Apple TV
All Elementary Classrooms are now equipped with Apple TV's. This will make wirelessly projecting your screen quick and easy for both you and your students. Some secondary teachers also have them in their room, but keep in mind, students can not project Chromebooks using the Apple TV.
Please Note: You can not use your Apple TV to wirelessly screen movies on streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+, and more due to copyright protection services.
How do I connect to the Apple TV?
Directions are based on the newest OS (BigSur) and iPadOS (14). Yours may look different if you are not currently running these particular operating systems.
On the Mac
With the update to BigSur, you now have the control center on your MacBook. Just click on the Two Toggles Icon in the upper right of your MacBook and select Screen Mirroring. Then, find your Apple TV (named by your room number) and click on it. This will connect you to your Apple TV.
On the iPad
Similar to the MacBook, you access screen mirroring through the control center by swiping from the top right corner of your iPad to the center and choosing Screen Mirroring. Then, select your Apple TV name to begin projecting.Different Display & Sound Options for Projecting
Depending on what you're doing, you may want to use your Apple TV differently in your classroom. Luckily, Big Sur allows you to do this quickly and easily with just two clicks!
Mirror Screen
This option will display whatever you have on your MacBook up on your projector. This is great for 90-95% of your classroom instruction.
Separate Displays
This option will give you and extended desktop in which you can display something different on your projector than what's being displayed on your MacBook. This is great for multi-tasking!
Toggle Between Display Options Quickly
In Monterey/Ventura, you can quickly to toggle between mirroring your screen and using it as a separate display. Just click on the two blue rectangles in the top navigation bar to the left of the play button.
Mirror Built-in Retina Display
Great for almost all instructional practices. You don't have to be able to see the board while in this mode since it will just replicate whatever is on your MacBook screen.
Use As Separate Display
This mode is great for multitasking. If you want to show your students a 5 minutes a movie, but still be answering emails, giving feedback on Seesaw, grading assessments in Google Classroom, or anything else you can think of on your computer; you can!
Changing your "Display" for Mirror/Separate
By going to your "System Preferences", you can change your "Arrangement" under the "Display" tab, once you are connected to an Apple TV. You then have the option to mirror your device with the "Mirror Displays" checkbox, or use it as a separate display.
When using it as a separate display (extended screen), you can decide if the extended screen will be above, below, to the left, or to the right of your Macbook screen as you can see if the GIF 👈🏻. This way, you can drag any items to your now extended screen depending on the location of your board.
Adjusting Your Sound to Play Through Speakers
When projecting through your Apple TV, you can still have the audio play through your MacBook or speakers. Just follow the steps in the GIF (Control Panel to Audio Option and select your computer.
If you have speakers plugged in, you will see External Headphones as the option. This is just because it is plugged into your headphone jack and your MacBook can't tell the difference between headphones and speakers.
TROUBLESHOOTING & TIPS
Getting Rid of Ads on Apple TV Upon Startup
Some of us are finding that Apple TV is playing trailers of upcoming movies and tv shows that can sometimes be inappropriate. Francine Confer of Alburtis figured out a great way to make it stop!
Simply just hover over the Apple TV Icon and hold down the button until the icon starts to jiggle. Then, you can just slide that app to the bottom. We recommend moving the Settings App to the top then as that will be the one you use frequently.
My Apple TV Won't Show Up
We have seen that some people are able to connect to their Apple and it says that they are connected, however nothing is showing up on the screen. This seems to be fixed upon a restart.
Go into Settings and then select System. Scroll down to where is says Restart (NOT RESET) and click to have your Apple TV restart.
Note: The new Apple TV remotes have a power button. However, you must hold this button down for a couple seconds to actually shut down the Apple TV. By just clicking on it, you are basically putting it in Sleep Mode.