Using Miracast

The new learning spaces at CPIT have screens with Miracast, which is where we are able to project the image from a tablet on to a large flat screen. There are pros and cons, discussed here and there is always a need to assist tutors in 'thinking outside the box'. Many teachers plan to use Miracast to enhance their use of powerpoint - some tips here for powerpoint on surface tablets.

However, Miracast is also a powerful tool if used to share 'learning moments' in the form of examples of students' own work, videos of stduents' practice or role plays etc. Our work has shown students take ownership and are more likely to re-watch learning resources, if students' work is incorporated into the teaching resource. A power point up loaded on to Moodle, means much more if examples of students' work from a class session, form part of the resource.

The opportunity to use students' work as 'learning conversation starters' is also a focus of our use of Miracast. Students' progressive work can be shared via Miracast on tutors' tablets if the work is transferred on to a shared class folder (say on OneDrive or Moodle or Dropbox) or transferred physically using a memory stick. We are using Surface RT tablets which have a usb, making physical transfer in a BYOD environment workable during tutorials. Five wired PCs around the room provide students without a device with digital hardware.

The rooms also have glass 'whiteboards' allowing for the use of 'office lens'. Office lens provides the facility to take images off surfaces with a bit of glare or crop pieces of work taken off note books etc. Office lens is linked to One Note, allowing for ease of transferability within the Windows OS.

I will undertake a series of class observations this semester to improve the deployment of Miracast though supporting tutors. In particular, to assist the building of a trusting learning culture within our classrooms to allow for co-construction of students' work as their learning progresses and to maximise opportunities for peer and tutor feedback.