Welcome to episode 215 ("Advertising is Complicated") of the EdTech Situation Room from April 14, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google's new advertisement targeting technology initiative, privacy and advertisement-opt out tools, and Google search's new product review prioritization changes. Slowdowns with AMD Ryzen Chromebooks. videoconferencing improvements in Chrome 90, and Google Lens OCR capabilities coming to the desktop were also highlighted. The continued advance of Moore's Law and artificial intelligence, Apple's upcoming "Spring Loaded" event predictions, Tim Cook's "flea market" opinion of Epic Games' lawsuit, and the new FCC speed test app were discussed. The importance of a 'digital will' and 23 year old coder who kept QAnon online were articles rounding out this week's show. Geeks of the Week included a video on selecting a backyard BBQ smoker and the image background removal tool, remove.bg. 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 214 ("Order Chromebooks NOW") of the EdTech Situation Room from April 7, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed a copyright/fair use victory for Google and software developers everywhere, Russia and China's plans to host an in-person conference in June to further develop their plans for a joint lunar robotic base, and the departure of LG from the ranks of Android phone hardware manufacturers. Also in Google related news, the announced return of Google I/O (in virtual form) this May, new autosave features in Google Forms for enterprise education users, and a storage extension deadline for Google Workspace users were discussed topics. Apple's forthcoming battery recalibration features in iOS 14.5 (for iPhone 11 and newer devices only,) the mechanics and carbon footprint of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in the art world, and exciting connectivity / infrastructure / digital divide related announcements from T-Mobile and the Biden administration were also highlighted. On the social media front, Twitter's "fleets" feature (announced back in November 2020,) Jack Dorsey's infamous $2.9 million NFT sale, Twitter's flirtation with subscription models, and the challenges posed to federal archival agencies by Twitter's lifetime ban on President Trump's past tweets were topics rounding out the show. Geeks of the Week included LineageOS (for older Android handset owners) and a mind-blowing article and podcast from the New York Times and "The Daily" on TikTok influencers and the global cosmetics industry. 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 213 ("Order Chromebooks NOW") of the EdTech Situation Room from March 31, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed remote work post-pandemic, continuing electronic component shortages, proliferating firmware attacks, and President Biden's new nationwide infrastructure package. AT&T's lobbying efforts to perpetuate the digital divide (prevent a nationwide fiber rollout and keep "high speed Internet" definitions low at 10 Mbps), pundit dreams of a widened scope for Facebook's Oversight Board, and Facebook's proposed regulatory changes of Section 230 were also highlighted. The surprisingly small number of people responsible for most of the global anti-vaccination disinformation, the promise of USI styluses for Chromebooks, improvements to Google Drive search, and the challenges of long-term Android updates on smartphones were discussed as well. Google's plans to refrain from April Fools Day video pranking for a second consecutive year, controversy over Amazon's new biometric mandates for delivery drivers, and Parler's recent user lessons on legal free speech, and a delightful Twitter bracket for "the greatest product of all time" (won by Google search) were topics rounding on the show. Geeks of the week included an article about The Louvre's digitization of 482,000 Artworks, and the disturbing (but important) article by Lyz Lenz, "When The Mob Comes." 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 212 ("NCCE 2021 Rocked") of the EdTech Situation Room from March 24, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the 2021 NCCE Conference, Google and Microsoft's spat over Australian journalism row & payoff, and Twitter's new entity in Turkey complying with local social media laws. Thoughtful articles analyzing the possibility of Donald Trump launching his own social media platform, a shout out to Karla Swisher's January podcast interview with (now ousted) Parler CEO John Matze, the crowdsourcing website Sedition Hunter, and an excellent CNN article on preparing kids to use social media were also highlighted. Privacy issues with Clubhouse, Lenovo's new Chromebooks for the education market, updated Google Photos AI capabilities, and on-going development of Google's Fuchsia operating system were discussed. Updates to Google notifications, a costly Bitccoin scam, white hat hacker profits during the pandemic, China's Microsoft Exchange server attack, Microsoft's announced reopening of business offices, and exciting announcements about electric cars and batteries by Volkswagen rounded out the show. 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 211 ("Age of CyberWar") of the EdTech Situation Room from March 3, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed privacy issues raised by Clubhouse, Google's professed commitment to privacy, and the Duck Duck Go Privacy app. Additional discussed articles included a sobering prophesy by the FireEye CEO on future cyberwar, how the "Blacklight" tool can reveal the extent of website tracking of consumers, and (thanks to Peggy George) an article about 12 essential apps to protect your online privacy. An update on the Apple M1 SSD writing issue, an effort by Arizona legislators to change Apple's App Store payment policies, and the reopening of all 270 Apple stores in the United States were also highlighted. Chromebook and Google Family Link news and a new company promising to slash electric motor energy consumption rounded out the show. Geeks of the Week included a student eBook project from Casady School seniors (in Oklahoma City) and an iOS/MacOS remote scanning solution. 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 210 ("Facebook Re-friends Australia") of the EdTech Situation Room from February 24, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the closure of Fry's Electronics Stores nationwide in the United States, and more details about updates and changes to "Google Workplace for Education" (the rebranded product suite formerly known as "Google Suite for Education" or GSFE.) Apple M1 processor SSD write woes, mysterious MacOS malware, "technology correction" updates from Australia involving major news publishers, Facebook and Google, and some other miscellaneous tech news stories. These included a more sophisticated procedure for using the gene editing tool CRISPR, contention between Canada and China over a vote on the "Uighur Genocide," and another chapter in the tragic story of Google firing AI ethicist and researcher Timnit Gebru. Geeks of the Week included the New York Public Library Digital Collections, and season 3 of the Vox podcast series, "Land of the Giants" focusing on "The Google Empire," its history and origin stories as well as its current trajectory. 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 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 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 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 emperors to full-color life, and the forthcoming second edition of Jason's favorite book, "Why Don’t Students Like School." 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 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,) an Ethan Zuckerman podcast interview with Jimmy Wales, the Chrome Music Lab, and the "Ground News" media aggregator. Jason delivered tonight's 1AR. 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 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 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.