EdTech Situation Room by Jason Neiffer and Wes Fryer

Welcome to episode 17 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 27, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the implications of Verizon's announced purchase of Yahoo, the continued viral phenomenon of Pokemon Go, recent "billions records" of Apple and Facebook, and SpaceX's successful launch of a new door for the International Space Station. Geeks of the week included the ViewMaster VR Headset, the 360 degree video panorama live broadcast from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, a crowd-sourced list of educational apps and videos for Google Cardboard, and the amazing Prisma app available for iOS and Android. Please follow us on Twitter for updates on shows @edtechSR, and check out our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links.

Welcome to episode 16 of the EdTech Situation Room from July 13, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new Android phone security hacks, the viral phenomenon of Pokemon Go, and signs of the continuing disruptive upheaval of worldwide video distribution. We used a Google Hangout this week instead of Blab, but had some bandwidth issues which created some audio skips and interruptions in our webcast and podcast recording. We will continue to work on these connectivity and recording issues to bring you better audio next week! Please follow us on Twitter for updates on shows @edtechSR, and check out our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links.

Welcome to episode 15 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 28, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) were together in person at the ISTE Conference in Denver, Colorado! Following the day 2 keynote, they recorded a conversation about some of the exciting new announcements by Google, Amazon, and other companies during ISTE. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to referenced articles, which are also available on http://edtechsr.com/links. We had recording problems (again) with Blab, so are considering moving to a new livestreaming platform for the show. If you have suggestions we'd love to hear them! We're considering Facebook Live or YouTube. We will NOT have a show next week on July 6 but should be back July 13. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated about days, times, and links for future live shows. We'd love for you to join us live if you can, and to send us feedback whenever you are able to listen to our show. Thanks for tuning in!

Welcome 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 the recent purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft. Geeks of the Week included Jason's pro-tip to shop for gamer-marketed computer mice and keyboards, and Wes' recommendation of a $50 Jedi knight Star Wars costume on Amazon. Thanks to our live viewers Peggy in Arizona and Juan in Columbia for joining us live. We're a worldwide show! Next week we'll be broadcasting LIVE from ISTE in Denver, please mark your calendar and plan to join us. Also remember to follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay updated with our latest episode showtimes. Note Wes had some bandwidth issues at about 51:30 of the show, so about 5 minutes of the webshow was edited out of the audio version of this episode but included in the video version.

Welcome to episode 13 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 8, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new research on teen media multitasking and cognition, project management software options including a new offering from Microsoft, more rumors of Apple's WWDC event next week, continuing security / password hacks in the news and good advice for protecting your own web accounts, and more. Geeks of the week included Silicon Valley on HBO and the upcoming Coding and Minecraft Camps for Girls offered by Connected Camps. Check our updated episode links on http://edtechsr.com/links as well as the shownotes below for all the articles and resources mentioned in the show. Please reach out to us on Twitter or leave a comment to share feedback or just let us know you listened to the show and enjoyed it! Next week we will either be rescheduling or postponing due to a family birthday conflict, but we definitely WILL be both attending ISTE 2016 at the end of the month and hope to host a show there live from Denver! Follow @edtechSR on Twitter to stay updated with our latest episode dates, we'd love to have you join us live sometime!

Welcome to episode 12 of the EdTech Situation Room from June 1, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This weekJason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed spatial computing, an amazing discovery in Kazakhstan from 2015 by a Google Earth user, and the way app designers often intentionally create digital addictions using "intermittent variable rewards" like slot machines in casinos. They also offered predications for Apple announcements at the upcoming WWDC and the first use of a military-grade drone in the continental United States for an agricultural bio-technology mapping project. Geeks of the week the retirement (death?) of some much-beloved Google Chrome extensions as well as Adobe's 2.0 version of the Adobe Voice app: Adobe Spark. Special kudos to our top fan and webcast attendee Peggy George in Phoenix, Arizona! Check out our podcast shownotes and our links page on http://edtechsr.com/links for all referenced resources and websites from our show. Tune in next week on Wednesday night at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific for another exciting, enthralling, amazing and inspiring episode of YOUR new digital addiction: The EdTech Situation Room!

