Latest education updates from around the world
How to Change Padlet Notification Settings
Last week Padlet released an update to their notification system. The updated system gives you more control over which notifications receive and how you receive them. You can receive them via email or through push notifications. In this short video I demonstrate how to change your Padlet notification settings. The video also shows you how to get early access to new Padlet features.
Video – How to Change Padlet Notification Settings
Applications for Education
I think the new option to get notifications whenever a student adds a post or […]
My Five Favorite Features of Canva Documents
A couple of weeks ago Canva opened the public beta of their new Documents tool. I’ve previously highlighted Docs to Slideshow conversion tool within it and the AI writing feature within Canva Docs. Those are two of my favorite features of Canva Docs.
In this new video I highlight some other great features including the ability to insert your existing projects into your documents and the ability to embed Google Maps into your Canva Documents.
Video – My Five Favorite Features of Canva Documents
Applications for Education
5 Great Speech to Text Chrome Extensions to Try Out
Top 5 Text to Speech iPad Apps for Teachers and Students
This Is How to Voice Type On Google Docs on Mac
Voice typing is an excellent feature built in Google Docs and Slides that allow you to type and edit by speaking. You don’t need to install a third-party add-on to help you with voice typing, this integrated functionality works like a breeze. All you need to start using voice typing on your Docs and Slides is a working microphone and Chrome browser.
10 Wonderful New Year Poems
If you are a fan of poetry and would like to ring in the new year with an amazing poem, the selection below has some good options for you. I did some online excavation and came up with this list featuring some good new year poems. I included both modern and classic new year poems. For more new year resources I recommend checking:Best new year quotes,
best new year jokes, and best new year wishes.
50 Best New Year Quotes
The new year is almost upon us. This is a time for celebration, exchanging new year’s wishes, and most importantly reflection and planning, aka making resolutions. I personally have a sensitivity to the term resolution because I never seem to stick to the ones I make on the 31st of December. Let’s see, this year might be different though.
20 Best New year Jokes
How about ringing in the near year with fun and laughter! Below is a collection of funny new year jokes and one-liners to share with your family and friends. Some of these jokes are really hilarious and they will make a great addition to your new year wishes and gifts. For inspirational and motivational quotes, check out 50 best new year quotes.
The 20 Best Rated & Most Popular Quest Games & Apps – December 2022
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 December 2022.
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’ […]
A New Course to Start 2023
Last week I hosted a webinar about creating and selling digital teaching materials. After the webinar a handful of people reached out to ask if I could go into more depth on the topics covered in the webinar. I certainly can, but it’s hard to do in just one webinar. Therefore, I’ve created a new four-part course titled How to Create and Sell Your Digital Products in 2023.
The format of this new course is email-based. Starting on January 10th every week for four weeks you’ll get a new lesson delivered […]
An Award-Winning Vision for A School of the Future
The Centre for Innovative Learning only exists in the minds of a few innovative educators, but we sure wish it was real.
How One Edtech Leader Supports Equity
James Batson says his district’s approach to edtech equity has been successful because of the intentionality behind it more than any one initiative.
Free Shipping for Heavy Products – A Programming Challenge
While writing yesterday’s blog post about electricity, portable generators, and the power outage in my town, I jumped on Amazon to look at the prices of portable generators. To my surprise, free shipping was available for many of them including the Ryobi 6500 watt generator that I own. I know from moving it a bunch of times lately that it is quite heavy (205 lbs according to the website).
Seeing an item that weighs 205lbs available with free shipping made me wonder what is the heaviest Amazon item that ships for free. You might […]
Best Study Websites for Students
The Internet and web technologies have radically transformed the concept of learning. They have empowered users with the necessary tools to take control of their own learning and as a result learning becomes ubiquitous and free from any geographical or temporal constraints. The purpose of this post is to share with you this collection of some very good study websites to help students enhance their learning irrespective of where they are located.
