Latest education updates from around the world
Social Reconstructionism Simply Explained
Those of you in the field of education have certainly come across the concept of social reconstructionism at certain point in their teaching/learning journey. The concept have gained attraction starting from the latter decades of last century and is still relevant today.
At its core, social reconstructionism is an educational philosophy that aims at rebuilding society through educational reform. It encourages critical thinking and uses social, political and economic structures to question accepted norms and values that shape our society.
Eye-tracking is a Game Changer for XR That Goes Far Beyond Foveated Rendering
Eye-tracking—the ability to quickly and precisely measure the direction a user is looking while inside of a VR headset—is often talked about within the context of foveated rendering, and how it could reduce the performance requirements of XR headsets. And while foveated rendering is an exciting use-case for eye-tracking in AR and VR headsets, eye-tracking stands to bring much more to the table.
Updated – May 2nd, 2023
Eye-tracking has been talked about with regards to XR as a distant technology for many years, but the hardware is finally becoming increasingly available to developers and customers. PSVR 2 and Quest […]
New Promo Video Suggests Standalone ‘Asgard’s Wrath’ Game Coming to Quest
Meta is putting on its Quest Gaming Showcase in June, and while we’re not certain what standalone goodies the company has in store, a promo video seems to suggest we’ll be getting something from the universe of hit Rift exclusive Asgard’s Wrath (2019).
We say ‘universe’ and not ‘direct port’ because we simply can’t tell for now based on the few seconds of footage, which seems to show Loki’s helmet with what appears to be a shadowy god-like figure in the background.
What suggests the promo may not be a flat-out Rift to Quest port is the desert […]
DOGOnews and Free Comic Book Day
DOGOnews is a student news site offers features articles for K-8 students. DOGOnews covers current events stories in the areas of science, sports, entertainment, and variety of topics that fall under the banner of social studies. Teachers can find stories by browsing the categories, filtering by grade level, or filtering by grade level.
This morning when I was looking at DOGONews I noticed an article about Free Comic Book Day. Free Comic Book Day is coming up May 6th. This is an annual event that more than 2,300 retailers participate in to […]
48 Digital Mapping Tutorials
Even though I write a lot about Google Earth and Google Maps, there is more to digital mapping than just using those tools. In fact, there are some great digital mapping tools not made by Google that students can use to create things like historic map overlays, map and timeline combinations, and map-based stories.
In this Digital Mapping playlist you’ll find 48 tutorial videos that I’ve made covering more than just Google Maps and Earth. In the playlist you’ll find tutorials on things like NatGeo Mapmaker, Felt Maps, USGS map tools, making animated maps, and much more. […]
STEAM Careers for All: How District Leaders Can Create Equitable STEAM Programs to Engage All Students
How educators can implement equitable STEAM programs regardless of their own backgrounds.
Great Tools to Create Educational Flyers and Posters for Your Class
Earlier this week we received a request to post about digital flyer making tools. Below are some of the best options I recommend for teachers. These simple and easy to use platforms where you can design beautiful and professional looking flyers to use in your teaching.
Flipsnack- A Great Tool to Create Interactive Flipbooks
The Hidden Design Behind the Ingenious Room-Scale Gameplay in ‘Eye of the Temple’
Eye of the Temple is one of the rare VR games that focuses on not just on pure room-scale movement, but dynamic room-scale movement. The result is a uniquely immersive experience that required some clever design behind the scenes to make it all work. This guest article by developer Rune Skovbo Johansen explains the approach.
Guest Article by Rune Skovbo Johansen
Rune Skovbo Johansen is a Danish independent game developer based in Turku, Finland. His work spans games and other interactive experiences, focused on tech, wonder, and exploration. After positive reception of the 2016 VR game jam game Chrysalis Pyramid, […]
Meta to Host Quest Gaming Showcase Just Days Ahead of Rumored Apple Headset Announcement
Meta announced its third annual Quest Gaming Showcase is arriving next month, coming only a few days before Apple’s rumored XR headset announcement at Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Meta is livestreaming the Quest Gaming Showcase on June 1st, a bit unusual for the company, as it traditionally holds the annual event in late April.
Calling it their “biggest celebration of the depth and breadth of content across the Meta Quest Platform yet,” Meta is slated to share over 40 minutes of content, including a brand-new pre-show covering game updates and debut trailers, starting 15 minutes before the show begins.
Meta says […]
Join Me for a Search Strategies Webinar Tomorrow
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Do you teach middle school or high school social studies classes? Have you ever had a student say to you, “Google has nothing on this” or “I can’t find any information about this?”
If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, you’ll want to join me in a webinar tomorrow evening (Eastern Time) that is all about teaching search strategies to history students.
You’ll automatically be registered for the webinar when you purchase a copy of my new e-book, Teaching Search Strategies to History Students by midnight tonight.
The live webinar will be at 7pm ET […]
71 Google Slides Tutorials for Teachers and Students
Over the last decade I’m made more than eighty Google Slides video tutorials. Some of them are a bit outdated now, the rest are still relevant. All of the relevant ones are now organized into one playlist.
In my playlist of Google Slides tutorials you’ll find everything from the basics of using Google Slides to using the image editing tools in Google Slides to adding audio to Google Slides and a whole lot of things in between. Some of the highlights of my Google Slides tutorials playlist are featured below.
