Latest education updates from around the world

New Trailer Shows Marvel ‘What If…?’ Gameplay on Vision Pro, Reveals May 30th Release Date

By |May 23, 2024|

Marvel’s upcoming What If…? – An Immersive Experience is due to launch on May 30th, a new trailer reveals. Coming exclusively to Vision Pro, the hour-long experience will take players between AR and full VR.

Just a few months after launch, Vision Pro has a handful of interesting native apps, but the upcoming What If…? is set to easily be the headset’s biggest production yet. The new gameplay trailer shows a full blown experience with high quality voice acting and hand-tracking gameplay, and confirms a May 30th release date for What If…? – An Immersive Experience.

We can’t say we’re surprised at the polished production; it’s […]

Meta Would “love” Discord to Support Quest: Another Reason Why It Actually Just Needs Google Play

By |May 22, 2024|

Meta CTO Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth says the company would “love” to have some sort of Discord integration on Quest in the future, pending interest from Discord, that is—once again highlighting the fact that Quest really just needs Google Play.

Meta isn’t exactly throwing its weight around to tempt Discord into supporting the Quest platform, although that’s probably equally true for a ton of services currently missing from Meta’s XR app store. The official Quest Store doesn’t have Spotify, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, TikTok, any VPN services, or any of the myriad of mobile apps and games that you can download […]

Microsoft and Meta to ‘deepen partnership’ with ‘Windows Volumetric Apps’ on Quest

By |May 22, 2024|

At Microsoft’s Build developer conference the company announced it was bringing Windows Volumetric apps to Quest, which Microsoft calls a way to “extend Windows apps into 3D space.”

Pavan Davuluri, head of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, announced on stage at Build the company was “deepening [its] partnership with Meta to make Windows a first class experience on Quest devices.”

Microsoft says it’s aiming to transform workflows by bringing Windows 365 and local PC connectivity to Quest, which the company says will allow developers to easily bring their Windows apps into XR.

Image courtesy Microsoft

“We call these Volumetric apps,” Davuluri says […]

Quest Sale Brings 30% off This Week to Some of VR’s Top Games

By |May 21, 2024|

Looking to save big on top Quest games this week? From now until May 27th, you can nab over 100 games for 30% off right now.

There are a ton of best-selling titles on sale right now, with standouts including Demeo, Contractor’s Showdown, Until You Fall, Resident Evil 4, Red Matter, Walkabout Mini Golf, and more.

To save 30% on all of the games listed below, insert the discount code MAY30.

Meta has highlighted 100 games in its list of games currently on offer, which we’ve copied below, however the company says there are actually over 170 participating titles […]

Meta and LG Partnership Reportedly in Question as Korean Tech Giant Now “controlling its pace”

By |May 20, 2024|

Meta announced in February it was partnering with South Korean tech giant LG to create an XR headset that was reportedly set to compete with Apple Vision Pro. Recent reports from Korean media however maintain that partnership is in danger.

A report from the Korean Economic Daily alleges the Meta/LG partnership has been completely terminated, further stating that LG is “now seeking a new partner to provide an operating system and software for XR devices LG plans to unveil next year.” A candidate could be Amazon, the report maintains.

“There were some differences between LG […]

GPT-4o: What Educators Need to Know

By |May 20, 2024|

I tested GPT-4o, the new model powering some versions of ChatGPT. It combines text, audio, visual, and video outputs and inputs, and is faster and more natural in its responses, which has many implications for teachers.

Biliteracy Seals in a Large Urban District in New Mexico: Who Earns Them and How Do They Impact College Outcomes?

By |May 18, 2024|

REL Southwest examined the characteristics and college readiness of students from three cohorts of grade 12 students in 2017/18–2019/20 in a large urban district in New Mexico who earned different types of biliteracy seals (state, district, and global seals) and whether earning a seal resulted in improved college outcomes.

Indicators of School Performance in Texas

By |May 18, 2024|

REL Southwest partnered with the Texas Education Agency to examine student behaviors and teacher factors that could be used to create indicators of school performance when accountability data are not available.

