Accepting the blogging challenge (sort of)

This blog is my acceptance, in part, of the 5 challenges from Dr. Camille Rutherford.

#1 - Acknowledge the nominating blogger.

Dr. Camille Rutherford is an Associate Professor of Education at Brock University, and a fellow organizing member of the Teaching with Technology Showcase and CONNECT. She teaches the Educational Technology Leadership course at Brock, with a little help from me. She has a passion for technology that is admirable, but often drives the IT staff (including me) crazy.

#2 - 11 Random facts about me.

1. I am married to a wonderful woman from Kentucky.
2. There is a school in Burlington, Ontario named after my great grandfather.
3. I dropped out of university in 1994, and finished my undergrad part-time after I started working at the university. I graduated (B.Sc. Computer Science) in 2005.
4. I drove 16 hours to Hastings, Nebraska to go to the Kool-Aid Days Festival... when I was 36.
5. My first job was at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
6. My first IT-related job was a 75 to 90 minute drive away (depending on traffic). Now I make a 7 minute walk from my front door to my desk.
7. I can wiggle my ears.
8. I was 23 when I first flew on a plane.
9. I was in the Enrichment Program for middle school. It later became the Gifted Program. I hated it.
10. I am right-handed, but bat, play hockey, and golf left-handed.
11. I had LASIK surgery in 2000.

#3 - Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

1. What is your favorite quote or saying?
   "That's unfortunate" is what I commonly say, but I think my favorite saying is by Edgar Bergen. "Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy."
2. Name your ideal retirement location.
   Kentucky. Beautiful countryside with great hiking. It's a lot like northern Ontario, but with much longer summers and milder winters.
3. If you could have only one educational technology resource, what would it be?
   Assuming there was WiFi access, I guess a tablet. A tablet with Internet access is an amazing all-around tool with long battery life, and can easily be shared among students.
4. What is your favourite travel destination?
   Puerto Rico. I was surprised by Puerto Rico. It has beautiful beaches, a rain forest, historic site-seeing, and is a fairly inexpensive travel destination. We were even able to use regular US cell service making it easy to stay in touch.
5. Recommend an educational game.
   I don't really play educational games, so there isn't one that comes readily to mind. I've enjoyed some of the Dr. Suess books, but they're not really games. Similarly I think Whiteboard: Collaborative Drawing is a great app for education. It's not exactly a game, but you can play games using it. It's also cross-platform (Android and iOS), so great for BYOD.
6. What is your favourite app?
   I primarily use Android devices, but the one app that keeps me coming back to iOS is Notability.
7. What is your favourite TV show?
   I would say Big Bang Theory, but it's a very small pool to choose from. I'm only watching four shows total.
8. Have you ever paid it forward at a coffee shop?
   I'm not sure. I don't specifically remember paying it forward at a coffee shop. I almost always tip at the coffee shop though, and I'm always willing to pay a little if the person in front of me is short. That's mostly to get myself through the line faster, so it isn't exactly the same thing.
9. If you had to pick a song to be your theme song, what would it be?
   I really don't know.
10. What is the last movie you saw in a theatre?
    "A Madea Christmas". Seriously. Before that it was Dallas Buyers Club.
11. What is the first thing you would do after winning a million dollars?
    Change my name.

I will pass on the challenge for #4 and #5. The truth is that I am still primarily an IT person. I have just recently started looking for Ed Tech podcasts. I will look for blogs to follow as well. Here is a challenge for anyone reading this. Help me out, and feel free to share your favourites in the comments.

Android Tablets: More to the story than low prices

To start, I want to clarify that all of my personal use devices are Android-based. I have to say this because I am about to say some negative things about deploying low-cost Android devices in schools. I assure you that I neither hate Android, nor do I love iOS. There are things about both that I like, and there are plenty of things about iOS that drive me crazy as well.

This post is about making sure you know what you're getting yourself into when you decide to try Android in the classroom, especially in light of Google's new education initiative with its Nexus 7 tablet.

There are plenty of things to be excited about when it comes to the Nexus line of devices. They have very good specifications, and are generally the first devices to be upgraded to the newest version of Android. They always run "stock Android", which means you don't have to worry about losing some neat feature if you switch between Samsung, HTC, LG, or Sony (or feel like to have to commit to one manufacturer repeatedly to ensure you keep that feature). They also tend to be quite a bit cheaper than Apple's offerings.

