Latest education updates from around the world
Run & Gun Roguelike ‘Dead Hook’ Gets New Gameplay Trailer Alongside Delayed Quest Release Date
Ever-agile VR developer Joy Way announced this week that its upcoming roguelike Dead Hook will be delayed into June, a little more than a month after the previously announced released date. To satiate your appetite in the meantime, a new gameplay trailer shows more about how the game will play.
Joy Way, the studio behind Stride and a slew of other interesting VR games, has released a new gameplay trailer for its latest title, Dead Hook:
The trailer outlines some of the game’s fundamental mechanics, including the ability to quickly navigate the environment by swinging around on chains like a steam-punk Spider-Man. […]
Using Blogs in Teaching- A Helpful Framework for Teachers
Here’s How Hard It Is To Get Sites to Stop Stealing My Work and for Namecheap to Stop Hosting It
Today, I will probably get nothing done because I have to spend hours getting the website DoMyPaper.club to stop stealing my work. I’ve sent multiple DMCA notices to Namecheap which hosts the site. Namecheap only responds when I call them out on Twitter.
Google’s DMCA takedown process is flawed as it recently said that they didn’t believe I was the copyright holder for the words I’ve published here on FreeTech4Teachers.com and the pictures that I’ve posted of MYSELF!
In order to try to salvage something out of this frustrating experience which I’ve gone through about every three months for […]
This is Why We Make Irrational Decisions
The Psychology Behind Irrational Decisions is the title of a TED-Ed lesson that I needed to rewatch this morning. The lesson focuses on the role of heuristics in our decision making processes. Of course, to understand the role of heuristics in making decisions students first need to understand heuristics. The lesson does a good job of defining heuristics for students. The video from the lesson is embedded below.
Applications for Education
A possible extension for this lesson is to have students think about and find examples of how heuristics can influence the statements […]
Forget AI. Sharing Human Intelligence in Education Could be Gamechanger
An award-winning educator from California is on a mission to create open online educational resources that help pool existing teacher expertise
Free Printable Kindergarten Worksheets to Use with Your Kids
20 Cool Painting Ideas for When You Are Bored
Feeling stuck in a creative rut, or simply bored and looking for new and exciting ways to express yourself through the medium of paint? The collection below will help. I have compiled a fantastic collection of diverse painting ideas to ignite your imagination and banish boredom. You can use these ideas yourself, with your kids, and for fellow educators, they can use them with students in class to unleash their creative gene.
‘Space Invaders: World Defense’ Will Showcase Google’s Newest AR Tool This Summer
Google has announced an upcoming AR game, Space Invaders: World Defense, which is built as a showcase of the company’s latest AR tool.
Over the last few years Google has been steadily working on its AR developer toolset, ARCore. This week at Google IO 2023, the company added a brand new tool to its kit called Geospatial Creator.
Geospatial Creator gives developers the ability to create world-anchored digital content that will appear in the same location for all users. Built on a foundation of both ARCore and 3D data from Google Maps, it’s competes with Niantic’s Lightship AR platform, […]
‘Another Fisherman’s Tale’ Review – A Captivating Sequel with More of Everything
We’re back for another dose of mind-bending puzzles à la Bob the Fisherman. The sequel offers up a longer, more emotionally complex story while packing in a ton of new puzzle mechanics that makes Another Fisherman’s Tale feel leagues ahead of the original in almost every sense.
Another Fisherman’s Tale Details:
Available On: SteamVR, Quest 2, PSVR 2
Release Date: May 11th, 2023
Price: $30
Developer: Innerspace VR
Publisher: Vertigo Games
Reviewed On: Quest 2
Gameplay
Bob’s tall tales are taller than ever this time around, as the adventure swells to scale up to new emotional depths which reveal more about the real […]
Social VR Platform ‘VRChat’ to Lose Quest 1 Support Next Month
As a part of its big send off, Meta has already deprecated first-party social features on the original 2019 Quest, which includes access to Parties and Meta Horizon Home. If you thought you could keep using Quest 1 with other social VR platforms though, your choices are about to get even more limited, as VRChat is soon dropping support too.
The studio announced it was dropping support in a recent developer update, stating that VRChat will no longer provide support for the Meta Quest 1 headset after June 30th, 2023.
“This is primarily due to Meta’s deprecation of the […]
The Science of Gardening
Every year we plant a small vegetable garden in our backyard. Some years it does better than others. There was a year when it seemed like we were picking seven cucumbers a day. Last year the cucumbers didn’t do well, but we had cherry tomatoes by the gallon!
Our kids like helping in the garden (one of my daughters is fascinated by worms) and now they’re old enough to start to understand a little of the science of gardening. The science of gardening is the topic of relatively new SciShow Kids compilation video that we watched earlier […]
Best Coding Kits For Schools
The best coding kits can make learning a subtle and fun process that engages students of all ages across STEM, robotics, and more.