1- EdX – Online Courses
EdX offers interactive online classes and MOOCs from world renowned universities and colleges including MIT, Harvard, […]
5 Best News Apps
Looking for some reliable apps to keep you posted about what is going on in the world? The list list below has you covered. In it I featured five of the best news aggregators out there. A news aggregator collects news from around the web and organizes it into a single reader friendly interface for you to read at your own pace.
Best Resources for Free Clip Art Icons
Epic.com Books to Improve Kids Reading
UPDF- A Great PDF Software for Educators
PDF software is an efficient tool that can help you quickly perform PDF-related tasks. These days, the PDF format has grown tremendously popular due to its applications in different work environments. Whether creating notes for students or sharing an important curriculum with them, PDF format is always essential.
PDF tools benefit all professions; from business executives to students. In this post, we’ll cover how educators can benefit from using an efficient PDF tool like UPDF. Plus, we will be sharing a bonus discount, so stick to the end of the article to discover it!
How UPDF Can […]
Top Flipped Learning Sites, Apps & Hardware
Flipped learning sites, apps, and hardware recommendations from educators.
Adobe’s VR 3D Modeling Tool Now Available on New Headsets, Quest Support Planned
Adobe’s VR modeling tool, Substance 3D Modeler, is now available on Steam, bringing with it support for Valve’s Index headset and possibly others.
Adobe released 3D Modeler as part of its ‘Substance’ suite of applications last year. The application supports VR and non-VR modes. In VR, users can intuitively ‘sculpt’ 3D models to their liking, then pull them into the 2D mode for refinements and use with the rest of the Substance suite (or vice versa).
When the app first launched it only supported Meta VR headsets through the Oculus PC software. Now Substance 3D Modeler has launched on […]
nDreams Acquires VR Veteran Near Light, Studio Behind ‘Shooty Fruity’ & ‘Perfect’
nDreams, the VR studio and publisher behind titles such as Fracked (2021) and Phantom: Covert Ops (2020), today announced it’s acquired long-time partner studio Near Light.
This marks the first such studio acquisition by nDreams, which follows a $35 million investment round secured back in March 2022.
Details of the acquisition are still thin on the ground, however nDreams says bringing the Brighton, UK-based Near Light closer into the fold will allow them to work on yet more “medium-defining games.”
In addition to running three of its own first-party studios, over the years nDreams has published a number […]
Startup Behind Ambitious HalfDive Headset Launches New Kickstarter for VR Haptic Gloves
Diver-X, the Japan-based startup known for pitching an ambitious VR headset earlier this year, is at it again, this time with a pair of VR gloves that incorporates a membrane capable of flexing and compressing to replicate the sensation of touch.
The original HalfDive headset campaign on Kickstarter managed to secure enough cash to be considered fully funded back in January 2022, although the team decided to cancel the campaign and return the funds to backers. In the end, the Sword Art Online-inspired headset, which allowed you to play whilst laying down, was deemed too niche […]
Best Science Lessons & Activities
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How a Generator Works – And Other Short Lessons About Generating Electricity
Last weekend we had a huge snowstorm that knocked out the electrical power in my whole neighborhood and in about half of our town. In my neighborhood we were without electricity from Friday night through Monday afternoon. Fortunately, we have a portable generator that provides electricity for the essentials in our house and we have a bunch of battery backup light bulbs that we can use in the evenings. As I walked our dog on Sunday afternoon I heard the hum of generators. That reminded me of a couple of short video lessons […]
Slideator – Add Your Voice to Almost Any Type of Slideshow
Slideator is a free tool that you can use to add voice-over and webcam recordings to your slides. Slideator works with just about any type of slideshow that you own. You can even use it with a set of slides that you have in PDF. In addition to adding your voice-over and webcam recording to your slides, Slideator lets you draw, type, and highlight on your slides.
To use Slideator simply upload your slides in whatever format they are currently in. Then you can record a voice-over with or without your webcam turned on. […]