Display Note Broadcast Adds Helpful Features to Improve Screen Sharing

Display Note Broadcast is a tool that I started using last spring as a means for broadcasting my screen to the screens of other people in the room. It provides a simple system in which you click a sharing button, display a join code for your audience, and then they enter it on their computers to see your screen. Display Note Broadcast also has a Google Classroom integration that makes screen sharing as simple asking your students to click a link in Google Classroom to see your screen. Here's my video overview of how it works. 

This week Display Note Broadcast announced the launch of some new features that will improve your experience and your students' experiences when you share your screen with them. Those new features include microphone and camera sharing, reduction of the "infinite mirroring" effect, and improved annotation tools. 

Display Note Broadcast now lets you share your camera and microphone. This means that students who can't see you well or aren't even in the room with you can now see you on their screens when you have your camera turned on (think of it like Zoom on-demand). This also means that students who have difficulty hearing you, can listen to you on their computers at a volume that works for them. Watch this video for a brief overview of these new settings in action. 

Live Draw is Display Note Broadcast's annotation feature. With this feature enabled you can draw on your screen and students see your drawings and annotations on their screens. This could be great for giving quick visual instructions to your students. Here's a brief video overview of the Live Draw feature. 

Finally, if you have ever started a screen sharing session and seen your screen mirrored 1,000 times, you've experienced "infinite mirroring." This happens with lots of screen sharing tools and not just with Display Note Broadcast. Display Note Broadcast has taken a step to cure this problem by adding an overlay effect to remove the appearance of infinite mirroring when you look at your shared screen on your own computer. 

Broadcast Google Slides Directly to Your Students' Computers

A few weeks ago I wrote about and published a video about using Display Note to broadcast your computer screen directly to your students' screens. This week Display Note published some updates that teachers who use Google Classroom and Google Slides are sure to appreciate. 

Display Note now offers a free Chrome extension that you can use to broadcast your Google Slides directly to your students computers. With the extension installed not only can you broadcast your slides directly to your students computers, you can also annotate your slides and students will see those annotations appear on their screens. 

The default option for sharing your screen through Display Note is to give students a six digit code to access your broadcast. Entering the right code can be a little tricky for some students and can slow down the process of getting everyone on the same page. That's why Display Note now offers a new Google Classroom integration. With that integration in place you simply put a link in Google Classroom and students click it to access your broadcast to view whatever you're sharing from your screen. Watch this video made by Display Note to see how the integration works. 

And if you're interested in seeing how Display Note works without a Chrome extension, watch my video that I published last month.