I was told it couldn’t be done – so of course I had to prove them wrong.
Since last year when I received a class set of i-Pads through a grant that I participated in, I have wanted to be able to project my iPad and all of the apps that I have through my projector onto my screen. It’s really difficult to give directions so that all students can see and follow along by standing in the front of the class holding up my iPad.
I have a dongle that allows me to attach my iPad and project some of what is on my iPad, but most of the apps can’t be shown through the dongle – I wanted TRUE mirroring capabilities and I didn’t want to be tethered to the front of the room – I have an interactive white board that already does that for me.
So I began my quest to find out how to mirror my iPad and be free to roam the classroom.
I called APPLE and they told me it couldn’t be done, I asked some of my geekiest friends and they couldn’t give me an answer. I searched the Internet and found a lot of sites that gave me some of the answers that I was looking for, but none that could step by step tell me how to do what I was trying to do. After trial and error, I found the solution to my problem of being tethered to the front of the classroom and trying to show my apps through the document camera – which by the way doesn’t work very well. Here are step-by-step directions on how to make your iPad the ultimate classroom tool.
1. You need an iPad 2 or iPad 3. Unfortunately the iPad 1 doesn’t have airplay, so this set up won’t work.
2. You will need an Apple TV. Cost $99.00 which can be purchased through apple or at BestBuy (I am sure there are other places, but I am speaking on my personal experience here.) Also you will need a HDMI cable, since the apple TV doesn’t come with one. I bought mine at BestBuy for $24.99 but you can get them cheaper online.
3. You also need either a projector that has an HDMI output or a converter box. Of course my projector doesn’t have an HDMI output, if it did I would be able to skip some of these steps. If you don’t have a HDMI projector, you will need a HDMI to VGA converter box. I bought mine at monoprice.com (http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=hdmi+to+vga&x=0&y=0) for $38.25 plus shipping.
4. Now that you have and ipad2 or 3, an apple TV, the HDMI cable and an HDMI to VGA converter, you are ready to set everything up.
I am attaching a link to a video that I made using the App Explain Everything ($2.99) that shows how to set this up. http://youtu.be/K_xH82G-w2s
This is my first attempt at recording, so please be kind. If you want additional information about how I use my iPad in the classroom, feel free to contact me.
Good luck and enjoy being untethered!
