Latest education updates from around the world
Meta’s Brain AI Takes a Step Closer to Telepathy With Improved Thought-to-Text Decoding
Meta has announced the next version of its AI system for non-invasively decoding brain activity into text. Called Brain2Qwerty v2, the company hopes its latest method will help people with neurological injuries or diseases that impair speech.
Meta’s latest brain-computer interface (BCI) builds off last year’s Brain2Qwerty v1, which initially showed that non-invasive brain recordings could be decoded into text with surprisingly high character-level accuracy. It used both electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG)—two non-invasive methods that measure the magnetic and electric fields elicited by neuronal activity—although it was […]
Data Dashboards Aren’t Enough—AI Makes PD Smarter
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For years, the promise of AI in education has outpaced the evidence. But a new research project—funded by the Gates Foundation and anchored by researchers at the University of Virginia and the University at Albany, SUNY—is working to change that equation.
The AI for Advancing Instruction at Scale (AI2S) project, developed in partnership with edtech company Edthena, uses a multimodal neural network trained on thousands of hand-coded classroom videos to analyze both the audio and visual dimensions of math instruction. The result is a system that can classify teacher questioning patterns, assess […]
Quest Peak Summer Sale Brings Big Savings to Top VR Titles
It’s heat wave season again, which means Meta is throwing out some pretty sweet deals on some of the best Quest games out there.
From now until July 5th, you’ll be able to grab some of our favorite VR titles in Meta’s Peak Summer Sale, including hits like The Climb 2, Synth Riders, Blade & Sorcery: Nomad, Arizona Sunshine II, Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City, Clone Drone in the Hyperdome, and a heck of a lot more.
You’ll find links and prices for […]
Apple Vision Pro & Smart Glasses Exec Reportedly Leaves for OpenAI Hardware Team
Apple’s top executive in charge of Vision Pro and smart glasses is reportedly leaving the company to join OpenAI.
According to a Bloomberg report, longtime Apple hardware exec Paul Meade is leaving Apple for OpenAI’s hardware team, which according to people with knowledge of his departure will include work on OpenAI’s upcoming AI-powered devices.
In Meade’s 15-year tenure, he oversaw iPad, program management for the iPhone, and then eventually Vision Pro via its Vision Products Group, which he joined in 2017 and later took over as hardware engineering lead […]
What is Smore and How Can I Use It To Teach?
Smore aims to solve the problem of poor school-to-home communication by turning school newsletters into visually engaging, mobile-friendly web pages that are easy to create and share.
Newsletters traditionally were blocks of text and a few images. Smore lets teachers and schools build interactive updates that can include videos, calendars, forms, links, images, documents, and more.
The platform is designed as a communication tool rather than a classroom teaching platform. Teachers can use Smore to keep parents informed about class activities, share resources with students, celebrate achievements, publish project work, or create information hubs for events and school projects.
Because […]
Teaching Critical Thinking
Critical thinking really can be taught, suggests a new study led by Michael Bishop, a professor of philosophy at Florida State University.
For the study, published earlier this year in the Journal of American Psychology, Bishop and his collaborators split 397 students into two groups. Students in one group took a critical thinking class while students in the second group did not. The students who took critical thinking saw significant advantages over the students who did not.
As Bishop and his co-authors note, “the results suggest that an appropriately designed critical thinking class can dramatically […]
Best Sites for Blended Learning
Blended learning is a teaching approach that combines both traditional in-class instruction with digital technologies for lessons, assessments, feedback and more. In other words, face-to-face teaching is supplemented and supported by online lessons and content.
The advantages of blended learning include flexibility, student engagement, and the ability to personalize lessons.
The following blended learning sites, many of which are fully free, provide a variety of features through which educators can implement their blended learning approach.
Best Sites for Blended Learning
FREEMIUM
Newsela
A multiple award-winning platform, Newsela includes ELA, social studies, and STEM topics, and is […]
VR RPG ‘Township Tale’ is Shutting Down in July Following Second Game Cancellation
Alta announced it’s sunsetting multiplayer RPG A Township Tale (2021) next month, making for a second bit of bad news this year since the studio pulled the plug on its follow-up game, Reave.
Alta co-founder and CTO Joel van de Vorstenbosch announced the news on the game’s Discord, noting the studio explored multiple avenues of keeping the game alive, which ultimately failed.
