Latest education updates from around the world
October 2026 Edtech Show & Tell
Welcome to the October 2026 Edtech Show & Tell, in which our editors share some of the new edtech products that have caught our attention this month. These are not reviews or endorsements, but a showcase of education-friendly items, platforms, and more that we think might be noteworthy for you.
This month’s new offerings include new virtual and augmented reality solutions for history, math and language; clearer classroom sound technology; a free K-5 digital literacy resource with no advertising, and much more.
Avantis Education | Eduverse+ New Math and Language Learning Experiences
Samsung FCC Approval Signals Gentle Monster & Warby Parker Smart Glasses Nearing Release
Samsung’s long-awaited smart glasses have cleared FCC testing, suggesting their release is right around the corner.
The News
Two distinct SM-O200P and SM-O200J have appeared in FCC filings, which is typically one of the last steps before commercialization.
Those two product codes indicate Warby Parker and Gentle Monster frames, respectively, as they’ve been seen on pre-production models viewed by Android Police and others.
It appears multiple frame styles from […]
What is Mood Classroom and How Can I Use It To Teach?
Mental health can often mean another program, another training course, or another thing for teachers to squeeze into an already packed school day.
Mood Classroom delivers simplicity by offering 20 free lessons that can be delivered directly in the classroom, with no teacher training or preparation required.
Designed for children in grades 3–8, the lessons take around 20 minutes and introduce simple strategies for dealing with everything from frustration and overstimulation to anxious thoughts and difficult emotions.
The material comes from MOOD, a mental wellness organization focused on giving children and teenagers practical tools for managing everyday emotional challenges.
What […]
‘Walkabout Mini Golf’ Studio Announces Another Round of Layoffs Following DLC Price Hike
Mighty Coconut, indie studio behind hit VR game Walkabout Mini Golf (2020), announced another round of layoffs affecting ~35% of staff.
“This is an incredibly hard message to write, but I want to continue to be transparent with the Walkabout community,” writes Mighty Coconut CEO Lucas Martell in a company blog post. “Due to the current state of the games industry and especially VR, Mighty Coconut will need to downsize, and over the next several months we will be saying goodbye to 10 talented people who have helped make […]
Meta Plans VR Glasses Strap Accessory for Active VR Gaming
Meta VR Glasses can play all of the same games you might on Quest, whether it be through integrated hand-tracking or by pairing optional Touch Plus controllers. But if you’re planning on getting active, Meta says they’ll be selling an accessory for that.
We haven’t seen any images yet, however at Connect 2026 last week the company not only announced Meta VR Glasses, which are coming in Spring 2027 for $1,300, but also the answer to the question of how users will be able to play active VR games.
The […]
Meta VR Glasses, Quest 3 & Steam Frame Compared – Specs & Features
2026 is another big year in VR hardware, but which headset should you consider buying? The old reliable Quest 3? Valve’s Steam Frame? Or maybe you should wait for Meta VR Glasses? Read on to see the specs—and probably more importantly—their use cases compared.
Skip to the conclusion, please.
Here’s the quick and dirty conclusion you can learn more about in the breakdown below:
- Steam Frame is for power-users and tinkerers. Despite having Steam at your fingertips, game support is still an ongoing factor.
- Quest 3 is for budget-conscious users […]
Why Family Trust Has Become a Strategic Priority for District Leaders
For years, district leaders have understood the importance of family trust. But in today’s environment, trust is no longer simply a byproduct of good schools; it has become a strategic priority.
Families have more ways to engage with schools, greater access to information, and higher expectations for transparency and communication than ever before. As a result, trust increasingly shapes how communities respond to district decisions, how families engage with schools, and how effectively students are supported both inside and outside the classroom.
While it may not appear on accountability dashboards or state report cards, trust plays a critical role in […]
Tech & Learning Q&A: Digital Promise And The Edtech Procurement Framework
Tech & Learning talks to Andrew Vollavanh, Senior Project Manager Edtech R&D, and AJ Foster, Project Manager Edtech R&D, for Digital Promise, covering the edtech procurement framework.
Arcturus Vision Steam Frame Add-on Review – A Literal Night and Day Difference
Arcturus Vision Camera is an add-on module for Steam Frame which greatly enhances its passthrough camera quality. The obvious visual improvement, tiny size, and reasonable price make it easy to recommend.
In the course of my decade plus of using VR headsets and various accessories, I can’t think of any that were as straightforwardly recommendable as the Arcturus Vision Camera.
