3) Apple TV
Our school recently made a purchase of a set of 20 iPad 2's, and then the next year followed it up with a purchase of 20 iPad minis for use in the classroom. While there are a lot of apps and pieces of software that have been useful for use with the iPads, I have found no better tool that aids me in the classroom than my Apple TV.
Previous to purchasing my Apple TV, I had been having a difficult time showing content from the school iPads on my projector. I tried using various mirroring software like Reflector, but because my school is an old concrete building, and these programs rely on strong wifi connections, I had a lot of problems.
These problems were solved with my purchase of an Apple TV. The nice thing about Apple products is that they seem to integrate fairly well together, so bundling my Apple TV with the iPads in the classroom worked fairly seamlessly.
There are several reasons why I feel the Apple TV is an excellent tool:
i) It is cost effective. With budgets being reduced in education at
most schools in Ontario, providing a smartboard can be extremely
expensive. In comparison, an iPad/Apple TV combination can be fairly
reasonable.
ii) I can use it as a portable whiteboard (with whiteboard apps on the iPads): Students are often reluctant in my classroom to come up to the board to answer problems. I have found that this is mitigated with the Apple TV/iPad combination, as I am able to pass the iPad to a student (with a stylus) and have them provide me with answers on the spot. As well, I can have the iPad passed from student to student, which gives everyone a chance to participate. The other reason I like having a portable whiteboard is it means that I no longer have to have my back to the class, which provides me opportunities to manage my classroom in a better way.
iii) I can use it as a way to display student content. When students are working on the iPads, it can be a great teachable moment to have students use Airplay to display what was on their iPad onto the projector screen. Often, when I have my classes doing group work (or EQAO styled problems), I will see something that might be useful for the class to see. When this happens, I can stop the class, and let the student Airplay what they are doing for the whole class to see. This provides opportunity for discussion, collaboration, and peer feedback, which I think are great.
In my opinion, if you are looking for a cost effective, efficient smart board system, the Apple TV/iPad combination seems like the way to go.
With the HWDSB going full tilt into the world of iPads...this is definitely something I would like to learn more about. I currently use my own laptop and lcd projector with the screen in the classroom. I have started using my iPad more to add easier interaction moments and hope to have a whiteboard installed shortly so we can draw and write directly on the board at times too. At the primary level, most students are still willing to volunteer their ideas but I need a variety of options on how they can accomplish that comfortably.
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