Tim Kivell and I presented at the Brock Tech Showcase last Friday on the ways in which an iPad and an AirPlay enabled projector could be utilized to replace most of the functionality traditionally achieved using an Interactive Whiteboard. Being able to circumnavigate a room with an iPad wirelessly connected to the projector at the front of the room has huge benefits. The projected image could be used to show a variety of different apps, or the camera functionality could be used as a Document Camera of sorts. We focused mainly on the iPad as a device to capture student learning, or as a means to communicate information, through a variety of screencasting apps (Educreations, Explain Everything, and Ask3 specifically).

A number of questions came up around how to AirPlay within a classroom. Here are three options.

Apple TV

This is probably the easiest from an end user perspective. There isn’t a lot of tweaking necessary. When we set up a AppleTV to be used in a classroom environment, go into Settings/AirPlay and change the name of the Apple TV to something specific that you will be able to locate on the Network. If there are multiple Airplay capable devices on the wireless at your school, you’ll need a way to locate which AppleTV you are attempting to connect to. You can also go into Settings/Airplay and set the display to Conference Mode: this blocks all of the iTunes TV Show and Movie advertising from the class. The third tweak would be to set up the “Onscreen Password”: this ensures that anyone connecting to your AppleTV is present in the room.

Airserver

I don’t need to tell you much about this one. They have a great website located here: http://www.airserver.com/ Make sure you check out their comparison table.

Reflector

Another one I don’t need to sell to you. Here’s the link: http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/

…But I don’t have Wireless

Here’s a third option that only works for those of you who have a Mac. You can use your laptop to create your own wireless network. Connecting your iPad to that network creates a way to piggyback on a wired connection to your laptop, providing wireless access to your iPad, and any other device in your classroom. This basically turns your laptop into a wifi hotspot. Again, the internet being a wonderful thing, I’m not going to re-write something that someone else has already done an excellent job explaining. Check out this link here: http://tapintoteenminds.com/2013/12/26/create-a-macbook-apple-tv-wifi-hotspot/

Screencasting Links

How To Use Educreations

• http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/how-to-use-educreations/7416256/

Read-aloud as a Screencast

• http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/if-you-give-a-pig-a-party/716906/

Group/Class Activity

• http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/nouns-mrs-corliss/4870848/

Student Led Lesson

• http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/multiplication-5-1/6385031/

Teacher Led Lesson

• http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/pythagorean-theorem/467745/