Usually that’s because VR headset accessories (especially those which directly interface with the headset’s software) have at least one major downside. Either they’re too big, too expensive, too niche, […]
Hands-on: Meta’s ‘Hologram’ Avatars Aim to Take on Apple Personas on VR Glasses
Meta’s long-promised photorealistic avatars are set to release in the next few months, which the company is calling ‘holograms’. I went hands-on the annual Connect developer conference to see just how Meta plans to take on Apple.
Meta announced it’s finally rolling out its immersive avatars, and they’re coming first to its Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, which includes a single see-through display in the right eye.
Previously called ‘Codec Avatars’, Holograms are coming to the newly announced Meta VR Glasses too, but those are slated to arrive sometime in […]
Texas Takeaways: The Best of Tech & Learning’s Regional Leadership Summit Group Discussions
Everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes the passion of its education leaders for guiding their students to successful learning outcomes. During the recent Tech & Learning regional summit at the TCEA Conference Center in Austin, that elevated dedication was on display throughout the day.
The Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit brings together superintendents, CTOs, CAOs, and instructional and tech district leaders to share ideas, best practices, and solutions to help to reshape and reimagine the future of education. One of the best ways that happens is during the table discussions scheduled throughout the day.
During each […]
Critical Thinking For Writers
For a long time, whenever I heard the phrase “teaching critical thinking,” I got something like what the kids call “the ick.”
First, it seemed redundant to me. If you’re not teaching critical thinking, then what exactly are you teaching, I wondered?
As I’ve matured both as an educator and person (hopefully), I’ve realized that in fields other than writing, there can be a tendency to lean toward rote memorization assignments that avoid critical thinking. I’ve also seen that there are certain times when critical thinking lessons seem extremely necessary. The rise in “fake news” has been one […]
Portrait Of A Graduate In The AI Age
What does a “Portrait of a Graduate” look like in the age of AI? As the future workplace grows increasingly unpredictable, district leaders must rethink how they equip students for success.
During Tech & Learning’s recent regional leadership summit in Texas, a panel of district leaders discussed evolving workforce readiness strategies and what districts can do to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow.
The panel included:
- Quintin Shepherd, Superintendent of Schools, Pflugerville ISD
- Kyle Berger, Chief Technology Officer, Arlington ISD
- Melissa McCalla, Chief Technology Officer, Pasadena ISD
- Frank Murray, Chief Technology Officer, Belton ISD
“What’s a skill that has actually become more important […]
Meta Launches $1M Developer Competition to Stock ‘VR Glasses’ with More Hand-tracked Apps
At Meta’s annual developer conference today, the company announced its next VR Start Developer Competition, this time slated to award a prize pool of $1 million to spark the community to get cracking on Meta VR Glasses-compatible content.
Meta is hoping to appeal to developers of both new and existing projects across entertainment, gaming, and productivity.
Notably, if developers are submitting games, they’ll be considering submissions in genres that work well for seated play, without controllers, such as puzzle, strategy, casual, social, and narrative experiences.
What is Microsoft Learning Zone and How Can I Use It To Teach?
Microsoft Learning Zone is an AI-powered tool designed to help educators turn teaching ideas and existing materials into interactive lessons.
Teachers can describe what they want to teach, add source material, and set parameters such as grade level and activity type, before the app generates an editable lesson, containing instructions and practice activities.
The aim is to speed up lesson creation while still leaving the teacher in control. Once a lesson has been generated, every part can be reviewed, edited, removed, or reorganized before it is shared with students.
So what exactly is Microsoft Learning Zone, how does it work and […]
‘Beat Saber’ is Getting a Big Hand-tracking Update Next Year, Ditching Blocks for Orbs & Rods
Today at Meta’s annual Connect developer conference the company unveiled its next-gen mixed reality headset: Meta VR Glasses. Coming alongside it early next year is an update to everyone’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game that flips the script for hand-tracking-centric input.
Beat Saber (2019) is getting an update in Spring 2027 on Meta VR Glasses and Meta Quest that finally brings hands-tracking to the game, albeit in an slightly unexpected way.
Called ‘Flux’, the update essentially reimagines the block-slashing action in a new single-player experience that uses your […]
Meta Ray-Ban Display is Finally Rolling Out Internationally Starting Today
Meta Ray-Ban Display has been a US-only device since launch last year, but now the company announced at Connect 2026 that it’s coming to international markets starting today.
