InTouch April/May 2015

Teaching Matters

Alternative ways of presenting Can alternative presentation technologies improve interactivity in classrooms?Over the past ten years, projectors and interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have generally been used to bring more inter-activity and engagement into teachingand learning in primary classrooms. Eventhough IWBs can be used effectively, theycan sometimes restrict teachers to teachingfrom the front of the classroom, as well asrestrict or limit the ways in which theyteach. Requiring pupils to come up to the IWB may in some cases limit pupilengagement, or may disrupt the flow of alearning activity. So are there other tech-nologies with the potential to provideteachers with more flexibility in how theyteach and present in classrooms?

Some more recent technologies havethe potential to provide more flexibility of movement and engagement for bothteachers and pupils. One of the betterknown of these is AppleTV, which whenused with a teacher’s iPad and projectorallows a teacher to wirelessly project or‘mirror’ whatever is on their iPad screenonto the large screen from anywhere inthe classroom. Similarly where pupilshave iPads, the teacher can allow pupiliPad screens to be projected or mirroredto the large screen. is can facilitate

more flexibility of teaching positions andmovement for the teacher and also allowsstudents to share their work to the rest ofthe classroom without having to physicallytouch the IWB or move from their seatingposition.

is can facilitate more effective teachingand improve the flow of classroom activi-ties. It also has the potential to facilitate a more accessible classroom environmentfor pupils with disabilities or easier engagement for pupils who may be reticentto explain/give feedback at the IWB.

AppleTV and wireless networksough AppleTV uses a wireless technologyto communicate with an iPad, it is possibleto connect an iPad and AppleTV withouthaving a wi-fi network in the school. isis because the iPad and AppleTV effectivelyset up their own ‘private’ wi-fi connectionusing what is referred to as ‘peer to peerAirplay’.

Alternatives to Apple TVAs AppleTV only works with iPad/Appledevices there are a number of other solu-tions available for non-Apple platforms, anumber of which require a suitable wire-

less network to be in place and configuredto connect teacher mobile devices to theprojection screen over the school wirelessnetwork. ese approaches generally involve adding the relevant software application to the teaching computer thatis connected to the classroom projector.Some of the better known solutions thatwork in this way include Reflector andAirserver.

Before a school decides on a suitablesolution, it would be important that theyare confident that the chosen approach isthe suitable one for their school. Seekingadvice from a similar type of school already successfully using one or more of these approaches is an excellent way ofgetting relevant information and feedback.

For more information on this area, including relevant videos and additionallinks, please refer to the section on ‘Presenting in the Classroom’ on theTechnology section of the PDST Tech-nology in Education website. e link is:www.pdsttechnologyineducation.ie/technology.

Written by Tom Lonergan, PDSTTechnology in Education.

5Where pupils have iPads, this allows students toshare their work to the rest of the classroom withouthaving to physically touch the IWB or move fromtheir seating position6

PDST Technology in Education have facilitated anumber of workshops for teachers in recentmonths on the use of mobile devices and appli-cations in teaching, learning and assessment atthe MiTE, CESI and Power Up conferences. Allworkshop slides can be accessed atwww.pdst.ie/mite2015; www.pdst.ie/cesi2015and www.pdst.ie/powerup2015 respectively. Allof these workshops can be scheduled throughyour local education centre, (contingent onthere being enough participants) so do not hesitate to request same.There will be eight face to face summer coursesdesigned by PDST Technology in Education offered by the Education Centre network thissummer. The courses cover the following areas:l Teaching, learning and assessment using

ICT.l Creating and using digital resources in literacy

and numeracy.l Using ICT for literacy and numeracy in junior

classes.l Using Scratch to develop numeracy (PDST TiE

and LERO).l Using tablets and online tools for literacy

and numeracy.l Fís: film making process to promote literacy.l Reading and writing process using ICT.l Leading digital learning and ICT integration

as a school leader.