Three Self-paced Courses You Can Take Now or This Summer
It has started to feel like summer is right around the corner here in Maine. Twice this week I’ve sat outside on our picnic table to do some course work. If you’re interested in a professional development course that you can do while sitting outside this spring or summer, take a look at the courses I offer through PracticalEdTech.com.
Animated Explanations!
This five-part course teaches you everything you need to know to create and teach with your own animated explanations. In the course you’ll learn why the process of creating animated explanations is valuable to your […]
Alternative Search Engines Discussed by Two EdTech Guys
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Yesterday afternoon Ruston Hurley and I got together to record another installment of our Two EdTech Guys Take Questions series. In the episode we answered a question about alternative search engines, went on a bit of a tangent about image metadata, and shared a couple of cool things that might inspire your students.
You can watch the episode right here or as embedded below. A list of the resources mentioned in the video can be found here.
Here’s How to Blend Images in Google Slides
The image that you see to above was used in a blog post that I wrote years ago. It recently surfaced again when I was looking for an old math resource (sadly, no longer available).
How to Create Custom Route Maps in Google My Maps
In a few weeks I’m participating in a global bicycling challenge that asks participants to complete 100 miles of biking on one Saturday. I’m going to do it with a couple of my friends. In preparation for that day I’ve been mapping out a variety of routes that we could take. We’ll decide before we start…or, knowing my friends, we might not decide until we start pedaling. community.
I’m planning the possible routes by using the bike route mapping tool in Google’s My Maps. If you want to create a biking route map or walking […]
How to Add Voice Notes to Pictures in Google Keep
Google Keep is the app that I probably use more than any other on my Pixel 5. It’s an app that does everything I need to save notes, clip bookmarks, and set reminders for myself. It also has a lot of little “hidden” features that I use from time-to-time. For example, you can use to add voice notes to pictures.
To add a voice comment to a picture in Google Keep you simply open the app and tap the camera icon in the “take a note” field. Then after […]
5 Tips for Creating a Data Privacy Day in Your School
A data privacy day in your school can help raise awareness regarding the importance of protecting students’ online presence
Teacher’s Guide to Performance-Based Assessment
As educators strive to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century, traditional assessment methods alone may not be sufficient. ChatGPT is the tip of the iceberg in an ocean of concerns regarding students performance. We have all seen first hand how chatbots are now redefining how we teach and test our students. And as these bots are getting smarter and smarter, “It is argued that there is a need to rethink the criteria by which the quality of educational assessments are judged”.
I believe that performance-based assessment (PBA) holds the potential to provide a more accurate […]
Arcade Boxer ‘Creed: Rise to Glory’ Takes Tops Spot in PSVR 2 Download Chart
PlayStation VR 2 is a little over two months old now, and the charts are still very much in flux thanks to a rash of new and upgraded games. Last month, Survios’ high-profile boxing title took the top spot in the US and Canada, and fared pretty well across other regions too.
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition is an overhauled version of Creed: Rise to Glory (2018) for PSVR 2, bringing new characters and a new location from the Creed III film in addition to new features, quality of life upgrades and PvP cross-platform support.
There’s a ton […]
Reading Intervention Strategies That Drive Measurable Outcomes
Educators shared strategies for successful reading interventions during a recent Tech & Learning webinar.
Best Interactive Whiteboards For Education
The best interactive whiteboards can help make teaching far more engaging with some fantastic features.
30 Innovative Instructional Strategies Examples
In today’s post, I compiled a list of 30 instructional strategies designed to promote active learning, critical thinking, and collaboration among your students. From classic techniques to innovative approaches, these strategies will empower you to create dynamic and inclusive learning environments that cater to various learning styles and preferences.
This post complements another post where I talked about the four main instructional paradigms every teacher should know about.
Here some key instructional strategies examples:
1. Direct instruction
Explicitly teaching content using lectures, demonstrations, or guided practice.
Example: A teacher demonstrates […]
An Effort to Hack PSVR 2 to Support PC VR Has Been Put on Indefinite Hold
The creator of a PC VR driver which includes support for the original PSVR 1 headset says it is are stepping away from hacking PSVR 2 to work with PC VR, citing frustrating technical, financial, and social challenges.
Mediator Software, the developer of a PSVR-to-PC SteamVR driver called iVRy, says it is putting efforts to hack PSVR 2 for PC VR compatibility on hold. Just days after saying it had managed to authenticate PSVR 2 on PC, the developer says the project is now on ice.
“I’m walking away from this project for the time being. Between spiralling […]
Seven Simple Steps for Creating Videos In Your Classroom
On page 76 of Invent To Learn Gary Stager and Sylvia Martinez write, “The movie can be done without a storyboard or script, the 3D object may not be the most precisely planned out, but the point is to create something that can be shared and talked about.” Later in the same chapter they advise avoiding over-teaching planning as it can stifle creativity in some students.
For years my outline for student video projects was outline, gather, construct, revise, and share. In fact, just yesterday I shared that outline in a presentation. After reading […]