Meta Ray-Ban Display is a pair of $800 smart glasses that comes with a single waveguide display in the right eye and an EMG-powered ‘Neural’ wristband for some pretty amazing (and lowkey) UI control.
It’s only ever been available in the US, and only direct from brick-and-mortar retailers, as the company pushed users to go through a physical fitting process […]
Meta Announces ‘VR Glasses’ Next-Gen XR Headset, Priced at $1,300
Meta today unveiled its long-awaited next-gen mixed reality headset: Meta VR Glasses.
Previously known under the codename ‘Project Phoenix’, Meta VR Glasses was announced today, but isn’t launching just yet; the compute puck-tethered device is slated to go one sale sometime in Spring 2027, priced at $1,300.
While we’re still waiting on a precise release date, Meta did reveal an avalanche of details on the hardware alongside a slate of new immersive and casual viewing content coming to the headset. You can catch Road to VR’s hands-on with […]
Meta VR Glasses Hands-on: What Apple Vision Pro Probably Should Have Been
Meta has finally unveiled its next-gen mixed reality headset, Meta VR Glasses. While they could technically fit somewhere in its Quest lineup, Meta seems to be making a concerted effort to bridge the gap between its experimental augmented reality projects, like Orion, and its much bulkier Quest gaming platform.
Previously known as ‘Project Phoenix’, Meta VR Glasses are a compute puck-tethered device which are going on sale sometime in Spring 2027, priced at $1,300. You can check out the full specs and launch details here.
I got […]
Watch the Meta Connect 2026 Keynote Right Here
Meta’s annual XR and AI focused Connect conference kicks off today. The biggest news is expected in the opening keynote, where the company is expected to reveal its ‘Phoenix’ MR headset and latest smartglasses.
Watch the Meta Connect Keynote on September 23rd at 4PM PT
Meta is playing it close to the vest, teasing the keynote by saying only “join Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg as he shares how Meta is building a future for […]
Building A Playbook To Tackle Illiteracy
The Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GaETC) empowers educators with cutting-edge tools, hands-on training, and networking opportunities. This November 4-6, the GaETC theme of “Playbook for Progress” will inspire attendees to come together and design the next winning game plan for teaching and learning. Just like a great playbook, effective educational technology requires vision, teamwork, and the ability to pivot in real time.
Someone who can run superbowl rings around other presenters when it comes to living these concepts is GaETC 2026 keynote speaker, Malcolm Mitchell. Not only is Mitchell a former starting wide receiver […]
‘Demeo DnD: Battlemarked’ Gets Third Campaign Today, Expands Support to Xbox
Resolution Games, in collaboration with Hasbros’ Wizards of the Coast, today launched its next adventure campaign for Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked (2025).
Called ‘Campaign III: Twilight’s End’, the newest adventure for Battlemarked’s comes alongside the game’s debut on Xbox, which is notably allows for cross-platform multiplayer across PC VR, Quest, console, and PC.
‘Twilight’s End’, which is priced at $10, brings the story that began in ‘Embers of Chaos’ and continued through ‘Crown of Frost’ to its dramatic conclusion.
“For the first time, players can experience the […]
What Students Can Teach Us About AI
When schools make decisions about artificial intelligence, the conversation is usually led by adults. Administrators develop policies, educators establish classroom expectations, and technology leaders evaluate all of the platforms. These perspectives are essential, but I believe there is another important voice that is often included only after the decisions have been made, and that is the students who are already using AI.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to work with educators, leaders, students, and families across 12 school districts as they explored digital wellness, responsible technology use, and emerging questions about AI. Through student conversations, classroom […]
Here’s How Much a VR Ready PC Costs in 2026
The cost of PC components has shifted rapidly in recent years thanks to the RAMpocalypse, inflation, and more. So how much does a VR Ready gaming PC actually cost in 2026?
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AI and Student Wellbeing: 5 Takeaways from Common Sense Media’s New Course
Common Sense Media’s new online, self-paced course examines AI use and its connection to student wellbeing.
While most discussions around AI in the classroom focus on topics such as AI tutors or AI cheating, an arguably more pressing concern is how these tools are impacting student wellbeing. More and more young people are turning to these tools for the type of mental health advice traditionally offered by a friend or therapist.
Common Sense Media’s free, hour-long class focuses on these types of AI use. I recently took the course and it was easy to follow, helpful, and a […]