It is presentation day in AT Latinx Histories. A student has submitted a video to her history teacher, Isaac Berrueta, but when it appears on the board, it’s pixelated. The quality has plummeted for her original video. But Mr. Berrueta remembers the new technology in his classroom.
“I was showing a video that the students submitted to me,” he said, “but by the time it got to me it lost quality. So the student was just able to mirror their screen, right from their desk with their original video so we had a much higher quality video.”
Teachers are happy with the addition of Apple TVs and AirPlay into their historic campus classrooms, tools that allow teachers to walk around their classrooms while presenting, even though connecting audio sometimes causes technical issues.
The decision to add the new technology was based on the success of similar resources tested in the classrooms at Earl Shapiro Hall. In addition to the new technology, last spring five new classrooms were created to permit the schedule change. Brian Hewlett, the director of information, registrar and compliance services, said in those classrooms, interactive touchscreens were added, which has increased flexibility for teachers.
“You can use it like a projector where you don’t ever touch it. You can use it with the Apple TV, where you wirelessly send your image to it, or the display itself has a computer on board so you can use the computer itself,” Mr. Hewlett said.
Xiaoli Zhou teaches AP Chinese and holds her advisory in C-212B, one of the new classrooms with the experimental TVs, and appreciates the opportunities they provide.
“I knew there were a bunch of things that you could do with it and I would love to spend some time when I can this year to explore what I can do with that,” she said.
Each classroom on the historic campus is now equipped with an Apple TV, so teachers can connect to their projectors remotely from their Apple devices.
Many teachers are finding the additions to be helpful in their classroom environments.
Spanish teacher Suzanne Baum explained that having a wireless connection is useful because she teaches in three different classrooms.
“I think one problem with the dongle was the little wires would get bent or loose, so when you are a traveling teacher it’s hard,” Ms. Baum said.
She said that one of the only issues she found with the new system was the audio connection.
History teacher Biatris Oyebolu has adjusted well to using this technology, but she understands how it might be tricky to navigate.
“If you have Apple products and you know how to use them, then it’s really really easy,” Ms. Oyebolu said. “But again, that’s not always accessible to a teacher who might not have Apple products other than what they provide for us at school.”
