, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Beth Holland (@brholland) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed "The 2017 EdTech Year in Review." The first discussion topic was the misinterpretation of “research” in educational technology and how it leads to editorials about banning technology in classrooms. Secondly, the line between "creepy surveillance" (by social media companies for advertising as well as governmental mass surveillance) and helpful artificial intelligence / algorithm powered information filtering was explored, but definitely not definitively resolved since many of the recent disclosures related to data mining and pri...
2017-12-281h 18
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 78Welcome 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 DA...
2017-12-211h 02
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 77Welcome to episode 77 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 13, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google's recent announcement to discontinue web store apps, the importance of the open web, and the upcoming net neutrality vote by the FCC. Additional topics included the prevalence of email tracking and whether or not this surveillance is something to be concerned about, the upcoming shutdown of Storify, Google Assistant coming to older Android devices, and a recent PBS Frontline Special ("Putin's Revenge") as well as Guardian article about the weaponization of the web b...
2017-12-141h 10
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 76Welcome to episode 76 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 6, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the viability of antivirus software on client computers and the prospects for brain implants (mind-computer interfaces) as described by a current neurosurgeon. Additional topics included Windows 10 ARM laptops, the public health risks posed by Facebook and Google, digital distractions, and Amazon Prime video finally coming to AppleTV. Google-related topics included the current spat over selling products on Amazon.com, which is leading to the blocking of YouTube on Amazon streaming devices, YouTube's redoubled efforts t...
2017-12-071h 13
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 75Welcome to episode 75 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 29, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed rumors on other edtech podcasts that they are "a bit nerdy," recent Apple security issues with the default root user account, and YouTube with respect to protecting kids and restricting content. Additional topics included the state of email in 2017 and useful apps / email workflow strategies, the amazingly fast new FireFox browser from Mozilla, exciting new announcements for more Android apps on Chromebooks, and the continued march of automation via AI, especially involving trucking. Geeks o...
2017-11-301h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 74Welcome to episode 74 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 24, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent news articles addressing Apple's MacBook in our post-PC computing environment, net neutrality and the FCC's upcoming plan to roll it back, as well as various security news reports from the past two weeks. These included WikiLeaks release of CIA cyber weapon source code, the reported impersonation of Kaspersky by CIA hackers, Uber's $100,000 cover-up of a large cyber breach, and the dangers posed by a WiFi Pineapple. The 10th birthday of the Amazon Kindle w...
2017-11-251h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 73Welcome to episode 73 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 8, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed how to run Windows software on newer Chromebooks using CodeWeavers' CrossOver, recent congressional testimony by Silicon Valley leaders, and Twitter's expanded 280 character limit. Additional topics included the EPA's recent approval to release genetically modified mosquitoes in 20 U.S. states and the rise of global "Net States." Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain. Check all our shownotes on http://ed...
2017-11-0959 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 72Welcome to episode 72 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 1, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the unfortunate limitations of USB-C cables, the slowing of Moore's law and the growing importance of AI for smartphone sales and function, and iPhone X pre-order sales numbers. Additional topics included survey results about Americans' opinions of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft, the U.S Congressional hearings with representatives of Facebook, Twitter and Google, the need to address online anonymity in light of U.S. Presidential election revelations, and the ways social media is u...
2017-11-021h 00
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 71Welcome to episode 71 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 25, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Microsoft's play to offer its universe of applications (including the Edge web browser and the Cortana assistant) on Android phones, upgrade woes with iOS 11, and Coda's efforts to create a new document format merging word processing documents and spreadsheets. Security articles included a shout out to Nicole Perlroth's September 11th interview on cybersecurity on the World Affairs Council podcast, Facebook security issues and the Facebook privacy checkup, and new attacks including "BadRabbit ransomware" and "T...
2017-10-261h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 70Welcome to episode 70 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 18, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google's new "Advanced Protection" security mode, hacker threats in several US states to parents of students, Microsoft Windows 10 "Creator Updates," and reports that our solar system has a mysterious "Super Earth" 9th planet well beyond the orbit of Neptune. Additional topics included several updates to Google Earth and Google Maps mashups, recent Amazon advertising mistakes, the importance of media literacy education, and the emerging narrative of how Russian operatives appear to have subverted democracy i...
