Dock Information
Below is a picture of the typical dock set up in most of the classrooms.
- Docking cable to connect your surface pro to the interactive whiteboard. This must be connected for your board to have interactive functionality but is not required if connecting wirelessly using W + K.
- Mouse.
- Keyboard.
- HDMI cable connected to interactive whiteboard.
- Connection to additional monitor in the room.
- Ethernet cable.
- Power cable.
- Touch cable. This must also be connected for your board to have interactive functionality.
Troubleshoot Tip
- If you are having trouble with the ‘touch’ or interactive element of your board or are finding three displays hard to manage whilst teaching, remove the monitor screen cable (4) and replace it with the touch cable (8) at the back of the docking station.
- This will simplify your set up, as you will now only be working with two screens (your surface pro and the interactive board). The ports at the back of the docking station also seem to be more reliable than those at the front.
Smart Boards
- To connect to your smart board via docking your surface pro or connecting wirelessly using W + K, press the input button circled below.
- Select your preferred method of connecting to the interactive board. If connecting via the docking cable, ensure that ‘touch enabled’ is visible on the screen. This will ensure that that board is interactive.
Troubleshoot Tip
- If you are experiencing misalignment when writing on the board, select the downward arrow next to your OneDrive shortcut, then select the light blue smart board graphic.
2. Select ‘orient’ and followed by ‘orient/align the smart product.
BenQ Boards
- To connect to your smart board via docking your surface pro or connecting wirelessly using W + K, press the button circled below.
- Select HDMI 1 for a docked device that requires interactive board functions, or HDMI 2 if you would like to connect via W + K. (Jo Searle and Susan Newton – you need to use HDMI 3 for interactive functions on your board!).
Troubleshoot Tip
1. If you are having trouble with the interactive elements of your BenQ board, refer to the two screen dock set up set up referenced on page 1. These boards also seem to align better when you choose to work on extend if you are having difficulty with this.
Display Settings
There are a wide variety of display settings you can apply to your surface pro, interactive board, and monitor in your classrooms. Everyone will have their own preference. Below is some information on how to adapt your display settings.
- In order to quickly move been duplicated and extended screens press W + P and select your preferred option.
- To have more control on how your screens interact and where extended screens are positioned relative to each other, type ‘settings’ into the search bar at the bottom of your screen. Select ‘settings’ and then ‘display’. If you are not sure which screen is which, press ‘identify’ and a number will appear on each of them (surface pro should be number one). You can then choose which screens to duplicate/extend from the drop-down menu. This is particularly useful if you are using all three screens in your preferred set up.
- If you would like to position an extended screen to the left/right/above your surface pro screen you can drag it into a new position in the grey box above. Hit apply to ensure that any new settings are saved.
General Tips
- Keep your set up as simple as possible if you are finding things tricky. Generally, working with two screens is far more straightforward than working with three.
- Wireless connections using W + K are very reliable if you do not require board interactivity.
- Talk to any teachers who are using your classroom so that they are aware of how you are setting up your board. They can the try and match your set up for greater consistency.
- If you have issues with boards switching off or losing connectivity, please raise a ticket at the service desk asap.
- Don’t suffer on your own! Please ask for help if you need it whether it be a colleague, the service desk or myself. I am very happy see people who need further support.