The set-up

As Head of our PE  department, I am incredibly excited about our new technology installed into our sports hall.

According to the installers there isn't a set up like it in the area ( I have my doubts, but it's still a confidence booster),

So what do we have?

Built into the wall of the sports hall we have our 'fancy-schmancy-techno-box' or the 'black box' depending on who you speak to...!

I wanted it built in and flush to the wall so it was always usable and accessible during any lesson.  Whether it be gymnastics, basketball, football, badminton; I needed to know that with pupils running around, balls flying they were safe and the system was safe.  It meets these expectations, although I would have liked the door to be a little more flush to the wall when it is open (small detail).

The system is like a mini hi-if system. There are various layers of technology for us to access. One layer controls volume output on the various systems, one layer controls the input (DVD, SD card etc), Apple TV sits on top of all of this.

We can now walk into our classroom, plug something in and it is projected in the sports hall whether it be sound or visual.

We no longer have to wheel out TV stands, portable whiteboard stands, flip charts, projector stands.

Already changes are being seen in how we conduct our lessons ( more on that at a later date).

Early day pros and cons:

Positives:
Ease of use
The possibilities....oh, the possibilities

Negatives:
When the iPad locks it is slow to pick up where it left off
Bizarrely, using the built in video and playing it back straight away on the projector causes it to 'buffer', unlike other apps which just stream it live.

All systems go

I had no idea the new term would creep by so quickly and leave me with so little spare time to manage this blog.  Not a good start.

Couple of quick updates before I get blogging properly.

- our new fixed projector has been installed into the sports hall
- it took awhile longer but we now have Apple TV as a way of linking iPads wirelessly via Airplay to the projector.
- laptops can also be liked through a wire
- iPods can also be connected to play music through the speakers
- the system also has a built in DVD layer and various memory card reader

So in theory, we are good to go Houston.