2017-10-191h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 69Welcome to episode 69 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 11, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Twitter's plans to double the character limit to 280, Microsoft giving up on Windows Phone, Google's Investment in Neverware, and the emerging details about Russian election hacking and Russian company Kaspersky. Additional topics include the role of social media in distributing news today, "what happens in an Internet minute in 2017," and podcast hosting services going offline (Opinion and AudioBoom). Gene therapy for Leukemia, Dropbox innovation, Tim Cook's surprising comment about AR computing hardware, and Facebook's n...
2017-10-121h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 68Welcome to episode 68 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed today's exciting Google event and product announcements, with (as always) an eye toward the educational implications of the news. Discussed Google product announcements included the new Pixel2 smartphone, Pixelbuds supporting real-time translation in 40 languages, the updated Pixelbook, the Google Clip Camera, and new Google Home products including the Home Max and Home Mini. Geeks of the week included the Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso (from Jason), an update on the cross-platform video projection option V...
2017-10-051h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 67Welcome to episode 67 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 27, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed prison time given to a Volkswagon engineer who wrote the emissions test dodging car code, updates to Google Slides, Team Drives for G Suite users, and G Suite's new File Stream app for offline file access. Additional topics included the recent war of words between Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg, Doug Belshaw's post about why he deleted all his past Twitter likes/favorites as well as most of his tweets, and an alleged $5 million p...
2017-09-281h 07
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 66Welcome to episode 66 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 19, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Facebook's struggles to define standards for censoring advertisers, Facebook "Pixel" tracking, expanded T-Mobile data caps, recommended action steps for Equifax hack victims, and the CCleaner anti-malware software hack. Additional topics included tips G Suite admins can take to prevent phishing attacks, a great free Chrome extension which can help that effort (Password Alert), iOS 11 updates, tvOS updates, and Google's forthcoming event featuring an expected Pixel 2 smartphone announcement. A speed round of CRISPR and genomics h...
2017-09-201h 10
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 65Welcome to episode 65 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 13, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed this week's Apple Event product announcements, the huge Equifax hack and what victims can do about it, new headlines fitting in the broader topic of "This Week In Justified Paranoia," and the prospects of a Parkinson's Disease cure via gene pattern identification powered by 23andMe. Geeks of the week included a new screencasting software program (recordit.co) and Apple Today events at Apple retail stores including "Teacher Tuesdays" and Apple Store learning field trips. Chec...
2017-09-141h 02
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 64Welcome to episode 64 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 6, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed rumors of Apple's September 12th event and expected iPhone updates, enhanced Android app performance on Chromebooks, Gimlet Media's significant funding round supporting podcasting, and the recent NY Times article about ethics and teacher product promotion. Additional topics addressed included Apple's newly announced support for network neutrality, pacemakers at risk for hacks, and social media file vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. Geeks of the week included Manoush Zomorodi's new book, "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing O...
2017-09-071h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 63Welcome to episode 63 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 30, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed iPhone 9 rumors, Apple's recent Emmy Award, CRISPR and human DNA embryo editing ("DNA surgery"), fake news surrounding Hurricane Harvey, and Google’s forthcoming Chromebook Pixel laptop. Additional topics included the newly announced collaboration between Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana and YouTube updates removing black bars on vertical videos. Geeks of the week included the Blue Yeti Mic and a $26 HDMI to Component Video converter with the power to rescuccitate a HDMI-disabled flatscreen TV. Che...
2017-08-311h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 62Welcome to episode 62 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 23, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the new Google operating system "Oreo," the rising costs of new smartphones in the United States, whether or not Facebook poses a thread to democracy, and Wired magazine's Internet Troll map. Additional topics included "How info overload robs us of creativity," the militarization of computing via autonomous killer robots and the forthcoming independence of US CyberCommand. Geeks of the week touched on interactive annotation tools like Hypothes.is and tips for public wifi hotspot s...
2017-08-251h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 61Welcome to episode 61 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 16, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new updates for Google Sheets and Slides for education (G Suite) users, and a helpful (but NSFW) article highlighting the "why" of Internet troll culture as well as many Internet culture personalities and events which could be considered essential for adults wanting to understand teens and their digital context today. On the surveillance front, Jason and Wes talked about the recent FBI warning to parents regarding "smart toys," and the troubling demand by the U...
2017-08-171h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 60Welcome 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 t...
2017-08-101h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 59Welcome 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 (b...