Now, the game is scheduled to go dark on July 20th, which also includes pulling it from the Quest Store and shutting down the game’s PC VR installer.
Studio Behind Top-selling VR Extraction Shooter ‘Ghosts of Tabor’ Announces Layoffs
Combat Waffle Studios, developer behind VR extraction shooter Ghosts of Tabor (2024), announced the studio is laying off a number of staff in effort to “align the company with the current state of the VR industry.”
Initially released in early access in 2023, Ghosts of Tabor generated over $30 million in revenue with the sale of over 10 million units leading up to release on PSVR 2 in 2025, making it one of VR’s big success stories.
Notably, in addition to selling well across SteamVR and Pico, the Escape […]
Apple Raises Price of Vision Pro by $200 Amid RAM & Storage Shortage
Apple is hiking the price of essentially all of its devices, which includes the already very pricy Vision Pro standalone mixed reality headset.
The News
As reported by 9to5Mac, a host of Apple devices have just gotten significant price increases. The company previously confirmed this would be the case in response to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, although it wasn’t certain when, or by how much.
Now, the full updated list of Apple device prices is here, which has revealed that Apple has effectively bumped the latest […]
‘Synth Riders’ Gets Surprise Linkin Park DLC Drop, Its Biggest Music Pack to Date
Kluge Interactive today announced the launch of the Linkin Park Music Pack for Synth Riders, making it the VR rhythm game’s biggest paid DLC music pack to date.
The Linkin Park Music pack includes 13 of the band’s most iconic tracks which span the group’s entire career, from their breakout album Hybrid Theory (2000) to their most recent releases.
Check out the track list below:
- In the End
- Numb
- Faint
- One Step Closer
- The Emptiness Machine (Radio Edit)
- Bleed It Out (Radio Edit)
- Breaking the Habit
- Battle Symphony
- Papercut
- Castle of […]
5 AI Education Trends According To A Microsoft Executive
The way schools have adopted AI has been unlike any other tech revolution Microsoft’s Matt Jubelirer has witnessed.
“We’ve always known that technological innovation puts pressure on schools to adapt, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything move at this pace,” says Jubelirer
In his work as General Manager of Education Marketing for Microsoft, Jubelirer is constantly meeting with educators and learning about their needs and how they are using AI these days. As part of that work, he’s seeing innovative AI uses in areas ranging from the classroom to administration in schools.
Here are some of the […]
Amazon Prime Day Deal Reduces Quest 3S For First Time Since April Price Hike
Amazon Prime Day is among us, which also means you can save a couple bucks on a brand new Meta Quest 3S.
Its only been a few months since Meta raised the price of Quest 3 and Quest 3S, essentially bumping prices across the board by $50 – 100.
Now, for Amazon’s June 23-26th Prime Day sale, you can actually get Quest 3S for the same or better than its previous MRSP depending on what you pick, which includes both 128GB and 256Gb storage options and various game bundles:
Tech & Learning’s EdTech to Watch Takeaways: The AI Playbook: 2-Part Webinar Series
The rapid evolution of AI is fundamentally transforming the educational landscape, offering unprecedented opportunities alongside new responsibilities. This recent two-part webinar series was designed to guide education leaders through this shift, moving from the “what” of cutting-edge innovation to the “how” of workforce preparation and the “why” of data security.
It featured two sessions:
The Cutting Edge: New Features from Top AI Solution Providers: This session explores the most impactful new features from industry-leading AI solution providers that support curriculum, lesson planning, streamlining administrative tasks, and more.
The Integrity Infrastructure: How to Ensure AI Solutions are Safe: This session dives deep […]
Disney Song Pack Comes to ‘Trombone Champ’ VR in July, Including Toy Story & Little Mermaid Environments
Flat2VR Studios announced during the VR Games Showcase today that Trombone: Champ Unflattened is getting a paid DLC pack next month that will bring six new Disney songs to VR’s silliest music game.
Coming at some point in July, Trombone Champ: Unflattened is getting a brand-new paid song pack featuring six beloved Disney classics, including:
- “A Whole New World” from Aladdin
- “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid
- “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story
- “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast
- “Circle of Life” from The Lion King
- “Part of […]
‘Forefront’ Studio Unveils New Zombie-killing Extraction Shooter ‘Breachers: Outbreak’
Triangle Factory, the studio behind Hyper Dash (2021), Breachers (2023), and Forefront (2026), today announced they’re dipping back into the Breachers franchise with the release of Breachers: Outbreak, an upcoming four-player online co-op zombie extraction shooter built for VR and flatscreen.
