Latest education updates from around the world
How ‘Gorilla Tag’ Became a $100 Million VR Success on Quest
1 in 3 Quest owners have downloaded Gorilla Tag, making it the most successful game ever on standalone VR. Gorilla Tag, created by studio Another Axiom, has emerged as a standout success in the virtual reality gaming space, not just as a game but as a cultural phenomenon. Launched in 2021, it has quickly amassed over 12 million users and generated more than $100 million in revenue.
Guest Article by JP Minetos
JP Minetos works on the Investment Team at Hartmann Capital, a frontier venture fund investing […]
Making Student Groups Just Got Easier
Meaningful collaboration is the engine that drives student engagement and fuels deeper learning. When students actively engage with each other, share ideas, and build knowledge together, they move beyond passive learning and into a realm of dynamic interaction and discovery. But creating the optimal groups for these collaborative moments can be a real challenge. That’s…
The post Making Student Groups Just Got Easier appeared first on Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler.
‘Skydance’s Behemoth’ Patches Coming This Week to All Major VR Headsets
Skydance’s Behemoth (2024) launched last week across all major VR headsets with the proviso from the studio was planning patches to address a variety of performance and gameplay issues.
Developer Skydance Games says we can expect a patch on December 12th, 2024 covering issues experienced across all platforms, which includes Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2, and PC VR headsets via the Horizon Store (Meta only) and Steam.
While we didn’t notice any of the outstanding bugs in […]
Roto VR Raises $3M to Broaden Market Reach of Rotating VR Chair Accessory
Roto VR, the UK-based creator behind 360-degree VR chairs, announced a new funding round of £2.4 million (~$3 million) which the company says will be used to fulfill demand of its recently launched Roto VR Explorer chair.
Led by Pembroke VCT, the continuation of company’s second funding round includes participation of existing as well as new angel investors from both the UK and US.
According to Crunchbase data, this brings Roto’s total investments to £3.9 million (~$5 million) following […]
Tinybop Schools: How to Use It to Teach Science
Tinybop Schools offers interactive models to teach sciences in an experiential way.
AI Predators: What Schools Should Know and Do
AI is increasingly be used by predators to connect with underage students online. Yasmin London, global online safety expert at Qoria and a former member of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia, shares steps educators can take to protect students.
5 steps to integrate STEM into student literacy
Key points:
- Literacy and STEM offer engaging learning experiences
- 3 tips to authentically engage students in real-world STEM learning
- 5 approaches that boost middle school student STEM engagement
- For more news on STEM trends, visit eSN’s STEM & STEM hub
In the world of education, we can sometimes make the mistake of branding STEM and literacy as opposing disciplines. Reading is seen as a creative subject. It’s colorful, artistic, and filled with […]
Meta Announces Multi-year Exclusive Agreement for Spatial Content with James Cameron’s 3D Studio
Meta announced it’s partnering with Lightstorm Vision, James Cameron’s 3D film studio, to produce spatial content across multiple genres, including live events and full-length entertainment.
The agreement includes the production of live sports and concerts, feature films, and TV series featuring “big-name IP,” Meta says in a recent blog post, noting that Quest will be Lightstorm Vision’s the exclusive MR hardware platform.
Meta says the collaboration with Lightstorm Vision will include the co-production of original stereoscopic content, but also […]
Making Student Groups Just Got Easier
Meaningful collaboration is the engine that drives student engagement and fuels deeper learning. When students actively engage with each other, share ideas, and build knowledge together, they move beyond passive learning and into a realm of dynamic interaction and discovery. But creating the optimal groups for these collaborative moments can be a real challenge. That’s…
The post Making Student Groups Just Got Easier appeared first on Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler.
Meta Pushes Back on Reported Outsourcing of XR Headset Designs
A recent report from The Information maintains Meta has started outsourcing some design for upcoming headsets amid a shift to move part of its production out of China. Now, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth refutes those specific design claims, saying headsets will continue to be designed “in house.”
According to The Information (non-paywalled via SeekingAlpha) Meta is reportedly planning to move half of its Quest headset manufacturing from China to Vietnam, a step done to avoid upcoming steep import […]
‘Stay: Forever Home’ is Bringing a Loveable Little Mixed Reality Canine Pal to Quest Next Year
Indie studio Windup Minds have finally announced its long-awaited virtual pet simulator, Stay: Forever Home, bringing a cute little canine friend to Quest in early 2025.
The studio says Stay: Forever Home blends AR, VR, and unscripted AI to create a more realistic pet companion that is unique to each player, resulting in what it calls a game that “loves you back.”
Leveraging Technology to Better Engage Learners in Lessons
With so many technological teach tools available, finding the right one to engage your students can be a challenge. Here’s advice on how to get started.
‘Skydance’s Behemoth’ Review – A Colossal Step Forward in VR Action-Adventure Gaming
Skydance’s Behemoth showcases a lot of hard-won lessons in VR design, which is mostly thanks to the studio’s pioneering work on its most successful VR game to date: The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020). As an original IP in the action-adventure genre, Behemoth goes in a pretty familiar direction when it comes to the game’s narrative, which would otherwise make it difficult to stand out in the crowd were it a standard video game. In VR though, there are precious few that provide such a monster-sized […]
LightSail: How to Use It to Teach Literacy
LightSail literacy helps students progress and teachers support that process.