Acquisition

Google does not actually make any of the Nexus devices. Device manufacturing has been contracted out to various companies including Samsung, LG, and Asus. The first problem is that Google does not have direct control over the supply of their Nexus devices. This has lead to supply issues, especially for new devices. It also lead to some quality control issues with the original Nexus 7 tablet.

As for the low cost of the devices, purchasing devices directly from Google Play will incur additional shipping charges. You can get the Nexus devices from several retailers, but they typically charge slightly more than the price seen on Google Play. It is also unlikely you will be able to walk in to a local Best Buy and walk out with an entire class set of tablets. I'm not sure that's how you want to make your institutional purchases anyway. It is also not possible to purchase devices from the Play store using a purchase order. Regardless of how you go about buying the tablets, the Google advertised price isn't the price you'll pay.

Deployment

Apple has had a Volume Purchase Plan in place in the US for a while now, and it spread to many other countries about a year ago. The VPP lets you purchase iOS apps in bulk at a discount (50% for 20 or more licenses). iOS 7 even introduced new ways to keep control over the licenses you purchase, allowing you to grant a license to a user and then later revoke it in order to grant it to another user.

Although Google's recent announcement includes bulk purchases via purchase order, there are very few details. It does not appear that there is a discount, nor does it seem there is the same level of control over the deployed licenses.

Updates

Although Nexus devices receive the latest updates first, that does not mean that all Nexus devices will get the newest version of Android. The Galaxy Nexus phone from two years ago will not receive the latest Android 4.4 update (officially, anyway). There is a pretty detailed summary of the update status for various devices here.

Even on devices that do qualify for the latest update, you have little control over when your devices will actually have access to the update. The updates are pushed out to devices at random times. Although there is a mechanism to manually check for the update, it won't give you access to the update sooner. It just means that you might see the update before the scheduled automatic check. There is an explanation of the process here. Google does post device images, but even these are typically available after some devices will have already received the update.

For major updates, beta versions of iOS are available well in advance. These can be useful to IT administrators who are tasked with supporting the devices and training users. With Android, it is quite likely that end users would receive an update before the IT staff.

Maintenance and Repair

As previously mentioned, Google does not actually make the Nexus devices. This leaves you at the mercy of the service centers of the manufacturer, and generally speaking the service is pretty bad. Turn-around times are typically over a week, and in one personal case, it took over three weeks to get a repaired device returned (after the second repair).

Conclusion

As I mentioned, there are plenty of things to like about Android and the Nexus line of devices. Android 4.2 and higher introduced multi-user capabilities that make Android great for shared tablets in a classroom. The app store has been improving in both the number and quality of the apps. It really doesn't hurt that the Nexus devices offer some amazing specifications for the price, even if the price is slightly higher than Google says it is.

I want to be clear that I am not trying to tell anyone to not go with Android tablets for the classroom. I am just trying to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

Abondoning Twitter

I really struggle to understand why people still use Twitter. Every time I mention my frustrations with Twitter someone will get defensive, or try to "help" resolve my particular complaint. Those who get defensive try to explain why Twitter is the place you have to be, and those who try to resolve my issues invariably are using some workaround to overcome an acknowledged shortcoming. I will admit this now. I am going to try to convince you that you don't have to be on Twitter and that Google+ doesn't require all the workarounds Twitter does.

If you've ever defended Twitter, you have heard this before. 140 characters is too limited. It is sometimes possible to express a thought in such a limited way, but when it's not enough (which is often) you have to spend time figuring out how to make it fit. Do you go back and edit the phrasing of the thought or idea? Do you split it into separate tweets? Do you blog it and link to it? There are indeed solutions and workarounds, but no matter the solution, you could have already posted your thought on Google+ and moved on.

Primarily because of the 140 character limit, nearly every tweet includes (or is) a link. Including a link eats into your 140 characters making it difficult to even adequately describe what you're linking to. This has actually enabled spamming and the spread of viruses using hacked Twitter accounts. It's not uncommon to see tweets like "Check this out!" with a link. Given the limited nature of tweets, that could very well be a legitimate tweet, even from someone you trust. If you link to another page in Google+ the default behaviour is to include a small image and text clip from the linked page, which helps you figure out if you want to follow the link or not.

Links in Twitter aren't too bad to deal with on a computer, but on mobile devices the Twitter app has to load up the web browser app. You then have to use whatever multitasking feature exists on your mobile device to switch back to Twitter after checking out the link.

