Latest education updates from around the world
11 Essential Tips & Tricks for New PSVR 2 Owners
PSVR 2 is finally here and for those of you lucky enough to get your hands on Sony’s newest VR headset, here’s some essential tips and tricks you’ll want to know.
PSVR 2 is a pretty straightforward headset thanks to the fact that once you plug it into the console you’ll see the usual PS5 menu that you’re already used to. However, the headset does have a few less obvious capabilities that you’ll want to know about.
1. Voice Input
PSVR 2 supports the same voice commands as PS5, and thanks to a microphone that’s mounted right next to your mouth, […]
6 Best AI Video Generators for Teachers
AI technology has taken the field of education by storm and although technological skeptics are already pointing out the potential threats it poses to students and teachers, given the alarming pace with which it is transforming the world around us we can only embrace it and do our best to leverage its educational potential to enhance students learning. After having covered AI writers and AI content detectors, in this post I share with you some of the best AI video generators to use in your teaching.
‘A Fisherman’s Tale’ Sequel is Coming Soon on All Major VR Platforms, Trailer Here
A Fisherman’s Tale (2019), the VR adventure from Innerspace and Vertigo Games, is getting a sequel, launching on all major VR platforms this year.
Aptly called Another Fisherman’s Tale, the episodic tale is bringing you back for another round of mindbending VR puzzles which the team says lets you use your own body, detach and control your limbs, and find new attachments to progress.
“Discover the truth as you journey through beautiful and unique locations, brought to life by the makers of A Fisherman’s Tale. Get ready for a captivating VR experience unlike any other,” the description reads in the game’s […]
Tencent Reportedly in Talks with Meta to Bring Quest 2 to China
Chinese tech giant Tencent is reportedly shuttering its XR development team, ostensibly putting a hold on its home-grown VR ambitions. That may not mean Tencent is hanging up the XR towel for good though.
As reported by Chinese language publication 36Kr, WeChat developer Tencent is set to promote Meta Quest 2 in mainland China. At the time of this writing, Meta officially supports the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and most countries in Europe.
Using headsets from Meta would provide Tencent with a ready-made hardware platform so it could focus on creating a game library […]
Stocks, Bonds, Options, and Economics
A couple of days ago I published a short video that I made to explain stock options. In planning to make that video I went back through my archives to look at some related resources that I’ve shared over the years. Here are some highlights from my archive of resources for teaching and learning about stocks, bonds, options, and economics in general.
How to Blur Objects and Faces In Your Videos
Yesterday I published a post about using two-factor authentication on Twitter. In that post I included a video demonstration. In that video I blurred the QR code and the verification code that was sent to me. If you’re making tutorial videos to share with others, you’ll want to do the same. Fortunately, blurring objects in your videos is easy to do. There are two methods that I regularly use and recommend to others.
For years YouTube’s built-in editor has included a tool for blurring faces and objects in your videos. The editor has two […]
Sal Khan: ChatGPT and Other AI Technology Herald “New Epoch”
Online learning pioneer Sal Khan believes ChatGPT-style AI technology is going to change the world and educators are already among the first to feel its impact.
6 of The Best AI Content Detectors for Teachers and Educators
AI generated content is now everywhere online. The infamous ChatGPT is but the tip of the iceberg. In fact, AI content generation tools have been around for several months before the introduction of ChatGPT. Like any other technology, when abused or used inappropriately, these AI tools can turn into a devastating technology, harming content creators and promoting a culture of plagiarism, inauthenticity, and amateurism.
If you are an educator or a teacher, you probably are already dealing with the repercussions of these AI tools in your daily work. More and more students are using AI (especially
How to Make a Mini Course
The Internet is not lacking for tools to create online courses. I’ve tried a lot of them over the years. The bad ones force you to become an expert on how to use their platforms before you can publish your own courses. The good ones make it easy for you to develop and publish a course without having to learn any complicated programs. Mini Course Generator is a good one that I recently tried for the first time.
Mini Course Generator enables you to quickly create an online course from scratch […]
‘Street Fighter VR’ Debuts at Japanese Arcades, Delivering Brawls with Ryu, Zangief & More
If you’re in Japan right now, you could be the first to play the new, officially licensed Street Fighter VR arcade experience, which pits you against some of the universe’s most iconic warriors.
Capcom released a trailer this week for the single-player arcade game, called Street Fighter VR Shadroo Enhancement Plan (ストリートファイターVR シャドルー強化計画). It isn’t just a brand engagement vehicle that’s flavored like Street Fighter; hands-on reports suggest it’s actually a pretty solid basis for what might be an honest-to-goodness VR game one day if Capcom really wanted to put the effort in.
According to a hands-on by GAME Watch (Japanese language), Street […]
How to Use the Google Authenticator App With Twitter
In what appears to be an on-going quest to drive users away, late last week Elon Musk Twitter announced that it would soon start charging for two factor account authentication done via text messaging (SMS). That doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to use two-factor authentication for free, it just means that you’ll have to do it through a method that doesn’t require the use of text messaging. One free option is to use the Google Authenticator app for Android or the Google Authenticator app for iOS.
It’s easiest […]
PSVR 2 Horror Shooter ‘Switchback’ Shows Off Unique Eye-tracking Uses in New Video
Don’t blink, because PSVR 2’s eye-tracking may get you more than you bargained for in the headset’s upcoming on-rails horror shooter The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, which aims to toss some extra scares your way when you least suspect it.
PSVR 2 is releasing on February 22nd, and in its 100+ game content lineup is a unique horror game from the makers of Until Dawn: Rush of Blood which tosses you back into another rollercoaster thrill ride that arms you with plenty of guns to fend off what bumps in the night.
