EdTech Situation Room Episode 127

Welcome 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 its Dragon crew module were also discussed. The future of "the technology correction" and our prospects for changing the "Surveillance Capitalism" model of many Silicon Valley companies, implications of the Huawei CFO extradition controversy, and the importance of media literacy in our age of fake news were additional topics. Updates to the PocketCasts app for Android, the addictive math-focused multiplayer app Prodigy, the gloomy prospects for BotNet death in the near future, the importance of unlimited data plans in the forthcoming 5G data environment, and the importance of carefully using "freemium" software platforms at school rounded out the show. Geeks of the week included an 18,000 mAh battery powered Android phone from Energizer, a fantastic video from Linda Yollis (@lindayollis) on improving student blogging quality, and Wes' planned ATLIS 2019 bootcamp workshop "Filtering the ExoFlood". Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can (normally) at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links.