So, the 140 character limit doesn't really exist, but it exists enough for it to be a pain. It doesn't reduce data requirements, because you will need to have Internet access to see what the tweet is really about. If anything, Twitter will cause you to use more data because you will constantly be downloading full web pages. The 140 characters may have worked for SMS forwarding to your phone in the past, but that just isn't realistic any more.

One of my biggest pet peeves with Twitter is conversations. These can take the form of people sending tweets back and forth without using direct messaging (either because they don't know how to DM or are just too lazy to be bothered), or people using hashtags to participate in some twisted form of an online event. This leads to posts that followers have to "figure out". Conversations and events are forced on to the interface, and it shows. Use Google+, and an entire conversation can happen in posts directly under the original post. Events can be (and are) done using a Hangout or Hangout on Air which are well integrated into Google+.

It has been recommended that professionals should create two Twitter accounts. One is used for professional purposes, while the other is used for personal sharing. In Google+ you create Circles, and you choose which circles see each of your posts. The ability to direct posts to specific people or groups of people is integrated in the interface, so you don't have to create multiple accounts. You can make your professional posts public, while keeping your personal posts personal.

I constantly hear that there is more "going on" or "being shared" on Twitter than on Google+. While I do believe that to be somewhat true, there is still a lot happening on Google+. I suspect that some of the perception of Google+ not having as much comes from the built-in ability to be selective as to who sees your posts. On Twitter, people see everything you post, whether they are interested or not. As an example, there are people on Twitter I have followed for their expertise in implementing technology in education. I really don't care about their fitness routine or goals, their preference of vehicle, or any other topic other than educational technology.

The other way to get more out of Google+ is to join Communities. You will see far more posts if you join a Community, and you are more likely to discover interesting people on your own when you see someone sharing good, relevant information on a regular basis to the Community.

One oft-recommended solution to solve Twitters problems and shortcomings is to use 3rd party apps. That is simply ridiculous. I do not have to search for and install apps to get Google+ to do what I want it to do. I don't have to worry about keeping multiple 3rd party apps up to date, or worry that they might get broken by API changes or some "token limit".

So you can keep figuring out ways to make Twitter work, or you can just use Google+.

Wireless Display Testing - New Hope for Miracast

Well, I received my Nexus 5 this week and thought I would see if the supposed Miracast changes in Android 4.4 would help the Miracast situation at all.

I was running firmware 2.4.19 on the Netgear PTV3000 and my first connection attempt did not work any better than previous attempts. I checked the Netgear support site and noticed they had a newer firmware version (2.4.26). With little hope, I downloaded and installed the new firmware and tried connecting again.

It took a while to establish the connection, but to my complete surprise it worked! The video frame rate is quite smooth and the audio was clear. There was one audio stutter during my testing, but it was very brief.

With the Nexus 5 working, I decided to try the Nexus 7 (2013) again. It's working too! So it doesn't appear to be the Android 4.4 update that addressed the issues, but rather the firmware update to the Netgear PTV3000.

There is another Android tablet that I have been using for a couple of weeks that is running Android 4.2 and it works as well. That makes 4 separate devices, running Windows 8.1, Android 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4, that can all connect to the PTV3000 using Miracast.

I had not tested the ScreenBeam Kit in a while so I checked the support site and found new firmware for it (version 1.1.1.0 from November 4). Sure enough, it works! The Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Android 4.2 tablet, and Windows 8.1 laptop were all able to connect to the ScreenBeam just fine.

I will try to post some video in the near future showing how well the various combinations work, but it finally looks like Miracast is a usable technology. With Google locking down Chromecast, one of these adapters might actually be the best choice for wirelessly displaying your media.

ScreenBeam Kit - Firmware 1.1.1.0

Netgear PTV3000 - Firmware 2.4.26

Update: Here is some video of the various devices connecting to the Netgear PTV3000.

Update 2: I wanted to repeat the testing with the ScreenBeam, but there were scheduling issues in the room I used before (I wanted to use the same projector to ensure there weren't latency differences from another HDMI device), and then my Nexus 7 stopped responding to touch.

Subjectively, the ScreenBeam performs just as well as the PTV3000. Also, there isn't a noticeable latency difference when I used my TV at home with either device. I would definitely recommend the PTV3000 over the ScreenBeam because it performs just as well, it's smaller, and it uses a standard mini-USB connector for power. I have no problem powering it from the USB port on my television. The ScreenBeam gets warmer during operation and will be more of a hassle if you lose its power adapter.

