Latest education updates from around the world
Teacher and Student Views of Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Microsoft Teams
Last year Microsoft added actionable insights to Reading Progress in Microsoft Teams. This year there is even more information and there are more actions that you can take when using Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Microsoft Teams.
In a new video that he released yesterday, Mike Tholfsen provides a complete overview of how to use Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Microsoft Teams. The video provides demonstration and direction for teachers. In the video he also provides a detailed overview of how students access and use Reading Coach in Microsoft […]
HTC Announces Inside-out Tracker for VR Accessories & Body Tracking
HTC today announced a new Vive Tracker accessory which is the first in the industry to use inside-out tracking, meaning it doesn’t require any external beacons. The device can be attached to props to bring them into VR or to the user’s body for enhanced body tracking.
HTC’s existing Vive Trackers are a popular accessory for anyone interested in VR full-body tracking, but they use SteamVR Tracking technology which requires external beacons for use.
Now the company has announced a new Vive Tracker, and while it doesn’t yet have a name, HTC confirms it is their first standalone tracker based on […]
‘Not For Broadcast VR’ Review – The Dystopian ‘Job Simulator’ for Aspiring Propagandists
Not For Broadcast VR isn’t just about live-mixing camera feeds and making sure the National Nightly News airs without a hitch—that’s the gamey bit you’ll have to contend with if you want to keep ratings up and make sure the audience isn’t switching channels. It’s also a dark and brilliantly satirical take on modern politics and how broadcast media has become intertwined with entertainment. And it’s no surprise the propaganda simulator’s big buttons and full motion video (FMV) action translate pretty well to VR too.
Not For Broadcast VR Details:
Available On: SteamVR, Quest 2
Release Date: March 23rd, 2023
Get Inspired by These Videos Made by Students
The C-SPAN StudentCam contest winners were announced last week. The annual competition asks middle school and high school students to produce short videos addressing a current topic in U.S. government and politics. This year the challenge was for students to create a video about what they would make their first priority if elected to Congress.
This year’s grand prize winning video was created by two eighth grade students in Maryland, Parim Shah and Nimay Sharma. Their video is titled Where’s My Data? Data Privacy and Its Real World Impact.
The “fan favorite” […]
Hear Me on the International Teacher Podcast
A few weeks ago Greg Lemoine invited me to be a guest on the International Teacher Podcast. I had a great time chatting with Greg and his co-host Kent about a wide range of topics including who I look to for information and inspiration, some of my favorite tools and tips, and how I got started down the road to creating Free Technology for Teachers and Practical Ed Tech.
Somehow they also got me to tell some stories from my days for traveling before I had kids. Those […]
What Is Khanmigo? The GPT-4 Learning Tool Explained by Sal Khan
Khan Academy’s Khanmigo learning guide is powered by GPT-4 and Sal Khan says the technology is so powerful it feels like it has passed the Turing Test.
What is Nova Education and How Does It Work? Best Tips and Tricks
Nova Education is a science video collection website designed for education.
26 Easy Doodles to Draw
According to Merriam-Webster, a doodle is “an aimless or casual scribble, design, or sketch”. In the Cambridge dictionary, to doodle is defined as “to draw pictures or patterns while thinking about something else or when you are bored”.
In this post, I share with you some doodling suggestions and ideas to get you started. These are all simple and easy to draw doodles that […]
7 Great AI Translation Tools to Try out
In today’s increasingly globalised world, having access to accurate and reliable translation tools is essential for businesses and individuals alike. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there has been an explosion in the number of AI-powered translation services available.
How to Add Q&A to Your Google Slides Presentations
There are plenty of ways to gather questions and feedback from students in a digital format. But one of the ways that is often overlooked is to just add a Q&A component to a slide presentation. That can be done quite easily in Google Slides right from the presentation menu. Watch my video embedded below to learn how to add Q&A to your Google Slides presentations.
The option for students to vote a question up or down is useful in determining which questions seem the most important to […]
Pi, Puppy, and AI – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining and it is going to be a beautiful late winter day. It’s going to be perfect for playing outside with the newest member of our family, Rangeley Noodle! Last weekend we got a black lab puppy and my daughters named him Rangeley Noodle. Rangeley is for one of our favorite places in Maine and Noodle because my five-year-old thought it was fun to say and the rest of us went with it. Wherever you are this weekend, I hope that you have something fun to do outside […]
The Birds Are Returning – A Short Lesson on Migration
When I took my dogs out this morning I heard some birds chirping that I hadn’t heard in a few months. That’s a sure sign that spring can’t be too far away. The sounds of the birds this morning reminded me of a TED-Ed lesson about bird migration. Bird Migration, A Perilous Journey teaches viewers some statistics about songbird migration, the role of bird migration in the ecosystem, and the man-made challenges facing songbirds on their annual migrations.
