Latest Industry Updates on Edtech and MetaTours
Unofficial ‘Half-Life’ VR Mod is Coming to Steam October 20th
Much like the recently released Half-Life 2 VR Mod, Valve is soon giving its blessings to another third-party project that this time brings VR support to the original Half-Life (1998).
If you’ve played Half-Life in VR before, it was probably thanks to the HLVR mod by Max Vollmer, who started back in 2017 to bring Valve’s iconic action-adventure shooter to the first wave of consumer VR headsets.
Now Vollmer is getting ready to launch HLVR on Steam starting October 20th. The mod is free, however it of course requires you to own a copy of Half-Life to play (i.e. […]
How to Create Green Screen Videos in Canva
A couple of weeks ago Canva held an event to announce a bunch features that were going to be added over the coming months. One of those features is now available in the form of a background remover for video clips. Just like you can use Canva to remove image backgrounds you can now use Canva to remove the background from your video clips.
By using Canva’s background remover and video editor you can now create green screen videos even if you don’t have an actual green screen to record in front of. Now […]
Tutorials for Getting Started With the Smithsonian Learning Lab
The Smithsonian Learning Lab allows teachers to create and search for documents, images, videos, interactive animations, and lesson plans from a wide range of Smithsonian-hosted resources. It also lets you create collections to share with others as well as create assignments to give to your students. To start the new school year The Smithsonian published a collection of new tutorial videos that teach you how to collect, customize, and share collections of resources in the Smithsonian Learning Lab. You can watch all of those videos here. I’ve embedded a couple of them […]
What is Genially and How Can It Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks
Genially is a presentation tool that gets interactive to be more engaging than the competition.
Here Is How to Create Your Own Maps Using Google Drive
Best Online Tools for Creating Interactive Maps for Students and Teachers
Google Ventures Invests $12M in SideQuest to Create Main Content Hub for XR Ecosystem
SideQuest, the sideloading software and unofficial app store for Meta’s Quest and Quest 2, announced it completed a $12 million Series A investment, this time led by Google’s investment arm, Google Ventures (GV).
Founded in 2019 by Belfast-based team Orla and Shane Harris, SideQuest has essentially become the de facto unofficial app store, not to mention the leading sideloading platform for Quest and Quest 2.
As first reported by Tech Crunch, Google GV’s M.G. Siegler will be joining the company’s board. As a GV general partner, Siegler he has backed a number of […]
Updated – Screencasting on Chromebooks – Built-in Tool vs. Third-party Tools
Back in June Google introduced a new screencasting tool for Chromebooks. Back then I wrote a comparison of the Chrome OS screencast tool and some others that are available to use on Chromebooks. Since then Screencastify has changed their free plan and Flipgrid has been renamed as Microsoft Flip. So I think it’s time that I publish an updated overview of the screencasting tools available for use on Chromebooks.
Chrome OS Built-in Recorder
The obvious benefit of using the built-in recorder is that you don’t have install any third-party extensions. Additionally, your recordings automatically save […]
Creative Storm – A Student Video Contest
Creative Storm 2022 is the title of the latest Next Vista for Learning video contest. Like previous Next Vista contests, this one is open to students and teachers. There is a category for student-produced videos, a category for teacher-produced videos, and a category for videos created through the collaborative efforts of teachers and students. Regardless of the category, all videos must teach a lesson in 90 seconds or less. The lesson can be about almost any concept a person would learn about in elementary, middle, or high school.
Best Election Sites and Apps for Education
Teach U.S. elections, civics, law and history with these top election sites, apps and games.
Using Telepresence Robots in School
Telepresence robots can bring students who cannot attend school into the classroom in a more immersive manner than video conferencing.
‘Bonelab’ Review – An Ambitious Sandbox Waiting for the Right Toys
Bonelab, the latest title from veteran VR developer Stress Level Zero, brings the core of Boneworks to Quest 2 for the first time, but beyond that does little to improve its foundational gameplay. This time, however, a fully-featured modding system could save the day.