2017-08-031h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 58Welcome to episode 58 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 19, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week was a special episode dedicated specifically to "Net Neutrality" and the ongoing campaign to oppose corporate telco lobbying for Internet fast lanes. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed what net neutrality is and why it's important, how it impacts schools as well as the economy, and why we need to advocate for net neutrality not only with the FCC but also with our elected representatives and senators...
2017-07-201h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 57Welcome 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 m...
2017-07-131h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 56Welcome to episode 56 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 19, 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) were back after several weeks apart, which included some international travel for Jason to Sweden. This week discussion topics included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on "a right to social media access" as part of 1st Amendment rights, and recent announcements from Apple at WWDC including new iPads, the iMac Pro and HomePod speakers. The proposed purchase of Whole Foods by A...
2017-06-201h 07
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 55Welcome to episode 55 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 7, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week while Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment in Sweden, special guest Dr. Scott McLeod (@mcleod) joined Wes Fryer (@wfryer) to discuss cyberattacks in Qatar and the Middle East, new iPad features announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in California, and the possible legal limits on public figures to block followers on social media platforms like Twitter. They also discussed a new book by CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna...
2017-06-081h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 54Welcome to episode 54 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 31, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show. This week while Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment, returning special guest Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) joined Wes Fryer (@wfryer) to discuss cybersecurity and recommended anti-malware computing solutions, They also talked about efforts to salvage Twitter and Internet discourse by web 2.0 pioneer Evan Williams (@ev), the perils of moderating live video moderation, and recent commercial space milestones by SpaceX as well as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's company, Vulcan Aerospace. For Geeks...
2017-06-011h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 53Welcome to episode 53 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 24, 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 more takeaways from the recent Google I/O event, genomics and biotechnology news involving CRISPR and DARPA, artificial intelligence advances by Google, and updates to the Surface Pro line by Microsoft amidst forthcoming rumors of MacBook updates at WWDC in June by Apple. They also talked about recent "bot blunders" (related to AI and machine learning), ongoing fake news challenges to...
2017-05-251h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 52Welcome to episode 52 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 17, 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), Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed an array of exciting announcements from today's Google i/o conference, as well as an interesting but disturbing video from the May 10th Microsoft Build Conference perhaps foreshadowing our "privacy free future" powered by ubiquitous surveillance cameras, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Panelists also discussed the recent WCry worm whose ransomeware payload has made headlines and wreaked havoc...
2017-05-181h 01
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 51Welcome to episode 51 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 10, 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 Apple's forthcoming (but rumored) "Today at Apple" retail sessions, and a TEDideas article suggesting we replace the term "digital natives" with the terms "digital orphans," "digital exiles" and "digital heirs." Additional subjects included the continued growth of the digital home assistant market and the new "Echo Show" product from Amazon, next-generation mesh-based home routers, and privacy articles highlighting surreptitious surveillance smartphone...
2017-05-111h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 50Welcome to episode 50 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 3, 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), Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) discussed today's widespread Google Docs phishing attack, Microsoft's newly announced Windows-S operating system, new Microsoft laptop announcements targeting the Chromebook market and MacBook users, and recent controversy regarding the website Unroll.me selling anonymized user data to advertisers. They also discussed Mark Zuckerberg's recent forecast for the future of social media and screens (mixed-reality), a new Kickstarter campaign (Jelly...
2017-05-041h 02
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 49Welcome to episode 49 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 26, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Martin Horejsi from the University of Montana discussed Apple's struggle to keep and win back school users, the new online newspaper from WikiPedia founder Jimmy Wales, and varying perspectives on robotics. Wes Fryer was out on assignment but will return next week. Please follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay up to date about our upcoming show schedule. Thanks for listening (and possibly watching) the EdTech Situation Room! Get full access to EdTech Situation Room Podcast at...
2017-04-271h 10
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 48Welcome to episode 48 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 19, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the implications of Apple's announcement to make all iLife apps free for both MacOS and iOS, Microsoft's new licensing strategy for Windows 10 and the "Creator's Update," and the potential for Google's AutoDraw website to be used for sketchnoting inside and outside the classroom. Additional topics include a recent study suggesting kids who use touchscreen devices sleep less at night, a New York Times article on a paper suggesting social media is NOT contributing significantly...
