Latest education updates from around the world
Developing Mathematical Thinkers: The Mission and Method of Wonder Math
In the world of education, mathematics is often perceived as an unforgiving, rigid subject, burdened by rote memorization and repetition. A certain degree of abstraction makes students consider it as a challenging subject, seemingly detached from their daily life experiences.
However, Wonder Math, an innovative program for young learners from second through fifth grades, seeks to shatter these misconceptions and reform the way we approach teaching mathematics. By implementing a blend of active learning within a narrative context, Wonder Math goes beyond mere instruction—it cultivates mathematical thinkers.
The Mission of Wonder Math
At its core, […]
Meta CTO Says Quest 3 Announcement Timing Had ‘Nothing to do with Vision Pro’
Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said this week that the announcement of Quest 3, which came just days ahead of Vision Pro reveal, had nothing to do with the timing of Apple’s first public foray into XR.
“People won’t believe me, I don’t care—I’m telling the truth, you can believe me or not, that’s up to you […],” Bosworth began in a Q&A hosted on Instagram this week in response to a question about the curious timing of Quest 3’s announcement, which came just days ahead of the reveal of Apple Vision Pro. He continued:
What we found out… especially […]
The Economics of Lemonade Stands
A few weeks ago my daughters and one of their friends had a lemonade stand as part of our neighborhood-wide yard sale. The day before that I Tweeted that I had to give a little economics lesson to my kids because we had spent $15 on supplies and they wanted to charge only 25 cents for a large cup of lemonade.
My daughters and their friend are five and six years old. The lesson I gave them was a very brief and basic one. But that did remind me that EconEdLink offers a more in-depth lesson plan […]
OPEN Phys Ed Expands With an Updated Website
OPEN Phys Ed is a resource that I’ve highlighted a bunch of times over the years. It’s the website I’d be visiting every week if I was a physical education teacher. In fact, I like it so much I wore their t-shirt in my latest video about Strava.
Legislative Edtech Policy: What to Expect in 2023-24
A look back at what happened in the most recent legislative sessions across the U.S. and a look ahead to what we should expect in January 2024
The Best 6 Chromebooks for Students
I’m thrilled to share this comprehensive guide on the best Chromebooks for students, compiled from my perspective as a long-standing educator and EdTech enthusiast. With a career steeped in the education sector and years devoted to exploring the intersection of technology and learning, I’ve witnessed first-hand the dramatic transformation digital devices have brought to classrooms worldwide.
There are tons of digital devices flooding the market, choosing the right tool can be a daunting task for both students and teachers. That’s why I’ve decided to put my experience as an EdTech blogger to work and simplify this process for you. […]
Meta Introduces ‘Super Resolution’ Feature for Improved Quest Visuals
Meta today introduced a new developer feature called Super Resolution that’s designed to improve the look of VR apps and games on Quest. The company says the new feature offers better quality upscaling at similar costs as previous techniques.
Meta today announced the new Super Resolution feature for developers on the company’s XR developer blog. Available for apps built on the Quest V55 update and later, Super Resolution is a new upscaling method for applications that aren’t already rendering at the screen’s display resolution (as many do in order to meet performance requirements).
“Super Resolution is a VR-optimized edge-aware […]
Engageable Helps You Learn to Recharge and Focus
Last Friday I shared three more notes from ISTE Live. The third of those was that I Engageable was the only tech tool that I saw in the expo focusing on SEL and similar ideas about overall well-being of students and teachers. If you haven’t taken a loot at it, here’s a short overview of Engageable.
Engageable is a free service offered by the folks behind Swivl. During the 2022-23 school year Engageable was known as Focusable. The name has changed, but the purpose is still the same. That purpose is […]
Student-led Conversations in Flip
Flip by Microsoft recently unveiled a slew of new features. Some of the new features are purely decorative things like new stickers and editing effects. Then there are some new features that are actually meaningful.
One of the meaningful new features in Flip is the option for students to start discussions by posting their own topics. Instead of only being able to reply to a teacher’s discussion students can now create a new topic to start a discussion. This is a feature that you can enable or disable for your classes […]
Best Free AI Detection Sites
We test these free AI detection sites to help teachers find tools to detect the use of AI
10 Popular Summer Traditions around The World
As the days grow longer and the temperatures rise, cultures worldwide celebrate the season in unique and vibrant ways, adding color and rhythm to the summer months.
This blog post is an invitation for students and lifelong learners to embark on a virtual journey that will introduce you to a wide array of summer traditions around the world; from the fiery spectacle of Austria’s Solstice Bonfires to the celestial celebration of Japan’s Tanabata Festival, from the whimsical Solstice Parade in Seattle to the atmospheric Midnight Sun Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Our goal is to bring global cultures right into your […]
50 Best Funny Beach Jokes
Summer is here, and with it comes the time for laughter, joy, and a good dose of sunshine. As someone who has always cherished the light-hearted spirit of this radiant season, I’ve prepared a special treat for you: a collection of beach-themed jokes sure to tickle your funny bone and keep your spirits high.
From playful puns about fish, to witty one-liners involving sand, these jokes encompass the many elements that make summer so beloved. Whether you’re lounging on the beach, cooling off indoors, or simply dreaming about the sea, I hope these jokes will bring a smile […]
SteamVR Now Supports Automatic Controller Binding, Making Weird VR Controllers a Little Less Weird
Valve released its 1.26 update to SteamVR, which ought to make it easier to play any VR game using any type of motion controller thanks to automatic controller binding.
The company initially released a Compatibility Mode in its 1.24 update back in August 2022 which let games initially targeted towards specific controller types essentially be accessible to all controllers.
