Welcome to Playground Post, a bi-weekly newsletter that keeps education innovators ahead of what’s next.

Here’s what we have on deck for today…

1. VR needs teacher support

2. Bye bye letter grading

3. Texas unlocks $1B for private education choice

Education's Secret Innovation Lab Is Now Taking Listeners

Ever wondered how education breakthroughs are born? Pitch Playground podcast gives you the backstage pass.

Each week, you'll witness what happens when ambitious education entrepreneurs:

• Pitch their ideas for $50,000 prize

• Workshop their concepts through critical feedback

• Refine their solutions to education's most pressing challenges

It's the raw, unfiltered process of innovation that's normally hidden behind closed doors.

Peek behind the curtain → and hear education's next big idea before it makes headlines.

VR needs teacher support

As VR evolves from simple cardboard viewers to advanced headsets with spatial audio and haptic feedback, many teachers lack the skills to use it effectively.

"The potential problems include difficulty keeping up with VR developments, higher demands of student digital literacy, and lack of teacher proficiency," researchers noted in a Frontiers in Psychology study.

Teachers need dual-focused training:

• Technical operation of VR systems

• Effective classroom integration strategies.

For education innovators, this gap presents a clear opportunity to develop specialized training programs and ongoing support systems that help educators fully leverage VR's potential to transform learning experiences.

Bye bye letter grading

Education experts are moving away from traditional letter grades toward more interactive assessment methods.

Alternative approaches include:

1. Dialogic writing assessments, where teachers and students discuss work in progress

2. Ungrading, where students self-assess their learning

For organizations developing education tools, this shift creates demand for solutions that facilitate meaningful feedback and help schools communicate these changes to parents — who may be confused by unfamiliar grading systems.

Texas unlocks $1B for private education choice

Texas just approved $10,000 vouchers for families to use on private school tuition, marking a historic shift in how the state funds education.

• Most funds (80%) will go to families earning less than $160,750 yearly for a family of four.

• The program offers higher amounts for students with special needs ($30,000) and families who homeschool ($2,000).

This creates a major opportunity for organizations to develop services supporting private schools and homeschooling families as thousands of students potentially shift to alternative education options.

If you enjoyed this edition of Playground Post, please share it with your friends!

We’ll be back with another edition on Friday. See you then!

To stay up-to-date on all things education innovation, visit us at playgroundpost.com.