2017-04-2059 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 47Welcome to episode 47 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 12, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week special guest Beth Holland (@brholland) joined Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) for discussions focusing on Anderson Cooper's recent 60 Minutes Episode "What is 'brain hacking?' Tech insiders on why you should care," new IoT (Internet of Things) home hacking episodes, the federated (and FREE / open source) social networking platform "Mastodon," and helpful articles on finding a secure VPN to protect your privacy. Geeks of the Week included realtimeboard.com (from Beth), Google Flights (from Jason) and an $18 6 port smart ID...
2017-04-131h 01
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 46Welcome to episode 46 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Apple's announced spec update for the Mac Pro, a recent Google sponsored survey indicating teens think Google is cooler than Apple, and a variety of articles and movies tangentially related to intelligence, artificial intelligence, and cyborgs. As usual they discussed continuing improvements to home assistant technologies like Google Home, as well as articles about recent privacy protection rule changes in the United States and their implications for US consumers. Privacy discussions also included Quincy...
2017-04-051h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 45Another Seedlings podcast mini-reunion! Welcome to episode 45 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 29, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was again out on assignment, so Wes Fryer (@wfryer) joined Maine educators Alice Barr (@alicebarr) and Cheryl Oakes (@cheryloakes50) for a discussion about their recent trip to Brazil and experiences at the "Amplifica Conference" in Sao Paulo. Alice and Cheryl also shared some updates about 1:1 learning in their respective schools, and discussed a few recent technology news articles. These included articles about tech moguls who severely restrict their own children's access to technology and social...
2017-03-301h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 44Welcome to episode 44 of the EdTech Situation Room from March 22, 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. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Wes Fryer "flew solo" in tonight's episode which featured discussion about Apple's new iPad announcements this week, new "Share to Kindle" features in iOS, and Screentime / Digital Citizenship. In addition (as usual) articles relating to security, surveillance, and privacy were discussed, as well as some very insightful (and troubling) articles falling within the topic "Fake News, AI and...
2017-03-231h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 43Welcome 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...
2017-03-091h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 40Welcome 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...
2017-02-161h 06
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 39Welcome to episode 39 of the EdTech Situation Room from February 1, 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), Jennifer Carey (@teacherjencarey) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed screen time and a recent response by Derrick Willard (@dwillard) to a provocative Time editorial. They also discussed the recent sunsetting announcement of Club Penguin by Disney, the importance of parents getting into the virtual worlds their kids are playing in and exploring, and Microsoft's forthcoming "Windows 10 Cloud" product release. The recent successful ransomeware attack on an Austrian...
2017-02-021h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 38Welcome to episode 38 of the EdTech Situation Room from January 25, 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), Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed in-depth the new Chromebook announcements by the Google Chrome team, Samsung and Asus, and Microsoft's announcement of "Intune for Education," a cloud-based tool offering functionality to manage Windows10 devices similar to the Administration console in Google Apps for Education (gSuite). They discussed the alarming aggregation of data on millions of U.S. citizens by private companies using innocuous...
2017-01-261h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 34Welcome to the 2016 EdTech Year in Review, the final episode of the EdTech Situation Room for the year! Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach), Eric Langhorst (@elanghorst) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed many of the most notable topics and technology news stories from year as they relate to schools, education and teaching. These included fake news during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, artificial intelligence and Google's new "AI First" strategies, cybersecurity, screentime, 3D printing, and the struggles of Apple with the new MacBook Pro. Geeks of the Week included inexpensive world phones / global GSM phones (Jason), the Photo Scan app from Google (Eric...
2016-12-311h 10
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 32Welcome to episode 32 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 7, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show (as well as some we didn't have time to discuss.) This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the launch of the new Google WiFi home router, screen time surveys for adults and kids, Gmail account hacks to well known politician accounts (Colin Powell and John Podesta) via clever phishing attacks, and recent Apple headlines about MacBook Pro issues. A considerable part of the show focused on Carole Cadwalladr's...
2016-12-081h 08
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 30Welcome to episode 30 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 22, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. Visit http://edtechsr.com/links to access all referenced links from our show (as well as some we didn't have time to discuss.) This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the challenges of "fake news" continuing to be shared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, and the responsibilities we have to vet and verify articles before passing them on to others. The future of net neutrality in the Trump administration, the rumored end to development of Apple's AirPort routers...
