How to integrate Chromebooks w/ Apple TV for seamless presentations & collaboration

EduTech is a 9to5Mac weekly series that focuses on technology’s application in education, lower and higher level, both for productivity and enjoyment. If you have suggestions for topics or specific questions you’d like to see answered, feel free to let me know. Catch up on past installments here. 

In this week’s installment of EduTech, we’re going to highlight a new app from Squirrels, the developer team behind popular apps such as AirParrot and ClassHub. The company this week is out with AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS.

Essentially, what AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS does is seamlessly integrate a Chromebook-based classroom with the Apple TV…

The company explains that many classrooms today are a mix between Chromebooks and iPads, though Chromebooks by far hold the lead. By integrating Chromebooks with the Apple TV, AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS allows students, regardless of device, to share and present their work on the big screen.

• The ability to mirror a Chrome OS device screen to multiple Apple TVs at once
• Apple TV 4 support
• tvOS 10.3 support

By default, Chromebooks do not come with any sort of Apple TV support, for obvious competitive reasons. AirParrot 2, however, enables real-time sharing and collaboration for Chrome OS users. It additionally cuts costs for educators as they no longer need to be equipped with a Chromecast and an Apple TV to handle student presentations.

Here’s how the company explains AirParrot 2’s integration with Apple TV:

AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS software runs on Chromebooks and allows teachers and students to wirelessly present their device screens to Apple TV. Chromebooks do not come pre-equipped with this ability.

With AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS, students can display work to the class from their desks, and teachers can wirelessly present and lecture to the class from anywhere in the room using just a Chromebook.

Once a student is connected to the Apple TV, they’ll see their username appear on the screen which helps make it clear who is presenting, while also acting as a deterrent for streaming any sort of inappropriate content.

The ability to have students seamlessly share content in front of a class is invaluable in education. For many schools, this is handled by having students individually log in to a computer connected to a projector, then load up their presentation. This is a time-consuming and cumbersome process. With AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS, however, schools can implement wireless sharing for users of all devices in a quick and easy fashion.

As I noted a few weeks ago, Apple is quickly falling behind to Chromebooks in education, but tools like AirParrot 2 for Chrome OS ensure that the company can still have some sort of hand in education, even if it’s not supplying all of the devices. AirParrot 2 is available on the Chrome Web Store.