Latest education updates from around the world
Best Social Bookmarking and Digital Curation Tools for Teachers and Students
Free Editable Newspaper Templates
VR Comfort Settings Checklist & Glossary for Developers and Players Alike
For those who have been playing or developing VR content for years, it might seem ‘obvious’ what kind of settings are expected to be included for player comfort. Yet for new players and developers alike, the confusing sea of VR comfort terms is far from straightforward. This has lead to situations where players buy a game but find it doesn’t include a comfort setting that’s important to them. So here’s a checklist and glossary of ‘essential’ VR comfort settings that developers should clearly communicate to potential customers about their VR game or experience.
Update September 27th, 2022: Added new […]
‘Trombone Champ’ Mod Brings VR Support to the Internet’s Silliest Game
Trombone Champ is a new PC rhythm game from indie studio Holy Wow that’s charming, silly, but also painfully stuck in the flatscreen land of mouse and keyboard. Less than two weeks since its 1.0 release on PC, the game already has already garnered its first VR mod.
The mod, called BaboonVR, is brought to you by itinerant modder ‘Raicuparta’, who’s also known for having brought retroactive VR support to Firewatch, The Stanley Parable, and Outer Wilds to name a few.
In BaboonVR, the game screen is shown as a projection while you use hand controls to play the virtual […]
‘Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine’ is Getting a Location-based VR Experience Next Year
Location-based VR company Zero Latency announced it’s working with Warhammer creators Games Workshop to develop an out-of-home VR adventure based on the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine franchise.
The free-roam VR experience, which is currently under development by Zero Latency, allows up to eight players to strap into the jackboots of the universe’s Space Marines for what the studio calls “a thrilling 30-minute adventure to prove their ultimate loyalty to humanity.”
We haven’t seen Warhammer 40K VR in action yet, however considering the franchise’s dedication to serving up lead-filled action it could be pretty similar to the studio’s Far […]
A Student Video Contest for Economic Education Month
October is Economics Education Month and the Council for Economics Education is hosting a student video contest to promote student awareness of how economics is a part of their daily lives.
The contest is open to students and teachers in the United States in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. To participate students and teachers should create short videos (under 60 seconds) that answer the question, “how is economics part of my everyday life?” There are three divisions in the contest. Those are K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. The teachers and students producing winning […]
How to Find TED-Ed Lessons by Grade Level
Yesterday, I received an email from someone who saw my post about TED-Ed’s The Writer’s Workshop. She was wondering if there is a way to search TED-Ed videos by grade level. That’s not a function available on YouTube, but it is a function available on the TED-Ed lessons website. To sort TED-Ed lessons by grade level go to the TED-Ed lessons page then look about half-way down the page on the righthand side to find “filter by” and “sort by” settings. In the “filter by” drop-down menu you can choose elementary school, middle school, high […]
Best School Appropriate Games for Chromebook
‘Bonelab’ Dev Reveals How Custom Avatars Drive Unique Gameplay
Bonelab, the anticipated sequel of Boneworks (2019) from developer Stress Level Zero, is pushing ahead with its physics-driven gameplay by allowing players to import custom avatars which will gain dynamic stats that influence gameplay.
In the release date trailer last week we saw how Bonelab will give players a way to quickly jump between avatars which will change their size, appearance, and other attributes like speed and strength. In a new video, the studio shows off the attributes the game uses to assign the capabilities of different avatars: Height, Mass, Agility, Speed, Strength Upper, Strength Lower, Vitality, and Intelligence. The […]
12 Great TED Ed Science Video Lessons for Students
My Updated Big List of Tools for a Variety of Classroom Video Projects
Around this time last fall I published a big list of my go-to tools for creating videos with students. Since then some of the tools in the list were rebranded and or had some notable updates. This is my updated list of recommended video creation tools for classroom projects.
By the way, I created the list because other than questions about Google Workspace tools, I get asked more questions about making videos than any other three topics combined.
Rec Room’s New Unity-powered Creation Suite Brings Industry Standard Tools to Social VR Platform
Social VR platform Rec Room announced it’s released a new creation suite that allows you to publish content directly to the Rec Room platform from inside Unity, essentially letting its users create content using a host of industry standard tools.
The company says in a blog post its so-called ‘Rec Room Studio’ integration is designed to “complement the existing in-game tools, allowing you to seamlessly edit Studio content with the Maker Pen, and vice versa.”
Here’s a quick explainer from Rec Room showing off Studio in action on their latest first-party […]
Why More States Are Requiring Computer Science Classes
More and more states are requiring computer science classes be offered at all schools.
Three More Ways Focusable Can Help You Focus
Last week I wrote about how Focusable is helping me get things done more efficiently. That blog post featured how Focusable works once you start working. What that blog post left out was how Focusable can help you get started when you have a task to do but you’d really rather not do it.
When you’re having trouble getting started on a task that you need to do, try one of the pre-work exercises that Focusable offers. When you are signed […]
What is Open Culture and How Can It Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks
Open Culture is a free online hub full of useful digital resources for education.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo: 5 Lessons for Teaching Students with Autism
Although mostly set in a courtroom, the hit show Extraordinary Attorney Woo has lessons for the classroom
4 of The Best Android Apps for Flipped Classrooms
September 25, 2014
I have been receiving several requests to feature a list of the best Android apps for flipped classrooms. I know I have repeatedly featured here different iPad apps for creating flipped lesson videos but the thing with Android is that I am not really a huge fan of it for the simple reason that its app store is lacking several powerful apps that are indispensable to us in education. Even when I was working on today’s list I was really disappointed that apps such as Educreations, ShowMe, Knowmia are not available for Android users. However, […]
5 Great Screen Recording Apps for Android
8 Great Whiteboard Apps for Your Android
Key YouTube Features Students Should Know about
A Database of Solutions to Common Stains
Stain Solutions is a handy website developed by Susan Taylor at the University of Illinois Extension. The site is a database of dozens of common stains and the solutions to remove them. Click on a stain in the chart and you will be taken to a list of the ingredients needed to make a solution that will remove your chosen stain. Directions and warnings are provided along with the solutions.
Applications for Education
I don’t know of any teacher who hasn’t stained work clothes themselves or had them stained as the result […]
The Writer’s Workshop – 29 Videos That Can Help Students Improve Their Writing
The Writer’s Workshop is a playlist of twenty-nine TED-Ed video lessons about writing. The The Writer’s Workshop contains lessons on basic topics like how to use punctuation and point of view. It also offers videos about more difficult topics like how to make your writing humorous.
A few of the videos from The Writer’s Workshop playlist are embedded below.
Best Websites for Free Online Educational Documentaries
9 Tips for Students to Ace Their Presentations