2016-11-231h 07
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 29Welcome to episode 29 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 16, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jen Carey (@TeacherJenCarey) joined Wes Fryer for a YouTube Live conversation about student privacy, government and corporate surveillance, digital citizenship, strategies to stem the onslaught of fake news, helpful Google Chrome extensions, and more! Geeks of the Week included the app Google PhotoScan and ATLIS (The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools) from Jen, and several from Wes. Those included "Chromebook Apps Thumbnail links from Maize, Kansas," Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points (from Apple), and Google Street View...
2016-11-171h 11
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 28Welcome to episode 28 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 9, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) briefly discussed the historic and surprising (to many) U.S. Presidential election result, but spent the majority of the show talking about "Digital Citizenship in the Surveillance State." Wes and Jason have submitted a proposal for ISTE 2017 on this topic (www.edtechSR.com/nsa) and Wes will be sharing a TEDx talk on this subject in Enid, Oklahoma, on November 19th. This week's discussions served, in part, as brainstorming and preparation time for both of...
2016-11-101h 15
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 27Welcome to episode 27 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 2, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed a variety of announcements from both Microsoft and Apple from recent PR events. Topics included Microsoft's Surface Studio, Apple's refreshed MacBook Pro, AppleTV updates, and the changing identities as well as customer niche foci of Microsoft and Apple. Jason and Wes discussed the wisdom or folly of Apple going "all in" for the USB-C port in new MacBooks, and the possibility that laptop innovation has plateaued across platforms today. They also talked about the...
2016-11-031h 09
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 26A Seedlings podcast mini-reunion! Welcome to episode 26 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 19, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was again out on assignment, so Wes Fryer (@wfryer) joined Alice Barr (@alicebarr) and Cheryl Oakes (@cheryloakes50) for a discussion about recent technology news affecting the world of education. Alice and Cheryl have been educational podcasters for MANY years, and are two of Wes' personal "podparents" (if such a thing is a thing...) "Seedlings Forever!" Alice, Cheryl and Wes talked about new study statistics showing teens significantly prefer Snapchat and Instagram over Facebook for social...
2016-10-201h 00
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 25Welcome to episode 25 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 12, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was out on assignment, so Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) joined Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) for a lively conversation about the positive power of Internet technologies to connect us to information as well as each other. Discussion also focused on Google's new Duo videoconferencing and collaboration platform/app, the implications of AI (artificial intelligence) for our lives and our classrooms, and a recent anti-tech rant by educational policy wonk Diane Ravitch. Wes shared a shout-out to the new "Voices of DARPA" podcast...
2016-10-131h 10
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 24Welcome to episode 24 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 5, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the challenges of teaching civics in a heated election season and the affordances of social media during election debates. They also discussed some highlights from Google's Pixel Phone event this week, including the Pixel phone, new wifi routers, a new Google Home device, and the role of AI (artificial intelligence) in Google's corporate products and services evolution. The rumor of an October 27th MacBook laptop refresh was also discussed, along with some iPhone/Android...
2016-10-061h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 23Welcome to episode 23 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 28, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Martin Horejsi (@martinhorejsi) hosted the show and dived into a variety of technology related topics. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) was out on assignment this week and was not able to join live. Topics for episode 23 with Jason and Martin included the recently released Horizon Report (K12 Edition) and a great discussion about classroom learning spaces. They also discussed Elon Musk's recently updated vision for Mars colonization, and the uses of technology to both fact check and distract viewers Monday...
2016-09-291h 03
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 22Welcome to episode 22 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 14, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) had a special show. Rather than discuss a variety of recent technology news headlines, episode 22 focused exclusively on Dr. Nicholas Kardaras' August 31, 2016 article for TIME Magazine, "Screens In Schools Are a $60 Billion Hoax." The article highlights many of the key points in Kardaras' newly published book, "Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids—and How to Break the Trance." Jason and Wes highlighted several of the valid points from the article regarding screentime, th...
2016-09-151h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 21Welcome to episode 21 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 7, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the much-heralded Apple Event from earlier today which featured the announcement of the iPhone 7. Jason and Wes, in classic "Yayyyyy! …. or Mehhhhhhh…" analysis, broke down the major elements of the Apple Event. This included the iPhone 7 camera, the death of the headphone jack, newly announced AirPods, The Apple Watch Series 2, and iWork real-time collaboration. They also discussed missing announcements from the event, which included updates to the MacBook lineup, MacPro updates, iMac updates, or iPad...
