A Reflection of Our Times–Mirroring 360

Today, perhaps more than ever in recent memory, skilled nurses are critical, literally, to the health and well-being of our citizenry. UMass Boston’s (UMB’s) recent dismantling and subsequent relocating and building of a state-of-the-art nursing simulation lab gives UMB’s nursing students the confidence and competencies they need to excel. faculty, and staff.

It’s a simple concept. Mirrors reflect. In this case, Mirroring 360 is a wireless presentation tool that allows any faculty member or student to wirelessly connect a Chromebook, iPad, iPhone, Android device, or Windows or Mac laptop to the classroom AV display system via the classroom computer. More simply put, Mirroring 360 reflects what’s on your personal device onto the resident computer with no cables required.

Once connected, a faculty member can walk around the classroom with his or her device and display content without being tethered to a wire, and students can share information
with faculty or classmates from their seats. “This is an excellent tool,” says John Jessoe, manager of Classroom Technology and AV Services. “It was an economical way to give our faculty the ability to connect wirelessly, not only in their classrooms but
also in our auditoriums.”

In the spring of 2019 several faculty members approached the classroom technology group asking for a way to wirelessly share information in the classroom, and especially in large lecture halls, where faculty often use iPads and Surface tablets. “Over the summer, we started investigating the technology,” says Zack Ronald, an academic technology specialist. “We needed something that was cost effective and, importantly, didn’t require a lot of audio or video programming. Ray (Lefebvre, vice chancellor for Information Technology and CIO) suggested we take a look at Mirroring 360.”

Ronald contacted several companies and invited them to demo their products remotely for UMass Boston. “Alison Murray, a network security specialist, and Scott Gilbert, a network engineer, helped engineer the best solution for UMass Boston. Both were instrumental in helping this project get off the ground,” says Ronald.

After exploring several other products, one of which was not compatible with Android devices and, therefore, was immediately eliminated, the team selected Mirroring 360. “We wanted something that worked with all devices and was 100 percent available for any faculty member to use,” says Ronald.

IT rolled out Mirroring 360 in 24 large classrooms and presentation rooms at the start of the fall 2019 semester, a task Mirroring 360 which required the classroom technology team to manually install the software on the resident computers in the classrooms where it would be utilized. The response to date has been positive.

Steven Cullipher, associate lecturer in the Chemistry Department, is a Mirroring 360 fan. Cullipher teaches his General Chemistry I course in a large lecture hall with up to 130 students in attendance. “What I like about Mirroring 360 is I can roam around the lecture hall with my iPad in hand,” he says. “I use Mirroring 360 to project images from my iPad onto the overhead projector, and I’m in complete control of my slide show, making notes as I go.”

Another major plus of the software solution speaks to class participation. “My moving around helps to facilitate discussions with my students,” says Cullipher. “I can get all the way to the back of the hall and answer questions. And I think students are more apt to ask questions when I am more accessible to them.”

Jessoe is pleased with the faculty response to date and looks forward to adding more classrooms. “It’s early yet,” he says, “but I think Mirroring 360 is going to be a big hit.”