Welcome to episode 11 of the EdTech Situation Room from May 4, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. We've been off for a few weeks and we're glad to be back! This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the evolving role of digital assistants powered by artificial intelligence, Google's announcement that the Google Play Store is coming to Chrome OS, and the continuing evolution of machine learning. Other discussion topics included learning experiences which cultivate "grit," Apple Stock (and Warren Buffett's response), and the sunset for floppy disks in US Air Force missile silos. Geeks of the week included Google's Project Aura and the upcoming National Week of Making in the United States, June 17-23, 2016. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to these and other resources, which you can also find on http://edtechsr.com/links. Please follow us on Twitter (@edtechSR) http://twitter.com/edtechSR for updates. We expect to be back on our regular Wednesday night schedule for next week's show. Hope you can join us live! Whether you listen to us live or in an archived format, we'd love your feedback on the show.

Welcome 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 Carnival for his geek of the week, and Wes shared a couple fitness/nutrition apps as well as a recent slide deck on "Inside and Outside Sharing." As always your feedback on the show is welcome via Twitter or as a comment on our website. Tune in next Wednesday night at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain for more insightful analysis of the week's technology new stories from Jason and Wes!

Welcome 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 week's technology new stories from Jason and Wes!

where technology news meets educational analysis

Welcome 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 3D printing in veterinary hospitals, and Facebook's latest foray into video and livestreaming. We also expressed our undying admiration of Tony Vincent and fond memories of the amazing "Mobile Learning Experience" conference he hosted for five years with the Arizona K12 Center. Wes shared JuniorTube as his Geek of the Week link, and Jon shared Twitter user @irvspanish 's YouTube channel of Minecraft videos for ESL teachers and students. Check out our full list of shownotes (including Geek of the Week shares) on edtechsr.com/links.

Welcome 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.

Welcome 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: They’re Actually Useful." As usual we wrapped up with some "Geek of the Week" links, and Ben totally blew Wes' mind with his Minecraft Pocket Edition server link. Check our podcast shownotes and http://edtechsr.com/links for all the referenced resources. We'll take a break next week (no show on March 9, 2016) but return on March 16th as Wes will attempt to host the show from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Viva la revolucion #edtech!

Episode 4 of of our Blab.im powered weekly podcast featured insightful commentary by special guest Mike Agostinelli (@mikegusto), as well as regular hosts Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer). Mike and Jason joined from the NCCE Conference in Seattle, Washington, and had better connectivity during the show than Wes did. Despite bandwidth challenges spiking in central Oklahoma, the show conversations included a refreshingly wide range of topics. These included the Michelle Obama announcement of the "Open eBooks’ App," the demise of Google's Picassa web photos service, the possibilities of IFTTT and the programmable Internet of Things (IOT), the announcement of forthcoming 5G cellular data connectivity, the urban/rural connectivity divide, and "The New Colonialism" (potentially) of Facebook and Google. Geek of the Week links included Google History, the Stickbot animation app, a mobile app for rotating videos and the AppleTV "Space Station Live" app. Check out our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links for all our referenced resources and more. Remember to tune in next Wednesday night at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.

We 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 OER (Open Educational Resources) for schools, and the role of the printed textbook in an increasingly digital information landscape. Wes ranted a bit about the ascendant power of artificial intelligence, and Miguel revealed his true (and startling) personal views on DRM (digital rights management) as they relate to educational curricula. Jason challenged us to think about the permanency and durability of digital information in formats which, given time, are sure to be eclipsed by newer mediums. As always we wrapped up the show with some practical "Geek of the Week" links and tips. We'll take a week off and be back for episode 4 on February 24, 2016, when Jason will be broadcasting live from the NCCE Conference in Seattle, Washington. Check edtechSR.com/links for complete shownotes and referenced links. Please subscribe to us on Twitter (@edtechSR), on Blab.im/edtechSR and to our audio podcast channel. Our appeal of the mysterious suspension of our YouTube channel is still pending, but a YouTube playlist of our three episodes-to-date is available for your viewing pleasure. Please share The EdTech Situation Room with all your educator peeps! Please tweet us and share your feedback about and input for the lineup and format of our show. Tune in LIVE to our next show on Wednesday, February 24, 2016, at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific. (We will NOT have a show on February 17, 2015)