Applications for Education
After watching the video and completing the lesson questions, a next step […]
What is Critical Race Theory? A Guide for Teachers and Parents
Critical race theory is a hotly debated topic especially within the American media. A number of bills and legislations have been introduced to stop or limit the teaching of critical race theory. For instance, the State of Florida has recently passed a law that bans teaching critical race theory within schools. The issue has stirred so much controversy in the media and among educators and parents.
The 20 Best Rated & Most Popular Quest Games & Apps – March 2023
While Oculus doesn’t offer much publicly in the way of understanding how well individual games & apps are performing across its Quest 2 storefront, it’s possible to glean some insight by looking at apps relative to each other. Here’s a snapshot of the 20 best rated Oculus Quest games and apps as of March 2023.
Some quick qualifications before we get to the data:
Paid and free apps are separated
Only apps with more than 100 reviews are represented
App Lab apps are not represented (see our latest Quest App Lab report)
Rounded ratings may appear to show ‘ties’ […]
23 Inspiring Earth Day Quotes
Earth Day is a day to celebrate and appreciate the planet we call home. It is celebrated on April 22 and is an opportunity to recognize our shared responsibility for protecting and preserving our environment, for ourselves and future generations.
On Earth Day, we can reflect on the beauty of nature, learn about how human activities are affecting it, and take action to protect it. In fact, everyday should be an Earth Day , with each of us doing what we can to reduce our environmental footprint and make the world a better place. By working together, we […]
Best Virtual Field Trips
Students can experience the best virtual field trips without getting on a bus, or even leaving their homes.
Aiming to Bring ‘Rainbow Six Siege’ Action to VR, Tactical Team Shooter ‘Breachers’ Releases in April
Triangle Factory, the studio behind Hyper Dash (2021), announced its squad-based shooter Breachers is set to launch next month on Quest 2 and SteamVR headsets.
The Rainbow Six Siege-inspired shooter has seen over 60,000 players play since the studio launched the open alpha late last year. Now the studio says Breachers will officially launch on April 13th.
Like Rainbow Six Siege, one team (Enforcers) is tasked with wiping out the enemy squad and disarm their bombs with an EMP. You’ll be able to rappel and breach through walls, swing through windows and catch your opponents by surprise with gadgetry like drones, cloaking devices, flashbangs […]
What is Wonderopolis and How Does It Work? Best Tips and Tricks
Wonderopolis is a question-based exploration in learning driven by everyone.
Short Lessons on Rome and Life as a Roman Teenager
National Geographic has a great series of YouTube videos called National Geographic 101 which include videos like Ancient Rome 101. The video provides an excellent introduction to the origin, rise, and fall of the Roman Empire. The length and substance of the video makes it an ideal candidate for inclusion in an EDpuzzle lesson.
TED-Ed has a good lesson that you can use as a follow-up to Ancient Rome 101. A Glimpse of Teenage Life in Ancient Rome is a TED-Ed lesson developed by Ray Laurence from the University of […]
Fun Games for Learning About Space
NASA Kids’ Club is a collection games, interactive activities, and images for students in Kindergarten through fourth grade. At the center of the NASA Kids’ Club is a set of games and interactive activities arranged on five skill levels. The activities range from simple things like guessing numbers in “Airplane High Low” to more difficult tasks like identifying planets based on some clues provided in prompts in “Go to the Head of the Solar System.”
Applications for Education
NASA Kids’ Club offers a teachers’ section in which each of the […]
15 Great Science Experiments for Kids
As teachers and parents, we all know that kids learn best when they are engaged and motivated. Hands-on activities are one of the best ways to get kids excited about learning. Besides enhancing their cognitive skills these activities also get them moving which helps in developing their fine motors skills.
Google Discontinues Glass Enterprise Edition Smartglasses
Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, the company’s work-focused version of its iconic but once maligned smartglasses, is being discontinued.
Google says in a device support FAQ that, starting March 15th, it will no longer sell Glass Enterprise 2, adding that it will only support the device until September 15th, 2023.
While the company says it’s not pushing out any more software for Glass Enterprise Edition after that date, however its most recent system images will remain publicly available until at least April 1st, 2024.
Launched in 2017, Google Glass for enterprise was a revival of sorts, as the company […]
Research-Backed Practices to Impact Students’ Academic and Social-Emotional Growth
Educators shared research-backed strategies for promoting student learning based upon cognitive science.
The Microphone I Recommend for Video and Audio Recordings
The podcasting platform that I recommend the most recently changed names. The screencasting tool that I use the most also recently changed names. One thing that hasn’t changed is the microphone that I use with those tools.
The Snowball iCE microphone is the microphone that I have used for years to record on my Mac, Windows, and Chromebook computers. It’s very easy to use the Snowball iCE just plug it in and it works. I […]
An Overview of Using and Detecting Artificial Intelligence
This week’s news that Google Workspace will have new artificial intelligence tools added to it throughout the year was not unexpected. It was another sign that if you haven’t being paying attention to the development of AI tools this year, you should start paying attention to them. Even if your school tries to ban or block AI tools, students will figure out a way to use them outside of school if not in your school. With that out of the way, here’s a round-up of some the AI tools that I’ve written and […]