Making Service Transitions Simple with Planning and Dedication
INNOVATIVE LEADER AWARD – Creating smooth technological transitions with careful planning and steadfast knowledge of your educational needs.
Google Scholar’s New AI Outline Tool Explained By Its Founder
Google Scholar PDF reader uses Gemini AI to read research papers. The AI model creates direct links to the paper’s citations and a digital outline that summarizes the different sections of the paper.
3 tips to authentically engage students in real-world STEM learning
Key points:
- Students are motivated to dig deep into science with real-world implications
- Rethinking STEM to shape the future workforce
- Getting pre-service teachers comfortable using and teaching with STEAM tools
- For more news on science learning, visit eSN’s STEM & STEAM hub
Earlier this year, I was teaching science to a group of rising 9th grade students involved in a summer learning program. Despite not having access to a dedicated lab space, it […]
Quest Black Friday Sales Volume on Amazon May Have Fallen Short of 2023
Data from Amazon US suggests that Quest headsets didn’t sell as well over Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2024 as compared to 2023.
Based on data from Amazon US, in 2023 about 170,000 Quest headsets had sold in the 30 day window surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In 2024, that number was around 146,000 Quest headsets, representing a drop in sales volume of 14%. This may not be representative of other retailers.
That’s a surprising outcome considering Meta just launched […]
‘Skydance’s Behemoth’ Won’t Miss Dec 5 Launch Despite Technical Setbacks, Week-1 Patches Announced
Skydance’s Behemoth is coming in hot, although it may be coming in hotter than expected. Developer Skydance Games tells Road to VR it’s already planning post-launch patches for its first week on Quest and PSVR 2.
A Skydance Games representative tells us it’s experienced a “cascading hardware failure that delayed the testing and certification of Skydance’s BEHEMOTH across all platforms.”
This however won’t delay release, we’re told, as “the team has since recovered,” with the proviso that the studio is releasing patches on PSVR 2 and […]
‘Green Hell VR’ Gets Long-awaited Co-op Mode This Month on Quest and PSVR 2
Green Hell VR (2022), Incuvo’s VR adaptation of the popular open world survival game, is finally getting the long-promised co-op mode this month on Quest and PSVR 2.
First announced in April 2023, Green Hell VR’s co-op mode is nearly here, launching December 16th for free to owners of game on PSVR 2 and Quest 2, 3 and 3S.
The co-op edition is said to build on the game’s challenging solo play by allowing teams of up to four players, who arm themselves with melee or ranged weapons […]
Samsung Reportedly Set to Unveil Smart Glasses at Galaxy S25 Event in January
A recent report from South Korea’s Yonhap News maintains Samsung is set to unveil a pair of XR glasses at its annual Unpacked product event, which is expected to take place sometime next month.
Samsung promised back in July we’d be hearing more about its forthcoming “XR platform” before the end of this year, which it’s developing in partnership with Google and Qualcomm.
We still don’t know precisely what form its “XR platform” will take, with previous rumors suggesting work on […]
REL Pacific’s new study on Palau Community College education students’ graduation patterns
REL Pacific examined graduation patterns of teacher education students at Palau Community College to support teacher training and recruitment efforts in Palau. The study found the overall graduation times to be at least 2.6 academic years and that there were differences based on the students” majors, organizational affiliations, and whether students had prior college experience. The results are shared in an infographic that is available in both Palauan and English, and an accompanying technical memo.
Ditch Summit 2024: A free online conference for educators
Hey … it’s Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook! It’s December, which means … The Ditch Summit is back! I’ve been offering this free online conference for educators for nine years! This year, it’s open from Dec. 16 to Jan. 10. Here’s what to expect … ~100 on-demand video presentations Great, interesting, inspiring sessions Engaging,…
The post Ditch Summit 2024: A free online conference for educators appeared first on Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler.
Well-received Release of ‘Trombone Champ’ Bodes Well for Port-focused VR Studio
Flat2VR Studios, a recently-formed game studio focused on bringing existing flatscreen games to VR, has released its first game, Trombone Champ: Unflattened!. A positive early reception bodes well for both the studio’s ability to deliver and its choice of which games to port in the first place.
Flat2VR Studios is a formalization of a group of dedicated modders who were making unofficial VR mods for flatscreen games. The studio announced earlier this year that it would release official VR conversions of four games.
The first of […]
StrikerVR is Bringing Its VR Haptic Gun to Consumers Soon, Hoping for Broader Developer Support
StrikerVR, the haptic peripheral maker for out-of-home VR, announced it’s opened pre-orders for the Mavrik, a new haptic VR gun designed for consumers.
The haptic gun, which is compatible with Quest 3 and Quest 3S, is now available for pre-order, priced at $499. StrikerVR says 1,000 units will available for Christmas delivery, however general shipping is expected to take place starting March 15th, 2025.
Like the Pro version for location-based entertainment, the new Mavrik for consumers includes strong immersive recoil and haptic feedback. The […]