Packing Miracast- The DELL Mobile Projector M900HD

The computer trends are pointing to lighter, more portable and highly mobile technology for today's work force. This is no less true for all of us in education as many schools are moving to tablets and devices that connect to the cloud. With this shift, it is exciting to think about how teachers are using their classrooms to cull out unique learning spaces. If you are thinking of how you can redesign your classroom space I would highly suggest that you consider reading The Third Teacher, and excellent book about re-thinking the learning space in our classrooms. This got me thinking about how we move away from the teacher in the front of the classroom and setting up learning spaces with technology that would enable students to share ideas quickly. Companies like Steelcase have envisioned the future of the classroom with their media:scape solution. Media:scape allows students to quickly share and collaborate on their content on a monitor by simply clicking on a "puck" that is in front of them. While this is an exciting solution it still requires devices to be hard wired to the monitor in order to collaborate. 

Over the past year, I have been experimenting with various wireless technologies that enable teachers and students to share their computer and tablet screens, using wireless technologies. Having attempted this several years ago with little success I was wondering what the evolution of this technology would have to offer in 2014? One of the wireless technologies I worked with is an Intel standard called Wi-Di (Wireless Display) which allows you to stream the contents of your tablet or computer to a HDMI device without cables or wires. Many educators often refer to Wi-Di by using the term Miracast to describe a peer-to-peer wireless screencasting standard formed via Wi-Fi Direct connections in a manner similar to Bluetooth. Miracast supports Windows 8.1 and Android (4.2 or great) devices right out of the box with zero configuration. Having access to Wi-Di would be great for the classroom because it would enable me to move about the

ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition

classroom without the need to be tethered to the projector. One of the benefits of Miracast is that it does not require you to use the school's wireless network to set it up. Using the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition, Miracast receiver connected to my projector I was able to quickly share my screen and audio with my students with my Windows 8.1 and Android devices. The real benefits of using the ScreenBeam Pro is that it does not require me to have access to the school's wireless network. Similarly, using other screensharing technologies which are dependent on the WiFi network off bogs down from bottlenecks which makes sharing a challenge. To read more about my experiences using Miracast and ScreenBeam Pro for Education you can read my previous blog post here. You can also watch this video done by my colleague Dr. Tom Grissom at Eastern Illinois University to learn more about using Miracast technology in the classroom.

As Miracast becomes a standard in the Windows and Android technology sector it is exciting to see companies like Dell begin to embed the Miracast receiver right into their projectors. This is a trend you will begin to see this year as companies look for ways to move to providing consumers with ways to share information off of their computers,

DELL Mobile Projector M900HD

mobile phones and tablets in a quick and efficient manner. Dell was kind enough to send me a DELL Mobile Projector M900HD to test out that has Miracast embedded. The DELL Mobile Projector M900HD is an extremely small and portable projector (9.13" x 6.46" x 1.69") weighing in at 3.5 pounds. In this small package you will find a 900 ANSI Lumens LED projector which casts a very bright image. The DELL Mobile Projector M900HD is a sleek low profile projector that comes with a carrying case making it very easy to carry from classroom to classroom. As good as the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD looked, I wanted to test out to see just how easy was it to connect my Surface Pro 3 and Nexus tablet. What better way then to jump right in.

The true test at least for me was to unbox the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD, plug it in and see what happens. I plugged the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD in and powered it on and it immediately started up in the Wi-Di mode which was great! I opened up my Surface Pro 3 and swiped in from the right, selected Devices, and Project and added the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD as my Wireless device. The Surface Pro 3 quickly found the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD but for some reason a dialog box came up on the projected screen asking me to enter a PIN which I could not enter. After several attempts I was able to connect to the projector to my Surface Pro 3 and I was off and running. Since the initial process the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD has connected flawlessly to my devices making it a great companion for workshops and presentations. Like other technologies there was a firmware update that I was made aware of on the projector which may have made the initial hand off procedure flawless. It is important to note that the Miracast standard not only allows for screensharing but will also playing audio over the WiDi connection.

So what is the take away? It is really exciting to see the Miracast technology built-into the DELL Projector M900HD that will enable teachers in the classroom to more easily set up learning centers where students can easily share their ideas effortlessly using this wireless standard. Miracast does allow students to connect and disconnect their devices making it ideal for students to be able to share their work. With schools always up against bandwidth issues, Miracast technology circumvents this problem and enables teachers to utilize this zero configuration solution without the need to IT. So if you are looking to redesign your classroom's learning space and want an area for sharing, think about the DELL Projector M900HD and how the built-in WiDI can turn your classroom into a collaborative and sharing environment. The DELL Projector M900HD may be diminutive but packs a lot of power in a small package that is ideal for setting up new collaborative learning spaces in the classroom.