Besides bringing high-quality VR to PS5, Sony’s next-gen […]
Warm-up Activities for Group Brainstorming Sessions
Last week I published a blog post about tools for recording brainstorming sessions. That ended up being one of the most popular things I’ve published this month.
A Brief Explanation of Options
As kind of a hobby I dabble in options trading (I made $6 last week). I mentioned this to a friend of mine last Friday and he, like many other people I’ve talked to about it over the years, said, “I’ve heard of that, but I don’t what it means.” That conversation inspired me to create a short video explanation of what options are. You can watch the video here or as embedded below.
Applications for Education
While I made the video to explain […]
12 Great Online Music Games
In this post, I share with you this handy collection of some of the best online music games to use with your kids and students to help them learn music. These games offer learners the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in playing and creating music, without needing access to expensive instruments or professional-level instruction.
Playing music games, students will be able to develop skills at their own pace, explore different types of music genres, increase confidence in playing instruments, and practice specific techniques. The games also provide an enjoyable way for students to reinforce what they have learned […]
Brainstorms, Pictures, and Videos – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where winter weather has returned after a brief respite on Thursday. It was sunny, dry, and warm enough to ride my bike outside for the first time since the start of the year. This weekend, I’m back to skiing and teaching skiing. I hope that you have something equally fun planned for your weekend. And if you’re starting a long weekend or vacation week, I hope you enjoy the extra time off.
These were the week’s most popular posts:
1. 10 Tools for Gathering Real-time Feedback From Students
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Free Course on ChatGPT and AI in Education
Do you have questions and concerns about artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and their potential impact on schools? Have you heard of ChatGPT, but haven’t tried it because you’re not sure if it’s a fad or something you should learn about? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, Rushton Hurley‘s new course ChatGPT: Boom or Our Doom? is for you.
ChatGPT: Boom or Our Doom? is a free, self-paced course in which Rushton leads you through five lessons about ChatGPT and its implications for classrooms. Each […]
Report: TikTok Parent Lays Off Hundreds at VR Subsidiary Pico Interactive, Tencent Scraps VR Plans
TikTok parent company ByteDance is reportedly laying off what South China Morning Post maintains will be “hundreds of employees” working at its VR headset manufacturing subsidiary, Pico Interactive. A separate report from Reuters also maintains Chinese tech giant Tencent is scrapping its plans to release a VR headset.
According to two people with knowledge of the Pico layoffs, a substantial portion of the VR headset maker is expected to be affected. The report maintains that some teams will see as much as a 30 percent reduction, while some higher-level positions are also expected to […]
VR’s Favorite Mini-Golf Game is Coming to PSVR 2 Soon
Indie VR studio Mighty Coconut announced its smash success VR mini-golfing game Walkabout Mini Golf is making its way to PSVR 2.
Arguably one of VR’s most favorite social gaming experiences, Walkabout Mini Golf is said to arrive on PSVR 2 “soon”, which is set to include cross-play with all supported versions of the game; this includes versions available through Steam, Meta Quest Store, Viveport, and Pico’s European-facing digital store.
Ranking consistently as one of the most highly-rated games on the Quest Store, Walkabout Mini Golf supports both single-player and up to four-player multiplayer, offering up a wide selection of […]
Q&A With Two Ed Tech Guys
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Three years ago Rushton Hurley and I started a series of live Q&A webinars titled Two EdTech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. While we’ve stopped hosting live webinars, we are still answering lots of questions and still sharing cool stuff. Now we’re doing that in a recorded format. The first episode of the recorded series is now available to view right here and as embedded below.
In the episode we tackled questions about ChatGPT and educational games. We also shared a cool thing from our pal Tony Vincent and […]
An Overview of Microsoft’s Search Coach
Last summer Microsoft announced a new Teams product that would be rolling to education users over the coming school year. That product is called Search Coach and it appears to now be widely available to all Microsoft Teams education users.
As its name implies, Search Coach in Microsoft Teams provides students with tips to improve their search methods. The tips provided are based on students’ search behaviors.
There’s more to Search Coach than just providing search tips to students. Teachers can use Search Coach to get insight into their students’ search behaviors. […]
Best Portable Hard Drives
Get the best portable hard drives so you never need to run out of storage space when at school or at home.
5 of The Best Homeschool Programs in 2023
Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular as more and more parents look for quality education options for their children. With a wide range of homeschool programs available, it can be difficult to decide which one best suits your child’s needs. In this article, I discuss five of the best homeschool programs – Khan Academy, Time4Learning, Stride K12, edX and CK-12 – their features, how much they cost and provide some tips to help you decide which program is best for your child.
Sports Training App ‘REZZIL PLAYER’ Coming to PSVR 2 Soon
Indie VR studio REZZIL today announced it’s bringing REZZIL PLAYER, the VR sports training game, to PSVR 2 soon.
Initially launched on Quest in 2021 and later brought to SteamVR headsets in 2022, Rezzil Player offers up a growing collection of sports training games that aim to improve performance and reaction times across sports like football, soccer, and basketball. The immersive training game now boasts over 160 levels and 40 items of sports kit for avatars.
The studio announced Rezzil Player is officially coming to PSVR 2 during its launch window, which PlayStation says extends into March.
The studio says the PSVR […]
PSVR 2 Review – Sony Takes Several Steps Forward for Consumer VR
More than six years after its VR debut, Sony is ready to bring next-gen VR to PS5 with PSVR 2. Does PlayStation VR 2 make a substantial improvement over its predecessor? And how does it stack up to other VR headsets on the market? Read on to find out.
With PSVR 2, Sony is not just improving on the prior headset, it’s also raising some bars for consumer headsets overall as the first device in its class to bring eye-tracking, HDR, and new haptic capabilities to the market. Let’s start out with a look at PSVR 2’s specs and […]