Unveiled at the VR Games Showcase today, we got a first look at a cinematic reveal trailer of Breachers: Outbreak, something the studio says marks a “bold new direction for Triangle Factory, shifting from the studio’s signature PvP format to a cooperative survival experience.”
In Breachers: Outbreak, […]
High-speed Parkour Roguelite ‘The Rifted Skies’ Revealed, Coming to Quest & PC VR This Year
DreamVR, the VR veteran studio behind a host of location-based VR games, has unveiled its upcoming acrobatic roguelite action game, The Rifted Skies, which is slated to land on Quest and SteamVR headsets this year.
Revealed during today’s VR Games Showcase, The Rifted Skies is an active parkour roguelite that gives you a wide variety of locomotion schemes to keep things flowing, such as swinging your arms to sprint, leaping across gaps, climbing anything, and even soaring across wide chasms.
It’s not all just free-flowing locomotion though, as […]
Everything Announced at the Summer 2026 VR Games Showcase
The sixth iteration of the VR Games Showcase just wrapped up, delivering massive new game announcements including the reveal of Breachers: Outbreak and DRIFTERS: Blackout Crew as well as new looks at Payday: Aces High, Hot Dogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades 2, and Korea. IL-2 Series!
Missed the show? Fear not – we’ve wrapped up every announcement for you right here, including all trailers show in both the main and pre-show. Enjoy!
VR Games Showcase Main Show Titles
1. Breachers: Outbreak Announced From Forefront Developer, Triangle Factory
Meta Announces Cheaper Smart Glasses without Ray-Ban or Oakley Branding, Starting at $300
Meta today announced it’s releasing Meta Glasses, the company’s first slate of smart glasses that don’t feature any EssilorLuxottica styles or branding.
The News
While Meta is still working with long-time eyewear partner EssilorLuxottica, the company is releasing three new Meta Glasses styles that aren’t packing any Ray-Ban or Oakley branding:
- Meta Adventurer — A clean rectangle shape for a timeless, versatile look. Available in Standard and Large.
- Meta Fury — A bold frame that makes a bold statement.
- Meta Glasses by Kylie — A unique slim oval frame inspired […]
Why Active Student Engagement Matters
Active student engagement improves student learning. However it is not about entertaining but rather engaging critical thinking.
The post Why Active Student Engagement Matters appeared first on Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler.
How Schools Can Stay Safe
Watch above or listen/download below.
Cybersecurity has topped CoSN’s annual State of EdTech report for at least eight consecutive years. For Jeff Carlson, Head of Education Strategy and Advocacy at Clever, that streak is not a failure of imagination — it’s an honest reflection of how hard the problem actually is.
“Even if you’ve solved one thing, there’s another thing,” Carlson said during this week’s Tech & Learning podcast conversation. “K-12 has become one of the most targeted industries for cyberattacks, and the threats keep evolving.”
Clever, which provides single sign-on and rostering services to between […]
Omni One is the First VR Treadmill with Official Support for Meta Quest
Virtuix has finally brought native Quest support to Omni One, making it Quest’s first officially supported VR treadmill.
As Virtuix’s consumer-focused VR treadmill, Omni One launched in 2024 with support for Pico 4 Ultra Enterprise, as well as PC VR headsets, which notably included Quest if connected to a capable PC via Link.
In February, the company announed it was taking part in the ‘Made for Meta’ program though, which promised to bring Omni One support to a number of Quest games in addition to giving the omni-directional VR […]
Steam Machine Launches Next Week Starting at $1,050, Hints at What to Expect from Steam Frame’s Launch
Valve today announced that Steam Machine is now available for pre-orders, starting at $1,050, and will officially launch on June 29th. While the announcement doesn’t include any direct details about Steam Frame availability, it offers clear hints about what to expect, including a randomized pre-order process.
The News
Valve today announced availability of Steam Machine; the console-like gaming PC will begin shipping next week, on June 29th. Steam Machine is available for pre-order starting today:
- Steam […]
Evidence-Based Isn’t Enough for Successful Scaling
Scale requires conditions that go beyond individual tools to include broader system readiness.
What is zSpace and How Can I Use It To Teach?
zSpace is a VR and AR teaching tool that brings class to another world.