Wireless Display Testing - Miracast and Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 released last week. I knew that it was to include Miracast support, so I was pretty eager to see if it would work any better (and by "better", I mean "at all") than Miracast for the Nexus 7. I was also hoping that it would work so I would no longer have to use outdated drivers just to have Intel WiDi working on my laptop.

I installed the current Intel Windows 8 WiFi driver and the brand new Windows 8.1 Intel display driver, then connected to my Netgear PTV3000. I haven't been able to test extensively, but so far it actually seems to be working! It works OK, but it is still not as good as AirPlay. Video was fairly smooth, but the audio would occasionally stutter.

To get it working, make sure your Miracast receiver is connected to your television/projector and ready for connections. Bring up the "Charms bar" (move mouse to top right corner of the screen), select "Devices"  (or Windows Key+K), select "Project", and click "Add a wireless display". After selecting your receiver, you will be prompted for a PIN that should be displayed on your television/projector. You only need to go through this full process the first time.

To connect/disconnect/configure a wireless display after the first setup, use Windows Key + K and click "Project".

Wireless Display Testing - Miracast and the Nexus 7 (2013)

Note: Please read the new blog entry on Miracast. Things have changed quite a bit since this blog entry. I am leaving this blog entry simply for reference.

This has taken quite a bit longer to get to than I planned. To say it has been a busy summer would be an understatement, but I won't go into that. :)

A few weeks ago I received my new Nexus 7 (2013) and immediately started playing around with Miracast. To say I'm disappointed would also be an understatement.

I had high hopes for Miracast, the open wireless video standard. I have been quite critical of Apple's AirPlay technology. First it's a proprietary protocol, and second it's difficult to get it working on many school (non-personal) wireless networks. The Miracast protocol uses a direct device-to-device wireless network which should (and does) solve the networking issue. Considering it doesn't have to pipe its traffic through a wireless access point, it should also be lower latency and higher quality. It is definitely not either.

I'm getting ahead of myself because I haven't even talked about how challenging it was getting the Nexus 7 to connect to the Netgear PTV3000 and ScreenBeam. It took several tries, rebooting both the receiver and the Nexus 7, to get Miracast to finally work. After those several tries I decided to record a video showing what was (and what was not) happening, and of course it worked. Sort of.

The resulting mirroring wasn't just choppy. At it's best, it had a low frame rate. It would constantly suffer from artifacts, audio stuttering, and somewhat regularly the video would just freeze for a few seconds.

All of these issues were present when testing either Miracast receiver. Neither the PTV3000 nor the ScreenBeam performed well. The conditions were pretty much ideal. It was summer at a school, so there wasn't a lot of wireless network traffic. Occasionally my devices can pick up a neighbour's WiFi, but even when it does the signal is extremely weak. There honestly wasn't any reason why the setup should not have performed perfectly. Using AirPlay to connect my iPad to my laptop running AirServer, the video was quite smooth, so I cannot think of any reason why Miracast wouldn't work at least as well.

I have a feeling Chromecast came about because Google was equally frustrated with Miracast.

Wireless Display Testing - Intel WiDi

WiDi is Intel's proprietary protocol for wireless audio and video. WiDi was released in 2010, a year before AirPlay included mirroring support, and two years before the first Miracast devices were available. At first it was limited to 720p, but is now able to stream 1080p with 5.1 audio. Additionally, as of WiDi 3.5 it is compatible with Miracast, and supports USB over wireless. In theory a WiDi receiver could be connected to an HDMI television or projector and a USB device.

The USB support was definitely intriguing. One scenario I considered was using a media center remote to control a video on the computer using a USB infra-red receiver located near the display. The other scenario I thought about was connecting an interactive whiteboard in a classroom. I imagine there would be many teachers happy to not have to worry about the computer needing to be located close to the interactive board. Unfortunately it does not seem that there are any receivers that support WiDi's USB over wireless feature. 

Although WiDi has been around for three years, and has had several major version upgrades, getting it working was far from easy. Compared to AirPlay, it is just downright frustrating and I'm not surprised that few people I know have ever used it. I tried using WiDi "out of the box" on two separate laptops (a Windows 7 based Dell and a Windows 8 based Lenovo), and neither would work. In both cases the WiDi software would detect the receivers, but never successfully connect. The installation instructions for WiDi direct you to install the newest Intel video driver, then the Intel wireless chipset driver, and finally the Intel WiDi software, of course with restarts after each step.