Visually Stunning Adventure ‘Hubris’ is Coming to PSVR 2 Soon, Promising Much Needed Improvements
Cyborn is bringing Hubris (2022), the sci-fi adventure for PC VR headsets, to PSVR 2 this month, promising a host of improvements we hope will buff out more than a few dull spots in the otherwise visually impressive game.
There’s no precise release date yet; Cyborn says in a PS blog post that Hubris will land on PSVR 2 at some point in May, notably bringing along with it “enhanced graphics and gameplay.”
This includes foveated rendering for sharper resolution, haptics & adaptive triggers for swimming and shooting, revamped reloading and aiming, new enemy variations, refined difficulty levels, and 3D […]
4 Ways to Reduce Student Test-Taking Anxiety
Ways educators can help students experiencing test-taking anxiety, from Dr. Janani Krishnaswami, a physician who works with students and anxiety
What is Arcademics and How Does it Work for Teachers? Tips & Tricks
Arcademics is an educational games platform built to make learning maths, language and more, fun.
Report: What Teachers Make in Every State
New research from the National Education Association shows that while average teacher pay has increased, it is not keeping pace with inflation.
23 Other Things I Wrote in April
In addition to publishing here on Free Technology for Teachers, I also publish on two other sites that I maintain. Take a look at the list below to see the other things I wrote in April.
66 Canva Tutorials for Teachers
Other than Google Workspace tools, Canva is the tool that I’ve published the most tutorials about on my YouTube channel. In fact, with the publication of my latest Canva tutorial video I’ve now published 66 tutorials about using Canva’s many features for making videos, presentations, timelines, posters, greeting cards, worksheets, and many other graphics. All of those videos are available in one playlist that you can find and bookmark right here on my YouTube channel.
You can view my updated Canva tutorials playlist right here. A handful of highlights […]
Rain, Maps, and Slideshows – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the clouds have returned after yesterday’s reprieve from what feels like a month of rain. It’s a great morning for making pour-over coffee and sipping it at a leisurely pace. But since I have young kids, I won’t be sipping it at a leisurely pace. Instead, I’ll drink it while we get ready for a visit to the Maine Wildlife Park. It’s one of our favorite places to go regardless of the weather.
47 Google Forms Tutorials
In a video that I published earlier this year I mentioned that the vast majority of my videos don’t get more than a few hundred views. But there are some outliers. The biggest outlier is my simple video about the basics of creating a quiz in Google Forms which has received nearly half a million views. That’s just one of forty-seven Google Forms tutorials available on my YouTube channel.
On my YouTube channel and in my playlist of Google Forms tutorials you’ll find tutorials for […]
The Classroom Intervention Toolbox: Strategies for Engaging and Supporting All Learners
Students do not learn in equal ways and therefore must be taught in a way that matches their learning style. For example, students who are visual learners may benefit from lectures with PowerPoint slides and visuals. On the other hand, auditory learners could benefit from audio recordings or verbal lectures. It is also important to note that different students have different levels of knowledge and some require more explanation than others.
Search Tools Your Students (And You?) Are Probably Overlooking
AI search tools like ChatGPT infused into Bing and Google’s Bard are getting a lot of attention right now. But when it’s time to search most students still default to Google.com. Unfortunately, by relying on just Google.com and trendy AI search tools students are missing out on a lot of excellent excellent and helpful material. That’s why we need to introduce our students to lesser-known search tools and databases that they’re probably overlooking.
There are many alternatives to Google.com, ChatGPT, and Bard that students can try. One that I’ll always make a case for […]
Three Self-paced Courses You Can Start This Weekend
Spring in Maine means a lot of cold and wet weather. We have a bit of a reprieve today, but tomorrow we’re back to cool and rainy weather for another five days (if the forecast is correct). This pattern puts a damper on many outdoor spring activities. I’m using this time to work through an online course. You could do the same.
I currently offer three professional development courses that you can start today and complete at your own pace. And from now through the end of May when you register for one course, you can […]
Popular Quest 2 PC Streaming Software Adds ‘Super Resolution’ Feature for Enhanced Visuals
Virtual Desktop has collaborated with Qualcomm to integrate the company’s Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, a software enhancement squarely targeted at increasing the wireless streaming quality and latency of PC visuals to Quest 2.
Virtual Desktop is a great tool not only because it provides Quest users wireless access to their computers, but because its developer, Guy Godin, is constantly adding in new features to tempt users away from using built-in solutions, i.e. Air Link.
That’s a tall order since Air Link is free and actually pretty great, letting Quest users connect to their VR-ready PCs to play games like Half-Life: Alyx, but Virtual […]
Meta Reaffirms Commitment to Metaverse Vision, Has No Plans to Slow Billions in Reality Labs Investments
Meta announced its latest quarterly results, revealing that the company’s Reality Labs metaverse division is again reporting a loss of nearly $4 billion. The bright side? Meta’s still investing billions into XR, and it’s not showing any signs of stopping.
Meta revealed in its Q1 2023 financial results that its family of apps is now being used by over 3 billion people, an increase of 5% year-over-year, but its metaverse investments are still operating at heavy losses.
Reality Labs is responsible for R&D for its most forward-looking projects, including the Quest virtual reality headset platform, and its work […]