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Snapchat Puts Focus on Teen Safety Resources for Teachers

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September 3, 2024

In an effort to create a safer environment for teens, social platform Snapchat is providing educators with resources to familiarize them with the app and help them understand how students use it. The company has launched a website called “An Educator’s Guide to Snapchat.” The announcement, timed to the start of the new school year, comes as lawmakers have been pressuring social networks to do more to protect children, with Florida and Indiana going so far as to enact school cell phone bans. Legislators in California and New York have been exploring similar prohibitions. Continue reading Snapchat Puts Focus on Teen Safety Resources for Teachers

Meta Education Initiative Aims to Put Quest VR in Classrooms

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April 18, 2024

Meta will release a new Quest educational product later this year. As with 2023’s workplace-specific Meta Quest for Business, the as yet unnamed learning tool will allow teachers, trainers and administrators to access education-specific apps and features, and make it possible for them to manage multiple Quest devices at once. The classroom convenience of not having to individually update and prepare each headset for the same lesson was one of Meta’s key findings in researching what teachers wanted from virtual reality, Meta says, positioning education and training as a growing tech product sector, with lots of app activity. Continue reading Meta Education Initiative Aims to Put Quest VR in Classrooms

Microsoft Developing a Classroom Edition of ‘Minecraft’ Game

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January 21, 2016

The building-block game “Minecraft” may make its way into classrooms next fall. Microsoft is planning to launch a classroom version of the game, which will allow teachers to create custom challenges and track students’ progress on their building projects. This new version of “Minecraft” would be based on “MinecraftEdu,” a spinoff of the original game that was sold to Microsoft last year. Microsoft plans to charge $5 per student annually for the classroom version of the game. Continue reading Microsoft Developing a Classroom Edition of ‘Minecraft’ Game

Digital Paper: Sony Announces Ultra-Thin Flexible E-Reader

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May 15, 2013

Sony may soon offer an affordable alternative for transitioning from paper notebooks and textbooks to digital solutions. According to a Japanese press release, the company is developing a 13.3-inch flexible e-reader called Digital Paper. Designed for use in classrooms, the grayscale reader weighs about 0.78 pounds, is a mere 7mm thick, features a touch capable 1,200 x 1,600 pixel display and includes Wi-Fi, 4GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot. Continue reading Digital Paper: Sony Announces Ultra-Thin Flexible E-Reader

New Industry Report to be Released: Suggests 3D Format Safe for Kids

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September 20, 2011
  • The American Optometric Association, the Consumer Electronics Association and the 3D@Home Consortium will issue a report entitled “3D in the Classroom: See Well, Learn Well” that will promote 3D in the classroom. The report, endorsed by James Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg, also makes the case for 3D eye exams.
  • The AOA has been taking issue with a position by some companies to recommend that 3D not be used for children younger than 6 years of age.
  • In response to Nintendo on the 3DS, for example, they responded, “Since vision develops from birth, it is crucial to uncover the type of vision disorders that may interfere with Nintendo 3D viewing at an early age. Accordingly, children younger than 6 can use the 3DS in 3D mode if their visual system is developing normally.”
  • They also dispute the recommendation against prolonged 3D viewing, as there is no medical evidence to support this.
  • “While professionals like Technicolor’s 3D guru Pete Routhier note that poorly made 3D can cause eye strain, headaches or nausea, the AOA report notes that discomfort caused by stereoscopy is not innate to the format,” reports Variety. “In fact, pain associated with 3D can often be an indicator of a problem with the health of the viewer’s eyes.”

Should We Be Thinking about 3D Devices and Services for the Classroom?

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September 12, 2011
  • Market research firm Pacific Media Associates estimates that approximately 185,000 3D-ready projectors will be sold to U.S. schools (grades K-12) this year, which would be more than double the number sold last year.
  • “Schools are trying to keep up with the multiplex, keen to find ways to engage students in an age of 3D movies and gadgets that make traditional classroom materials look dated,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “And the technology and equipment makers are eager to create a new market for their 3D products.”
  • Teachers who are 3D proponents find that introducing 3D experiences in the classroom are beneficial in explaining a wide range of topics from understanding what cartilage in a skeletal system looks like to how math works in real life. “You don’t want to turn away because you don’t want to miss anything,” said one middle school student of the approach.
  • It should came as no surprise that younger generations are drawn to 3D, the iPad and mobile devices, but despite new technologies interactive teaching techniques remain the key. This makes 3D technology different in the classroom than it is in the multiplex. “Anyone can watch 3D, but you need to interact with it to really learn,” says James Mayrose, associate professor at Buffalo State College and chief executive of Tactus Technologies Inc., a company that offers a 3D dissectible-frog program.
  • Early studies indicate 3D projection dramatically increases test scores, and it is interesting to note that, unlike TVs, many 3D-ready projectors typically cost the same as regular projectors ($600-800).
  • According to WSJ, some schools are evaluating budgets while some are “waiting for more 3D materials that are in compliance with testing and graduation standards.” The article also points out that “few if any of the leading academic publishers, including Pearson PLC and McGraw-Hill Cos., have created their own stereoscopic course material, but Texas Instruments’ DLP says it is currently in discussions with various publishers.”
  • ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld suggests this is a potentially huge market for monetization and marketing opportunities.

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