I started with the Windows 8 laptop (my personal laptop). Even after following the prescribed steps, WiDi still would not make the final connection to the receiver. Some searching finally lead me to a page directing me to use the Windows 7 wireless drivers for Windows 8. Sure enough this worked.

Oddly, I did not get WiDi working on the Windows 7 laptop. I tried a couple of different versions of the WiDi software and then gave up. I wasn't about to waste even more time trying to get another laptop working. The following video shows what happens on this laptop when trying to connect to a receiver.

When connecting to a receiver for the first time, the display will show an 8 digit number that you type into the WiDi software. This pairs the laptop to the receiver. Subsequent connections to the receiver are as simple as AirPlay. All you have to do is run the WiDi software, choose a receiver, and click Connect. You can even choose to have WiDi connect automatically to a paired receiver when the software is run.

Next I'll look at the two WiDi receivers I have available to test, the Actiontec ScreenBeam and the Netgear Push2TV-3000.

Actiontec ScreenBeam Kit

The Actiontec ScreenBeam Kit includes a receiver compatible with WiDi and Miracast, and a proprietary USB transmitter that can be used with Windows laptops that are not WiDi compatible. I managed to get the kit for $63 on sale, so it is a pretty good deal if you need the transmitter.

As you can see in the photo, there is a USB port on side of the receiver. I hoped that it might support USB over wireless, but it seems the port is just for firmware updates. The receiver is powered by a non-USB source, so you will always need access to a plug and be sure to have the adapter with you. An HDMI port and pinhole reset button are next to the power connection, and there is a single status LED on the top. At 77mm x 73mm x 17mm it is quite a bit smaller than an Apple TV, but quite a bit larger than the Netgear Push2TV-3000. The silver printing on the front and top, and the silver ringed vent on the top make this device much more noticeable than both the Apple TV and P2TV-3000.

In use, the ScreenBeam seemed to have slightly lower latency than the Netgear Push2TV-3000, but suffered more graphical and audio glitches. It also was quite warm to the touch, bordering on hot after using it for a few minutes. This was surprising considering it seems to be well vented.

To get started, just plug in the power and HDMI connections, and make sure the display is set to the correct HDMI input.

Netgear Push2TV 3000

The Push2TV 3000 (P2TV) is a very small and light WiDi and Miracast receiver that is available for $60 US. It weighs in at 48 grams and is roughly the size of a credit card (obviously thicker). Much like the Apple TV, it has a very basic, clean look with a glossy black finish. It can easily go unnoticed just sitting on my television's base. There is a single white LED on the front. The back has a mini-USB port for power, a full-size HDMI port, and a recessed reset button. There is a nearly-flush button on the side that is barely noticeable. The button was originally used to switch between WiDi and Miracast mode, but firmware updates removed the need to manually switch between modes. Now the button is used to put the P2TV into firmware update mode.

The P2TV had no problem being powered by the USB port on my television. Although I would recommend having a USB power adapter with you if travelling with the P2TV, it's nice to know that it can be powered so easily. As with the ScreenBeam, to get started just plug in the USB power, connect to the HDMI port of your display, and make sure your display is switched to the appropriate HDMI input.

Watch the videos below to see how to connect to the P2TV from Windows using WiDi, and to get an idea of the video performance. Note that I had previously connected to the P2TV and configured it to automatically connect.

Conclusion

It is hard to believe that WiDi is a technology that has been around for three years. WiDi installation was far from user friendly, and I'm guessing that many WiDi receivers are unjustly returned to stores as "defective".

WiDi is only available on laptops with newer Intel processors, Intel network chips, and Intel graphics. There are reports that Windows 8.1 will include Miracast support, and that it will be a free upgrade for Windows 8 users. Miracast support directly in Windows would open up compatibility with far more hardware configurations, and make WiDi redundant.

As for the two tested WiDi receivers, I would definitely choose the Netgear P2TV-3000. It is smaller, easier to power, slightly cheaper, stays cooler, and seems to have better image and audio quality at the expense of slightly higher latency. The ScreenBeam kit does include a USB transmitter if you want to use wireless video on a computer that does not support WiDi, but that seems to be its only advantage.

I will be testing these two receivers again in the near future with a Miracast-capable Android device.