In the new SteamVR 1.26 update, Valve is going one step further with the new automatic binding feature, which automatically generates a new button binding profile, configures it based on a more common controller (like Index or Touch), and […]
Notes, Magic, and Wings – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where humidity seems to be the order of the day. It felt like I was walking in a rainforest while taking our dogs for a walk this morning.
This week we had family visiting and staying with us all week. It was a fun for all of us, but especially for our kids who love to play with their cousins. Swimming, fishing, and making s’mores were some of the highlights of the week. I hope that you also had a great week.
Meta Reportedly in Talks With Tencent to Bring Quest to China
Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in China since 2009, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hoping to get back in that country with Quest, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report maintains that Meta has held discussions with several Chinese tech companies, making the most progress with massive entertainment conglomerate Tencent.
The Meta-Tencent talks reportedly came to a head late last year, with Tencent Chairman Pony Ma deciding to proceed with the negotiation first and “see what deals they could reach,” WSJ reports.
Undoubtedly the most complicated bit of […]
Three More Reflections from ISTE Live
In response to this week’s Practical Ed Tech newsletter a reader named Brian asked me for my top three things from ISTE Live that I haven’t already shared. This was my reply:
1. AI is being pushed by companies more than it is being pushed by educators.
3. With the exception of one company (Engageable by Swivl) there wasn’t anyone there talking about or doing anything with SEL as it relates […]
What is Mindful Schools and How Can It Be Used for Teaching? Tips & Tricks
Mindful Schools helps make education institutions thrive through cultivating mindful centered environments.
HTC Quietly Retires Vive Cosmos in the US
After being out of stock for months, HTC quietly removed the US-facing product page for Vive Cosmos, its modular PC VR headset released in 2019.
The discrepancy was first discovered by Reddit user ‘Kody1996’, who wondered why the Vive Cosmos product page was missing.
“I am afraid the VIVE Cosmos headset has been discontinued in the US. I suggest you to check with resellers if they have it available,” an HTC service representative confirmed with Road to VR, echoing the statement provided to Kody1996.
At the time of this writing, new units are still available direct from HTC […]
Report: Samsung Delays XR Headset Due to Stiff Competition from Apple Vision Pro
Samsung’s upcoming XR headset, which is meant to compete with Apple Vision Pro, has been delayed by “one to two quarters” from its reported early 2024 release target, according to an SBS Biz (Korean) report.
Samsung announced in February it was developing an XR headset in partnership with Qualcomm and Google, the former supplying the device’s chipset and the latter the headset’s operating system.
The report maintains that Samsung Electronics recently notified its display manufacturing partners Samsung Display and China’s BOE that it’s postponing the release of “existing XR devices.”
Samsung was reportedly hoping to ready samples of […]
Create Interactive Video Lessons With ClickView
ClickView was one of the first fifteen things that caught my eye during last week’s ISTE Live conference. It’s a tool that you can use to create interactive video lessons with videos you’ve made as well as with videos you find online. There are other tools like ClickView available to teachers. What caught my attention was the clean and simple interface of ClickView.
In ClickView you can add short answer, multiple choice, and true/false questions into the timeline of a video. You can also add annotations to a video in the […]
The Potential Impact of AI on Edtech
The future of AI in the edtech sector, according to Dr. Kristal Ayres, Education Leader Strategist at Google for Education
Three Reflections on a Fun Workshop During ISTE Live
As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the last week, last week I went to a micro:bit workshop hosted by Gary Stager and Sylvia Martinez. It was a lot of fun! If you get a chance to go to one of their workshops, go! I’ve been thinking about that workshop for the last nine days. There are three elements of it that I can identify that made it a great workshop.
1. Gary didn’t speak to us for very long. He spoke just enough at the start to give an introduction to the […]
Creative Back to School Bulletin Board Ideas
Having spent countless hours in classrooms, I understand that creating an engaging learning environment is as crucial as the curriculum itself. The classroom isn’t just a place where learning happens; it’s where minds open, ideas form, and curiosity blooms. And one element that often serves as the unsung hero in creating this vibrant learning environment is the humble bulletin board.
Bulletin boards may seem like simple, functional parts of the classroom, but their potential is immense. They can be transformed into vibrant canvases that reflect our students’ learning journeys, celebrate their achievements, or simply ignite their imaginations. I’ve seen […]
This Quest Pro Game Recreates Sword Art Online’s Lovably Bad User Interface
Looking to immerse yourself into Sword Art Online (SAO)? While there are plenty of VR games that offer the sort of massive multiplayer immersion fans of the manga and anime series have craved over the years, a game built for Quest Pro and Quest 2 has recreated probably the best/worst part of the series: its lovably bad user interface (UI).
Called Subspace Hunter, the SideQuest-only game is essentially in very early access at this point. The demo lets you spawn a certain number of swords, magic, guns, and thirteen monsters, developer XuKing Studio explains on the game’s […]
China’s Largest Telecom Forms Metaverse Industry Alliance, Including Xiaomi, Huawei, HTC & Unity
China Mobile, that country’s largest wireless carier with over 940 million subscribers, has formed a metaverse industry alliance including some of the biggest names in China-based tech.
As reported by Shanghai Securities News (Chinese), China Mobile announced during Mobile World Congress Shanghai what it calls the ‘China Mobile Metaverse Industry Alliance’, something the company says will be “the world’s strongest metaverse circle of friends.”
At MWC Shanghai, state-owned China Mobile announced the first batch of 24 members of the alliance, including Huawei, Xiaomi, HTC Vive, Unity China, NOLO, XREAL (formerly Nreal), AI company iFlytek, video streaming platform MGTV, and […]