Epson’s New Projector App for Chromebooks Adds More Interactivity to Classrooms
Get ready, because two of the most popular tech innovations in K–12 classrooms have come together.
Earlier this fall, Epson announced that the latest version of its iProjection app (first introduced for mobile devices in 2012) now works specifically with Chromebooks.
“Chromebooks are now the device of choice in the classroom, and we worked directly with educators to ensure our app was meeting their needs for classroom collaboration,” says Jason Meyer, senior product manager at Epson, in a news release.
The iProjection app will allow teachers and students to wirelessly display content from Chromebooks on BrightLink and PowerLite projectors. With the app’s Moderator function, teachers can create a collaborative classroom by displaying up to four Chromebooks simultaneously, with a maximum of 50 devices connected.
THE Journal reports that sales of interactive projectors have grown steadily each year since they debuted on the market in 2009, and EdTech: Focus on K–12 lists interactive projectors as one of the top classroom tech priorities this year.
Partnering this with Chromebooks — which Futuresource Consulting says make up half of all portable devices sold — means that more K–12 classrooms are about to have even more interactivity.
Epson Projectors Promote Collaboration
With the initial launch of the iProjection app and the easy touch screens of many of Epson’s projectors, K–12 teachers have taken advantage of the collaborative freedom in their classes.
Tampa Preparatory School in Florida has installed two Epson BrightLink projectors in each classroom to effectively “eliminate walls” and make sure no one has a bad seat in class, EdScoop reported.
“We want to be able to have kids throw up their work seamlessly to display, so that we can compare work between students and show off what we’re doing,” says Chad Lewis, the school’s director of technology, in the article. “So it’s just a more engaging, mobile, collaborative environment.”
In addition to collaborative, Lewis told EdScoop that the projectors have been cost-effective because the iProjecton app lets teachers utilize the one-to-one tablets they rolled out four years ago.
The Moderator function also helps teachers keep students on task.
“When a student drops out of the app, or leaves the app, the color of the device [listed] changes. So teachers know if they’ve gotten off path,” says Lewis on EdScoop.
The magazine Campus Safety also touted the Moderator function as another way to monitor that students aren’t surfing any unsafe sites.
Now that the app has rolled out to Chromebooks, the instances of classroom interaction and collaboration will likely increase.
Learn more about how to connect your Chromebook or other device to Epson’s iProjection app here.