2016-09-0858 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 14Welcome to episode 14 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 22, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) shared their best advice for educators attending the 2016 ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) conference in Denver, Colorado. They also discussed important announcements from Apple's recent Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) and what those may portend for teachers and schools. Additional news articles of discussion included the use of Periscope video on June 22nd by CSPAN when the US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan stopped "standard" TV coverage of a Democratic Party sit-in and...
2016-06-231h 01
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 10Welcome to episode 10 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 4, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the benefits of using Google Slides for presentation sharing, new updates to Google Classroom, desired updates for Google Apps for Education tools, the relation of maturing genomics & robotics industries to STEM education, the slow adoption dynamics of wearable technologies in the consumer market, and the reported comparative benefits of handwritten class notes over typed versions. Check out our shownotes and discussion links on http://edtechsr.com/links for all referenced resources. Jason shared Slide...
2016-05-0557 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 9Welcome to episode 9 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 27, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed artificial intelligence, social media content moderation, cell phone hacking, open educational resources, and the demise of desktop PCs - and how each of these newsworthy developments relate to classrooms and schools. Jason shared The FiveThirtyEight Blog as his Geek of the Week, Wes shared Nuzzel and the "Full Spectrum Entry-Level Laser Cutter" as his Geeks of the Week. Tune in next Wednesday night at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain for more insightful analysis of the...
2016-04-281h 04
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 7Welcome to episode 7 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 6, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) faced some road warrior bandwidth blues, so the show went on with Jon Samuelson (@jonsamuelson) joining Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) to catch up on the heroic Oregon trek and adventure of Jon's family in past year along with some of the past week's technology news. Those topics included the FBI's decision to drop their lawsuit against Apple over iPhone encryption, the release of the Tesla Model 3 by Elon Musk, Google's April Fools Day video about Google Plastic, the ethics of 3...
2016-04-0758 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 6Welcome to Episode 6 of the EdTech Situation Room, the weekly webshow and podcast where technology news meets educational analysis! This week co-hosts Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discuss Apple's March 21st event and several other news items. These include the FBI/Apple faceoff over iPhone encryption, Google's AI Play Go, and Blendle's idea for saving journalism on the web. Get full access to EdTech Situation Room Podcast at edtechsr.substack.com/subscribe
2016-03-291h 01
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 5Welcome to Episode 5 of the EdTech Situation Room, the weekly webshow and podcast where technology news meets educational analysis! This week we had a lively discussion with special guest Ben Wilkoff (@bhwilkoff) along with show hosts Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer). Our conversations touched on the articles "Google Eliminates Right-Side Adds" (discussing the ascendency of mobile computing as well as the implications of our "you are the product" digital social environment,) "Veteran Station Crew Returns to Earth after Historic Mission," the amazing "State of EdTech from EdSurge" interactive article, and "Touch Screen Laptops Aren’t Just a Gimmick: Th...
2016-03-0359 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 3We were joined for episode 3 of our Blab.im powered weekly podcast by educational technology guru and noted futurist Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) of San Antonio, Texas! Hosts Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) met in "The EdTech Situation Room" on February 10, 2016, and discussed current news and trends in educational technology with Miguel. In this week's show we discussed our responses to the economic and digital hegemony of Google and Apple (actually we didn't use those words, but we did talk about that issue). We talked about Google's online store for 'books that can't be printed,' the importance of...
2016-02-1157 min
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 2Our second episode and first experience on Blab.im. We think Blab rocks! Hosts Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) met in "The EdTech Situation Room" on February 3, 2016, and discussed current news and trends in educational technology. In this week's show we discussed President Obama's "Computer Science for All" initiative, Apple's perceived need to innovate more with core iOS apps, an updated rehash on the implications of Apple's declining iPad sales, a video highlighting the possibility of larger, nineth planet in our solar system, and the future of both Yahoo and Flickr. We also talked briefly about the role...
2016-02-041h 05
EdTech Situation Room Podcast by Jason Neiffer and Wes FryerEdTech Situation Room Episode 1Our first official show! Hosts Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) met in "The EdTech Situation Room" on January 27, 2016, and discussed current news and trends in educational technology. Building on the fun of "The EdTech Year in Review" podcasts from 2014 and 2015, The EdTech Situation Room is a regular web show and podcast Jason and Wes are starting in 2016. Your feedback and input is welcomed! In future episodes we will be inviting guests to join us. In this show we discussed Microsoft's acquisition of MinecraftEDU, Apple's declining iPad sales, the future of Google Hangouts and Google Plus, and shared a...
2016-01-281h 08