Bonelab Details:
Available On: Quest 2 & Oculus PC, Steam
Release Date: September 8th, 2022
Price: $30
Developer: Stress Level Zero
Reviewed On: Quest 2
Gameplay
Bonelab’s gameplay is functionally the same as its predecessor, with highly physics-driven gameplay that can be both magical and bothersome. This time around, however, the game more clearly communicates its sandbox intentions and offers up official modding […]
Best Venn Diagram Makers for Non-designers
Some Helpful Latin Phrases for Research Students
Key Google Forms Tips and Tricks for Teachers
‘Walkabout Mini Golf’ Lets You Explore the Deep in New ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ Course
Walkabout Mini Golf is probably one of the most fun multiplayer games available on Quest today, coming highly rated by users thanks to its immersive environments and intuitive mini-golfing gameplay. Now developer Mighty Coconut has released a new paid DLC, this time bringing to the game a course inspired by the classic Jules Verne novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870).
The studio says its latest course lets you putt through the chambers of Captain Nemo’s underwater vessel ‘Nautilus’ as you search for lost balls, go on a clever foxhunt, and navigate the course from bow to stern while avoiding […]
The DMCA Scam Returns in the Form of Nationwide Legal Services
As you may recall, last spring I unravelled a scam in which someone pretending to be an attorney sent out phony DMCA takedown notices. That scam was centered around a website that pretended to be the law firm of Arthur Davidson Legal. Eventually, that website was suspended by its web hosting company. Well it appears that scam has popped-up again. This time in the form of a website that pretends to be the law firm of Nationwide Legal in Austin, Texas.
Over the weekend I got an email from someone pretending […]
Using Focusable as a Progress Journal
Disclosure: Focusable is an advertiser on my websites.
Report: Sony Plans to Produce 2 Million PSVR 2 Headsets by March 2023
Sony plans to release PSVR 2 sometime in early 2023, although exactly when is still a mystery. Now a Bloomberg report maintains the company is aiming to produce 2 million units by March 2023, which would signify a sizeable uptick in sales expectations over the original PSVR.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report maintains the 2 million figure “could be adjusted depending on the device’s sales momentum.” The company allegedly hasn’t faced any supply chain issues after initially heading into mass production in September, however.
Released in October 2016, the original PSVR for PS4 reached that two-million-unit sales […]
How Is Pre-K Utilizing Children’s EdTech?
Image Source: Pexels
Pre-K often has the reputation of largely introducing children to socialization and collaboration through play. Yet, it can be a vital formative experience in children’s lives. Pre-K helps to prepare young kids to navigate the outside world and in their transition to more structured K-12 learning situations.
As such, many parents and teachers are looking toward resources that can help kids get the most from their pre-K schooling. The rise of the digital landscape has become instrumental in offering tools to meet and exceed these needs. However, it is not just the presence of technology that […]
Webinar This Week – Search Strategies Students Need to Know
Many students will spend just a minute or two looking at search results before declaring, “Google has nothing on this.” If you have ever had a student say that to you, you know that they think of search as a function and not a process. In a webinar this Thursday I’ll teach you how to get students to approach search as a process and employ a variety of strategies to discover new information.
During Search Strategies Students Need to Know on October 6th at 4pm ET you’ll learn the tools and […]
Using King Charles and the British Monarchy to Teach U.S.-U.K. Relations
The death of Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of King Charles can be a great teaching opportunity
Student Tech Teams: 5 Tips for Having Students Work and Learn on the Job
Members of student tech teams provide their districts with much-needed tech assistance and gain valuable real-world experience in the process.
What is Flexudy and How Can It Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks
Flexudy is an AI-powered tool for quiz, study and course assistance – but does it work?
Physical Education With a Halloween Theme
Justin Cahill runs a great blog called Keeping Kids in Motion. One of the regular features of his blog is a monthly thematic challenge. Those challenges are accompanied by printable calendars and handouts for teachers. The challenges for this month are Trick or Treat, Move Your Feet, The Pumpkin Dice Latte Challenge, and The Fitness Spooktacle.
Trick or Treat, Move Your Feet is a kids fitness challenge for the month of October (adults can do it too). There is a downloadable calendar of little workouts […]
English
Chinese (Simplified)
Indonesian
Japanese
Malay
Myanmar (Burmese)
Thai
Vietnamese
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
