Latest education updates from around the world
4 Good Online Blur Background Tools
There are many reasons for blurring backgrounds in photos. First, there is the aesthetic consideration. You may want to blur the photo background in order to accentuate a certain element and create depth of field for your photo. There is also the privacy factor. You may want to apply the blur background effect to photos in order to blur out sensitive information and render certain elements unidentifiable.
For us teachers and educators, all of these considerations are applicable. You can use the online background blur effect not only to create beautiful images and artworks but also to […]
10 Interesting Ways to Integrate QR Codes in Your Lessons
Here’s What Meta Says About Camera Privacy on Quest & Quest Pro
With a growing number of cameras adoring the latest VR headsets from Meta, users understandably would like to know how their privacy is treated before inviting a headset into their home. Here’s what Meta has to say about what data is collected through its headset’s camera and sensors, and how it’s used.
Updated – November 15th, 2022
There’s never a bad time to be skeptical about how your private information is being used by products and companies which gather information about you, but an especially good time is when using products that rely on always-on cameras during use. That’s the […]
Report: Apparent HTC Leak Reveals Slim & Modular VR Standalone
HTC has been teasing its next VR headset over the last few weeks, showing off bits of the device at a time which the company promises will be “something big… we mean small.” Now it appears the design and some of the specs have been leaked, with the details gathered courtesy of VR analyst and YouTuber Brad Lynch.
Info surrounding the headset—still nameless at the time of this writing—was gathered by Lynch from sources “mostly in the supply chain,” he says. Lynch dubs the device the ‘Flowcus’ for its apparent coupling of the light and slim […]
How to Encourage Literacy with Digital Books & Resources
Melissa Jacobs, director of library services for New York City’s Department of Education, shares tips for encouraging literacy and improving equity with digital books.
Plate Tectonics and a Search Lesson
This morning I responded to a Tweet from someone who was looking for “plate tectonics virtual experiences for students.” My mind immediately went to using Google Earth. A quick search in my archives and I found this lesson plan calling for using Google Earth to teach plate tectonics and I found this Google Map filled with placemarks containing questions about plate tectonics. I knew that I could find more Google Earth files related to plate […]
Fifty Tech Tuesday Tips
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Are you a tech coach, tech integrator, or media specialist who has been asked to run a little tech workshop? Do you need some ideas for it? If so, 50 Tech Tuesday Tips is for you!
50 Tech Tuesday Tips was curated from more than 400 editions of The Practical Ed Tech Newsletter. In 50 Tech Tuesday Tips you will find ideas for lots of helpful things that you can teach to your colleagues and to students. Throughout the eBook you’ll find tutorials and handouts that you can pass […]
A Google Earth Lesson With the “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button
Since it is Geography Awareness Week I thought I’d pull a lesson plan from my archives to share with you.
On its own the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button provides a good way […]
5 Good Apps to Blur Background on iPhone and Android
The collection below features 6 helpful blur background apps to use on your iPhone and Android. Whether you want to hide sensitive elements in your images or you want to create an artistic effect by bringing certain elements to the forefront and giving them a pronounced and sharp effect, these blur background apps are great options to consider.
How to use blur background effect on iPhone?
For those of you using iPhone 8 Plus and up, there is an integrated blur background function accessible through the Portrait mode in […]
SlidesCarnival Offers Free PowerPoint and Google Slides Templates
Slidesgo Offers Free Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates
Slidesmania- Access Free PowerPoint and Google Slides Templates
How to use Slidesmania templates?
Best Academic Research Tools for Researchers and Educators
Academic research requires a lot of dedication and diligence. From reading the literature to writing up the first draft of your paper, engaging in academic research means that you are in an ongoing process of learning and growth. The goal is to produce insightful and rigorous research and contribute to the development of human knowledge.
Quest 2 Discounted for Limited Time, Includes Free Copy of ‘Resident Evil 4’ & ‘Beat Saber’
This summer Meta raised the price of Quest 2 by $100 and tossed in a copy of Beat Saber to stave off growing costs. Now as the company heads into the holiday season, Quest 2 is set to go on sale for a limited time, this time including a free copy of Resident Evil 4 in addition to VR’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game.
Starting November 18th, Meta says you’ll be able to get a Quest 2 and the games mentioned above for $350 and $430 for the 128GB and 256GB versions respectively.
The offer is set to take place […]
How Software-Defined Instrumentation Will Revolutionize STEM, and why Educators are Slow to Adopt
From cars driving us to work to phones confirming our identities, exciting new technologies are rapidly transforming every aspect of our lives. For that, we can thank the exponential growth and advancement of STEM fields in recent decades. In fact, employment in STEM occupations has grown 79% since 1990, increasing from 9.7 million to 17.3 million in 2018. With these numbers rising consistently, we should expect to see an acceleration of modern technology use in the classroom.
Despite this huge growth, STEM education hasn’t caught up with demands. One area where this is pronounced is in the adoption […]
What is Duolingo Math and How Can It Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks
Duolingo Math takes the app-based learning platform to a new number-learning level.
Fight or Flight: How to Respond to Educational Leadership Changes
School districts are changing educational leadership more quickly than ever, so it’s necessary to prepare for the inevitable
How to Encourage STEM With Student Input and Phenomenon-Based Learning
Student input has helped school leaders at Baldwin Park High School create a STEM program with diverse class offerings.
An Overview of Five Fun Geography Games for Students
Today is the first day of Geography Awareness Week. In the following videos I provide an overview of five map-based geography games that your students can play this week or any other time they need to practice identifying places around the world. All five games are featured in this compilation video. Read on for descriptions of each game.
Tools for Translating Live Presentations
Last week a reader emailed me to ask the following question:
5 Good Tools for Tutoring Math Online
Math is a subject that can be difficult to teach, but with the proper tools, it can be made easier. In this post, I feature some of the best tools for tutoring math online and discuss some of the ways they can help teachers improve their students’ math skills.
1. ByteLearn.com – Digital math teaching assistant for teachers
Creating and Conducting Polls in Google Slides and PowerPoint
Poll Everywhere is a polling tool that I’ve used off and on throughout the past decade. It’s a great tool for gathering questions from an audience, polling an audience, and seeing word clouds of sentiment from an audience. People can respond to your poll questions from their laptops, tablets, and phones.
You can use Poll Everywhere as a stand-alone tool or you can integrate it into Google Slides. When you use it in Google Slides you can seamlessly transition from your regular presentation into a polling slide. In the following video I demonstrate how […]
Felt – A New Way to Create Multimedia Maps
About a week ago Larry Ferlazzo mentioned a new mapping tool in one of his blog posts. That tool is called Felt. I tried it a few days ago and I have to say that I like it a lot. Felt offers a lot of easy-to-use tools for creating custom maps. Some of the features that immediately stood out to me included the ability to draw and type on maps, highlighting on the map, and adding multimedia placemarks to your map. But in my initial testing of Felt I found […]
4 Highly Effective Instructional Strategies
