Swing Your Partner, Doceri-do

There are two hot trends in education today. One is flipping the classroom and the other is using iPads. Doceri is a way to combine both.

Doceri is a tool that allows you to remotly control your desktop via your iPad. It works in two parts, an app on your iPad and Doceri Desktop ($30). Through this application you can open files, look at pictures or surf the web, all the while projecting your findings through your classroom projector, without being tied to your desk.

Doceri has a drawing mode where you can openly write out mathmatical equations or diagram the phases of mitosis. You can choose different pen types, colors, and tip sizes to write on everything from a whiteboard to a map to a musical staff. Everything you write while in drawing mode (provided you don't erase anything) will be saved to your iPad as a image file and you can email them to yoruself as a PDF. My favorite part of this who thing, you know EXACTLY where you pen is while you are writing, unlike with a Slate or a Mobi.

But wait, there's more...

Now, I bet you are wondering where flipping the classroom comes in. Doceri has a record button. So, if you prepared a lesson a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation you can open the file on your desktop and controll the presentation through Doceri on your iPad. As you are presenting, hit the record button and it will record your presentation, any notes you wrote on the presentation and obvously, your lecture. Just e-mail, Post to YouTube or even integrate the presentation into some LMS like Canvas and viola you have just flipped your classroom.

Potential Pitfalls:

 There are two major pitfalls to working with Doceri. The first is Doceri only works one way. Meaning, you can view your desktop on your iPad but you cannot view your iPad apps on your desktop. If you want to display your iPad to the projector I know of only two ways to do so at the moment. AirPlay is one, which is costly and may not work with your district's network. I am not the most IT savvy person, all I know is it eats bandwith. The other way is through the WiPad. This dosn't work through AirPlay and works within the network, but it costs $300+. The final issue is you may experiance issues connecting Doceri within your district's network. Doceri uses the wireless internet to connect the iPad to the Desktop remotly, which the firewall sees as an invader and blocks it out. If your district is like mine it has several wireless networks to choose from, and some are less secure than others. I highly reccomend downloading the free version of Doceri Desktop and play around with your networks to see if you can find one where it may work.