Last week, the “Thinking Person’s Guide to EdTech News” was on vacation, amongst the tall trees of the northwestern coast, and mostly off the grid. As I have for each of the last three years at this time of year, I’ve enjoyed the chance to retreat from the congested DC area with members of my family and in the words of John Muir,
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
I find myself back at work refreshed and with some new ideas. Among them, I’ve updated my site to include a dedicated FAQ on open educational resources (OER). The FAQ is a collaboration of many involved with the movement and includes an OER infographic, suitable for downloading and re-sharing. My thanks to EdSurge for highlighting its availability. I’d encourage those interested in the OER movement to subscribe to the bi-weekly OER Digest (a joint project of SPARC and the Student PIRGs) to stay up to date.
This week, I also enhanced the K-12 Cyber Incident Map by adding video clips of news reports of select incidents since 2016. This initial traunch of 21 videos help convey additional details about the incidents, provide insights and advice on how schools (and law enforcement) respond to incidents, and also convey some of the emotional toll on those affected. As I identify new incidents, I’ll also add new video clips to the catalog.
In addition, I’ve begun to do some cursory analyses of the data set underlying the map in an attempt to identify patterns that may be useful in responding via policy and practice. While a comprehensive post of my initial findings will be published in the coming weeks (in partnership with the Future of Privacy Forum), I did offer up a quick post this week on an emerging issue worthy of greater consideration: Should We Be Sending Students Who Hack Their Schools to Jail? Folks on Reddit and Twitter had some interesting thoughts on the piece.
This past two weeks also saw seven (7!) new additions to the K-12 Cyber Incident Map. The pace of additions should be concerning to anyone who cares about personalized learning and/or student data privacy. Be sure to follow @K-12CyberMap to keep apprised of updates to the map and related news.
Otherwise, here’s what caught my eye this week – news, tools, and reports about education, public policy, technology, and innovation – including a little bit about why. No endorsements; no sponsored content; no apologies for my eclectic tastes.
Strong opinions may be weakly held.
A Thinking Person’s Guide to EdTech News (2017 Week 16 Edition)
Inside Liberia’s controversial experiment to outsource education | Financial Times →
“Some form of public-private partnership might be part of the puzzle here but you need good governance around that, proper public procurement and monitoring. What’s missing is government capacity to hold up its end of the bargain and, in lieu of that, you’ve got some operators willing and able to run roughshod." Another big question: if a profit is not to be had, will private investors fold up their operations? What then of the students?
Tagged on: April 24, 2017
Office 365 ProPlus updates | Office Blogs →
If you've purchased Office 2016 (or earlier) perpetual licenses from Microsoft, their ability to connect to Office 365 services will expire in 2020. And here I thought perpetual meant more than 4 years...
Tagged on: April 24, 2017
Uber’s C.E.O. Plays With Fire | New York Times →
Uber tracked users *after* they deleted the app from their phones. Apple maintains ultimate discretion over how they treat partner services in their app store, even in flagrant violation of their rules. Oh, and unroll.me collects and sells user data while helping you clean up your inbox. If you are an Uber fan, time to get to know how the company really operates and question whether they deserve your business.
Tagged on: April 23, 2017
Shift to online classes 'discriminates' against rural children, mother claims | Stuff.co.nz →
In New Zealand, the shift to online classes 'discriminates' against rural children without easy access to the internet and who have parents who are not tech-savvy.
Tagged on: April 23, 2017
How a cyber trail led to the school threat suspect | Burlington Free Press →
Every account and phone number used in the threats were traced to particular times, servers and locations. All messages, even draft emails that had been deleted, were recorded. By the time the South Burlington High School senior was arrested, federal investigators had counted eight threats involving eight email accounts, a virtual private network and three Facebook accounts.
Tagged on: April 23, 2017
Is It Time to Break Up Google? | New York Times →
Could it be that Google has become a natural monopoly by supplying an entire market’s demand for a service, at a price lower than what would be offered by two competing firms? And if so, is it time to regulate them like public utilities? Interesting and notable that the question can even be raised.
Tagged on: April 22, 2017
UGA Dining Halls to introduce eye scanners | The Red & Black →
"The system works by taking a picture of the iris and then comparing it to biometric data kept on file with the university. The program is also being incorporated into the orientation process, where it will be a part of the getting a UGAID. By 2021, most of the student body should be in the system." Your password gets hacked, you can change it. When this system gets breached, your identity may be forever compromised.
Tagged on: April 22, 2017
Leaked Microsoft document confirms Windows 10 Cloud and a Chromebook competitor | PCWorld →
Google’s Chrome OS-powered Chromebooks have quickly insinuated themselves into American classrooms. Google and its partners have pitched Chromebooks as affordable, simple to use and manage, and rugged enough to survive student use. Windows 10 Cloud appears to be Microsoft's attempt to compete.
Tagged on: April 22, 2017
If Google gets to scan your email, Microsoft feels it should be able to do so, too. The best of both worlds or the worst?
Tagged on: April 21, 2017
Interoperability is an issue in the market of edtech devices, apps and services. That much I agree with. Ultimately, the question for me is whether the way forward preserves student agency and ensures security or not. Absent an ethical framework, I don't know how much progress we can make on automated data sharing (no matter what 'innovation theory' may have to offer to our understanding).
