Latest education updates from around the world
FETC 2023: Digital Transformation and Innovation
What’s ahead for FETC 2023
Hands-on: Pimax Crystal Touts Impressive Clarity, But Suffers From a (potentially fixable) Flaw
At CES 2023 Pimax was showing off its latest high-resolution headset, the Pimax Crystal, which uses new lenses and new displays for what the company says is its clearest looking image yet. And while it’s definitely an improvement in many areas over the company’s headsets, there’s a key flaw that I hope the Pimax will be able to address.
Pimax Crystal employs new lenses and promises to be rid of glare and god rays that were apparent in prior Pimax headsets (and many others) which used Fresnel lenses. That, along with high-resolution displays, purported HDR capability, swappable lenses […]
PSVR 2 Launch Day Games Revealed, 30+ Titles Including ‘Horizon’, ‘Resident Evil Village’ & ‘Gran Turismo 7’
PlayStation has finally revealed its launch day (or rather “launch window”) titles for PSVR 2. Notable highlights include Demeo, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and Resident Evil Village, although there’s no word on when VR’s favorite block-slashing game is making the move to Sony’s next-gen VR headset.
First, here’s the list of guaranteed launch day games coming on February 22nd, 2023. Sgames are re-releasing completely, providing a paid pathway for upgrades, or coming as a free upgrade to players who already own the title for the original PSVR. We’ve put that info in bold for easier reading:
After […]
‘Gorilla Tag’ Reports $26M in Revenue, Over 700K Users Played on Christmas Day
Gorilla Tag is undoubtedly a hit. Its primate-centric locomotion style and infectious game of tag has vaulted it into the top spot as the most-rated game on the Quest Store, surpassing even the Meta-owned rhythm game Beat Saber. Now, the indie team behind Quest’s most popular game revealed they’ve generated over $26 million with Gorilla Tag.
Speaking to VentureBeat, developer Another Axiom has reported that its gorilla-themed game has not only brought it home big with $26 million from in-app purchases, but it’s also attracted a larger glut of players than previously reported.
Having initially […]
Design a Mobile App With Google Slides
In an effort to make my students think about all of the menus, items, and media that their apps will need, I have my students use Google […]
A New Felt Mapping Tool
A few days ago I shared a neat map of gray whale migration patterns. That map was created on the Felt mapping platform. Felt was one of my favorite new tools of 2022 and is only getting better at the start of 2023.
The most recent update to Felt introduced an easier way to access the most frequently used features of Felt. Now you can simply right-click on your map to add notes, lines, labels, and more. Additionally, you can now right-click to view any location in Google Maps or Open […]
What is Coursera and How Can it Be Used by Educators? Tips & Tricks
Coursera offers a wealth of learning opportunities more educators could utilize.
Best Online Voice Recording Tools [2023]
15 Best Educational Podcasts for Kids
Podcasting in Education: Teacher’s Guide
What is a Podcast?
Podcasts, as Khaleen Morris defines them, are ‘audio files that are published online’. They […]
PSVR’s Top Downloads in 2022 Betray Stagnation, PSVR 2 Looks to Change That
It’s more than a bit disheartening to see essentially the same top PSVR game downloads repeated throughout the years, although here’s to hoping this may be the last time we utter the names Beat Saber, Job Simulator, and SUPERHOT VR in sequential order as the upcoming platform’s best-performing titles.
The original PSVR has earned a well-deserved rest after more than six years of faithful service, no doubt. But on February 22nd, the company’s next-gen headset PSVR 2 is coming to town, which has the potential to shake things up a fair bit as the PlayStation begins charting titles created […]
Three Ways to Create Your Own Mobile App
Since the start of the year I’ve answered about a dozen emails from readers who are interested in creating mobiles apps either by themselves or with their students. In most cases I’ve recommended one of the following three tools.
Tools for Teaching Adventure – A New OPEN Phys Ed Resource
OPEN Phys ED is one of my favorite websites because they offer great lesson plans and other resources for getting kids active in more than just the traditional gym class activities of years gone by. OPEN Phys Ed emphasizes providing all students with ways to feel engaged and empowered in physical education classes.
18 Best Science Podcasts in 2023
25 Best Educational Podcasts in 2023
Podcasts have made it super easy for anyone to learn anything anytime they want. As I explained in the educational podcasting guide, podcasts are extremely convenient. You can listen to them while you work out, while commuting, walking in the garden, you name it. And because not all of us learn the same way, people with auditory learning styles will especially enjoy this medium.
New and Notable Microsoft Forms Features
Mike Tholfsen is my go-to person for all things Microsoft Edu. This week he released a new video highlighting nine new features in Microsoft Forms for 2023. A couple of the updates are what I would call mostly cosmetic. The rest of the updates are definitely worth noting and trying if you haven’t already given them a try.
The new Microsoft Forms features that I’m excited to try include the option to add images to multiple choice answer choices, instant polling in Teams, and using images in polls in Teams. There’s also a new […]
Free Math Worksheets for Teachers
10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have
Every student should have these basic tech skills in order to be successful during their education and beyond
27 Google Drive Tips and Tricks
I’m in the process of organizing my YouTube channel to be more than just two big playlists of Practical Ed Tech Tips and Google Tutorials. To that end, this morning I went through my channel and put my current and relevant Google Drive tutorials into one playlist.
My new Google Drive tutorials playlist contains twenty-seven videos covering everything from the basics of getting started with Google Drive to creating QR codes for your files and a whole bunch of other ways to get the most out of Google […]
4 Tips for Outsmarting Your Brain From a Cognitive Psychologist
In his new book “Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make it Easy,” Daniel T. Willingham shares study hacks for teachers and students
The 6 Best Microphones for Podcasting
If you’re just starting out, it can be difficult to know what microphone to choose for your podcast. The good news is that there are several good microphones to try out. I put this quick guide to help teachers (and anyone else for that matter) make an informed decision on the best microphones for podcasting.
Why You Should Clean Your Phone
When was the last time you looked at your phone? According to my site analytics there’s at least a 55% chance that the answer to that question is “right now.” But when was the last time you looked at all the stuff that’s on your phone? How many files do have you that downloaded (knowingly or unknowingly) that you needed to look at just once? What about that app you thought you’d use all the time that you haven’t used in months or years? The point is, we all have things cluttering up our phones that […]
Gray Whale Migration and More Felt Mapping Ideas
Felt is a multimedia mapping tool that I started using late last year. It has quickly become one of my preferred tools for creating multimedia maps. In fact, at this point I think I like more than Google’s My Maps. The aesthetics of Felt are great and it has a great selection of easy-to-use features. Those features include the ability to upload and overlay just images, easily draw paths and routes, and add text directly on your maps. All three of those things were used in the creation of a […]
The 20 Best Rated & Most Popular Quest Games & Apps – January 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 January 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’ […]
PSVR 2 Unlikely to Ever Work on PC, Says Creator Behind PSVR 1 Compatibility Driver
No more ungainly break-out boxes to contend with; thankfully PSVR 2 connects to PlayStation 5 via a single USB-C cable. But if you think you’ll be able to plug in that seemingly standard cable to a VR-ready PC to play Half-Life: Alyx like you might with standalones such as Quest 2, Vive XR Elite or Pico 4, you’ll be sorely disappointed. PSVR 2 won’t work as a PC VR headset, and according to the developer behind unofficial conversion software iVRy Driver, you shouldn’t buy one with the anticipation that it ever will.
Plug in an original PSVR into a computer, and the […]