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Digital Learning

#2 - Be more mobile when teaching with a tablet and Solstice

  1. Often teachers are stuck behind the lectern using a desktop PC. The approach described here allows us to get out amongst the students, to be more mobile, and even to let them take over control.

  2. We might also want to easily hand control of the main screen to a student, so that they can demonstrate what they are doing, or share something with the class - including written work and drawings.

  3. You might want to use and demonstrate digital practices, such as annotating a text, working with images, using a web application.

Category: Teach in-class or online Run sessions in physical classrooms

Enhancement goals addressed: Engaged students | Breaking down barriers between teacher and students | Open-space learning | Craft-oriented learning

Tools and how to get support: Standard teaching room equipment | Solstice | Tablet

Solution overview

Solstice is a wireless projection system, installed in many of our teaching rooms. You connect to it from your own device (laptop, phone, tablet), meaning that you don't need to be at the lectern. This is especially useful if you want to interact with what is on your screen. You could, for example, annotate text, or a diagram. You can also hand the device to a student to use, and see what they are doing projected onto the main screen. This works especially well with a tablet and stylus (e.g. iPad and Apple Pencil).

Process
  1. Many of our IT Services managed teaching rooms have the Solstice system installed. You should be able to switch the room's projector to show it using a button on the lectern control panel.
  2. Follow the instructions on the screen to get the app installed and connect your tablet. You will see a unique code on the screen, allowing you to connect to Solstice in the room. The code changes occasionally, for security reasons. If you need to reconnect, check to see if the code has changed.
  3. Choose screen sharing to share your whole screen, or send a video or image file. You can control what gets displayed on the screen. Up to four devices may be connected at a time (or 2 if they are Apple devices).
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