Tagged on: April 21, 2017
Google Plans Ad-Blocking Feature in Popular Chrome Browser | WSJ →
"The ad-blocking step may seem counter-intuitive given Google’s reliance on online advertising revenue, but the move is a defensive one."
Tagged on: April 21, 2017
Schoolhouse Data Breach | MacKeeper →
Schoolzilla, a student data warehousing platform, made the all-too-common mistake of configuring their cloud storage for public access. The breach affects 1.3 million K-12 students.
Tagged on: April 21, 2017
Google on disrupting the education system | Marketing Week →
Google has unveiled plans to use its Squared Online course to disrupt the education system. “Squared Online" bridges the gap between the classic classroom experience, where you can’t get scale, and e-learning that can sometimes be a bit dry. It offers a more experiential learning experience.
Tagged on: April 21, 2017
Build a Better Monster: Morality, Machine Learning, and Mass Surveillance | Idle Words →
"I contend that there are structural reasons to worry about the role of the tech industry in American political life, and that we have only a brief window of time in which to fix this."
Tagged on: April 20, 2017
Apple Forces Recyclers to Shred All iPhones and MacBooks | Motherboard →
Apple released its Environmental Responsibility Report Wednesday, an annual grandstanding effort that the company uses to position itself as a progressive, environmentally friendly company. Behind the scenes, though, the company undermines attempts to prolong the lifespan of its products.
Tagged on: April 20, 2017
Via Amanda Lenhart: A new poll of 790 teens age 13-17 conducted by The AP-NORC Center explores how adolescents use social media and messaging applications and examines disparities in use among teens of different groups.
Tagged on: April 20, 2017
OIT unveils two-factor authentication for Blackboard log-in | The Princetonian →
Princeton University is moving to 2FA authentication for student LMS logins. Have you? If not, why not?
Tagged on: April 20, 2017
FCC Chairman Wants E-Rate Application Process Improved | Education Week →
New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is not happy with the way USAC is running the E-rate program.
Tagged on: April 19, 2017
Are Higher Education Information Systems Inherently Insecure? | Educause Review →
"Given the many reported system/data breaches, colleges and universities could clearly do a better job of protecting the student, faculty, and staff information entrusted to them." Many of the same lessons can and need to be translated to K-12.
Tagged on: April 19, 2017
“What so many people forget is that we are a nation born of criminality, born of an act of treason,” Snowden replied. “What many people have said about me is that I’m a traitor, that I have committed an act of treason…but the truth is I have not been charged with treason.”
Tagged on: April 19, 2017
Phishing ‘scam’ causes campus-wide panic | The Hofstra Chronicle →
"Students in two classes in the Department of Information Systems & Business Analytics had an assignment: draft fake emails to send to fellow students that would raise awareness about phishing scams. The emails certainly raised awareness about the issue, but they did so while causing campus-wide panic and confusion as students feared they faced suspension, expulsion or a hold on their financial accounts and several departments scrambled to figure out what was going on."
Tagged on: April 18, 2017
The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI | MIT Technology Review →
"No one really knows how the most advanced algorithms do what they do. That could be a problem."
Tagged on: April 18, 2017
Privacy & Student Data: Companion Learning Tools | Digital Literacy Resource Platform →
The Companion Learning Tools present five fictional yet realistic privacy-related scenarios of edtech adoption in public elementary, middle, and high schools, along with questions to guide discussion of the opportunities and challenges embodied in each scenario.
Tagged on: April 18, 2017
MIT’s WaitSuite Uses Clever Interaction Design To Make You Smarter | co.design →
By harnessing moments where you’re waiting–from Instagram to Gchat–these apps help you make a habit of learning.
Tagged on: April 18, 2017
We Must Track How Technology Is Changing Work | Scientific American →
Without more information, policymakers - and school leaders - may be flying blind into the next industrial revolution.
Tagged on: April 18, 2017
Posted in the hopes that it will make some teachers – and school administrators – think about when the last time was that they did a password reset. Indeed, might this be a good time to do one?
Tagged on: April 18, 2017
How artificial intelligence learns to be racist | Vox →
Simple: It’s mimicking us.
Tagged on: April 17, 2017
Algorithmic Bias a Rising Concern for Ed-Tech Field, RAND Researchers Say →
"Educators need to not cede complete control to the computer," Welser said. That means being aware which products used in the classroom, school, or district rely on algorithms and artificial intelligence to make decisions; understanding what decisions they are making; and paying attention to how different groups of students are experiencing the products.
Tagged on: April 17, 2017
EFF Releases Spying on Students Ed Tech Report →
As part of their larger student privacy campaign, EFF released a report entitled “Spying on Students: School-Issued Devices and Student Privacy” that - among other things - summarizes the results of a survey of over 1,000 students, parents, teachers, librarians, school administrators, system administrators, and community members.
Tagged on: April 17, 2017
Minnesota schools fend off cyberattack disguised as message from state ed chief | StarTribune.com →
Minnesota school superintendents were targeted by an e-mail “spear phishing” scam aimed at gathering financial information about their districts, which came disguised as an official message from Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.
Tagged on: April 17, 2017
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