4 ways to boost engagement with device mirroring

Device mirroring (or screencasting and screen sharing) is a method that enables you to duplicate, or ‘mirror’ the content on your computer screen, tablet or smartphone to another screen, wirelessly.

This capability is incredibly valuable in an educational setting; it gives teachers and students the opportunity to quickly share and discuss content from any device. Better still, mirroring and casting technologies have vastly improved in recent years, so that visibility and interactivity is much more reliable for an education setting.

Now, students or teachers can often share their screens from any internet-enabled device to a front of class display. If an interactive flat panel display or interactive whiteboard is available, you can also often write or draw on what is shared, to highlight important details.

These four screen-mirroring methods can help boost student engagement in your classroom, and bridge the gap between teacher-led instruction and student-led learning:

Dynamic classrooms

The ability to quickly engage in interactive learning experiences with pupils is perhaps the biggest benefit of screen mirroring and other screencasting technologies in the classroom. The teacher can be unchained from the front of the class, and more mobile around the room.

During a lesson, students can individually or collaboratively research a subject and then share their findings with the whole class on the main interactive display screen. This means student and teacher collaboration is entirely seamless. Such interactivity means all pupils become central to the direction of the lesson, rather than bystanders.

Enhance visual learning

In some subjects or specific lessons, it’s easier to share handwritten examples with a class.

Chemical or mathematical formulas, for instance, can be difficult to type and read. With screen mirroring, however, handwritten examples can be displayed on the main front of class screen and then mirrored to personal screens for better visibility, understanding and engagement. The teacher can interact with pupils’ screens directly from the front-of-class display, or handheld devices with a camera (a smartphone or tablet) could be used to project handwritten work to the rest of the class.

Using this functionality, teachers can model exactly how pupils should construct complex structures like formulas, and share faster annotations than on a handwritten board.

Collaborative feedback

In the past, pupils rarely gave each other feedback on tasks unless they were looking at each other’s notebooks. Screen mirroring, however, brings peer-to-peer learning to life.

Digital front-of-class display screens, like Promethean ActivPanels, often have a function that allows students to work on their devices and then mirror their examples to the main display. Students can quickly demonstrate their work and receive on-the-spot feedback from classmates. Conducting peer-based feedback instils motivation and enthusiasm in non-engaged learners by driving accountability and reinforcing the value of everyone’s opinions.

Gamification of lessons

And finally, why not mirror an interactive part of your lessons, to boost engagement? Embedding interactivity, such as games and polls, into standard lesson presentations drives student motivation. It keeps pupils switched on throughout lengthy explanations of topics, and divides lessons into more digestible chunks of learning.

Using interactive learning apps like Quizlet or Kahoot and device mirroring, teachers can launch and mirror digital games with groups of pupils, or the whole class. It means everyone can easily see what is happening, while individuals or groups of pupils take part on devices.

The multi-device mirroring functionality of the ActivPanel Elements series, therefore, allows the front of class display to become the true hub of your classroom. By mirroring the handheld devices of the teacher or students, you can boost engagement, collaboration and motivation.