Stabilizing school accountability metrics

By |May 18, 2024|

This white paper describes a way to improve school accountability metrics by reducing measurement error, which can obscure school performance, especially in small schools or subgroups. This approach, called Bayesian hierarchical modeling, can help states target the schools and subgroups that most need additional support.

Encouraging families to visit a literacy website

By |May 18, 2024|

In Arkansas, REL Southwest studied the effectiveness of using emails and text messages to increase the number of parents or guardians of elementary school children visiting a state literacy website.

The Louisiana Believe and Prepare educator preparation reform: Findings from the pilot and early implementation years

By |May 18, 2024|

REL Southwest examined the extent to which the Louisiana Believe and Prepare educator preparation reform is contributing to expected improvement in the outcomes for early career teachers using data from eight cohorts of teacher candidates who completed a traditional undergraduate teacher preparation program between 2012/13 and 2019/20.

This $1,000 App is Now the Most Expensive on Quest—At Least There’s a 20 Minute Free Trial

By |May 18, 2024|

With previously hidden ‘App Lab’ apps now discoverable on the main Quest store, the $1,000 WeldVR is the most expensive app you can find on Meta’s VR app store. But fret not, you can get a free trial… for 20 whole minutes.

For years, Meta only allowed select apps onto the main Quest store (which Meta recently rebranded as the ‘Meta Horizon Store’). Apps that weren’t greenlit for the Horizon Store could be published to ‘App Lab’, which gave the app a home to be bought and installed, but the apps would remain ‘unlisted’, meaning they could only be accessed with […]

‘Everybody’s Golf’ Studio Tees Up the Competition on Quest in ‘ULTIMATE SWING GOLF’

By |May 17, 2024|

Clap Hanz, the Japanese studio behind hit golfing series Everybody’s Golf and Hot Shots, released their latest VR game on Quest, called ULTIMATE SWING GOLF.

The game follows in the footsteps of Clap Hanz’s other iconic titles, this time featuring five outdoor courses for some arcade-style VR golfing action.

The game’s main focus is on free play, training modes, and competitive online matches, however it also includes a mixed reality play mode which transforms your room into a golf course.

You can grab Ultimate Swing Golf over on Quest, supporting Quest 2/3/Pro, over on the store, priced at $30.

Ultimate Swing Golf […]

‘Blacktop Hoops’ Graduates from Early Access After Racking up Over 15,000 Reviews

By |May 17, 2024|

Blacktop Hoops (2024), the popular VR basketball game, is out of early access on Quest, now serving up multiplayer and single player streetball on standalone platforms and PC VR headsets too.

Developed by Vinci Games and first released in April 2022 in alpha, the full version of Blacktop Hoops is now available, bringing with it a new GOAT campaign mode, revamped online parks for up to 4v4 matches, new maps and environments, a new Court Cam mode, training modes and more.

The studio says the game’s first official season will take place over the next four months, which will let […]

Quest 3 Finally Replaced Index as My Main PC VR Headset, and I Have Valve to Thank

By |May 17, 2024|

After nearly five years, I’ve finally moved on from Index as my main PC VR headset, and Valve is the one that made me do it.

Index is a great headset. Between it’s tracking, ergonomics, field-of-view, crisp display, and still industry-leading audio, it’s been hard to give it up—even if it’s resolution is, by this point, very much ‘last-gen’.

Image courtesy Valve

Even with Quest 3’s upsides of higher resolution, better lenses, no-tether, more compact form-factor, and no external trackers, I was still reaching for Index when it was time to dive into PC VR. But the release of […]

‘Rocking Legend’ is Like VR ‘Rock Band’ Without Needing a Closet Full of Plastic Instruments

By |May 16, 2024|

Domurosoft, an Italian indie studio, is getting ready to release the full version of Rocking Legend on SteamVR headsets soon, which includes some very Rock Band-inspired gameplay which critically doesn’t require dedicated guitar controllers.

Rocking Legend can’t really boast any well-known music—its 30-song OST of original songs have all been tailored to work with virtual drums and guitars.

While it’s true you can play guitar using motion controllers to simulate strumming and fretting, the game also promises support for USB or Bluetooth-enabled instruments for a more authentic experience, which includes ones you might have left over some other games.

The game, which has just […]