As I mentioned in a previous post we bought a Reflector (formally Reflection) license for each of our teachers. In that post I laid out some issues. Here are my updates to how things have been going!
*We are rolling out Reflector slowly. I chose the first 5 teachers from elementary based on who I’ve worked with and after talking to the principal. We have one teacher in each grade (1-5) testing out Reflector.
*Before teachers could use the app, I met individually with each of them to show them how it worked. They have to connect to the wireless (instead of wired), open the program (it runs in the background), activate mirroring using AirPlay on their iPad…et voila! I showed them how to change the settings (white or black frame) and set a password (a MUST!).
*I created a Google doc for teachers to share their experiences with Reflector. They are busy people and don’t have time to meet weekly so I thought this would be a great use for Google Apps 🙂 Although you can’t see them (this is a copy), I add comments when teachers share their experiences.
As you can see our biggest problem right now is the glitchy mirroring. We are doing some experimenting to figure out which piece of the puzzle is causing this (app, wireless network, computer, wireless card…). When I use my new Lenovo laptop on the school network I have no issues. Teachers, however, are having issues (same network, different computer). My scientific brain tells me that this could be pointing to the wireless card. We bought two new cards (one internal, the other a USB) for the grade 4 & 5 teachers to test out.
(From my previous post) Some issues we’ve already encountered:
*All computers using reflection will show up on AirPlay on the iPad (if there are 100 computers with Reflection, you will be able to see and choose from all 100). Update: So far this hasn’t been a problem (we only have 5 running). When I met with each teacher, I taught them to exit the Reflector application and disconnect from the wireless when they weren’t actively using it. Even when we roll this out to more teachers, I doubt all 170 will need to use the app at the same time.
*We are running Windows 7 32-bit Professional. When Reflector is installed & authenticated on the admin profile, it is not authenticated on a teacher profile (prompts you to enter license serial code again). Update: After contacting the support team, they gave us the step-by-step for setting up Reflector on each computer so that anyone who logs in can access the app. I have been INCREDIBLY impressed with their customer service. They are quick to respond when I ask for help and are keeping track of my blog & Twitter to make sure everything is going well.
I’d love to hear about other schools that are the implementing Reflector App! Are you having any issues? What is your hardware/wireless network like?
Note: I did not receive any compensation for this review. Just my honest opinion & experience.
te(a)ch french 
Corporate use. Hi. Thanks for the knowledge you have presented so far. I am attempting to use with windows XP for Pharma SR R&D Leaders who don’t have time or stomach for technology gaps. I just purchased last week and will be attempting to connect and test this week for a sr mgt meeting in late jan. Have you heard any use experience with Windows XP? Must I download airplay from app store first? Reflector help did not indicate the need for both devices on same wifi. I can set this up with our IT. I will rss you blog and circle back. Best!
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Airplay is native to newer iPads. Windows XP should work. They are great about responding to questions by email and twitter!
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We are running 150 are so teacher computers using XP some work very well other not so, have been trying to resolve the problems for weeks. All students have IPads. We know not to run video on reflections, it kick you off, want connect etc. We have talk reflections and they cannot figure it out either! Works great if you have a Mac!
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My next step is to contact Reflector. It works great on my Lenovo laptop and on another teacher’s macbook, just not on our school desktops.
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Jerry-
Would love to get in contact with you regarding your install. We are having issues installing it globally. I’m guessing you did not manually install the app and key on each workstation. Please contact me…. Amy Uelmen ajuelmen@pulaskischools.org
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Also…Here are the mass deployment instructions (from Reflector):
1) Download Reflector from http://www.reflectorapp.com
2) Save the installer to a location such as Downloads
3) Open up Command Prompt
4) Enter the following command: cd
4) Then, enter the following: msiexec.exe /i Reflector.msi ALLUSERS=1 KEY=
5) Follow the installer directions and you should be all set!
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Hello This works fine on a single user of the machine(loaded on their profile), however, we have a a number of machine that have more than one user, the serial number must be added for each of them within their reflector profile. Would you have any thoughts on this. (Using XP) Thanks jw
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 05:19:25 +0000 To: jerry_28094@msn.com
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We did it this way for multiple users on one machine. We installed Reflector on the admin profile and it works for any profile logging into the computer. Hope that helps!
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Hi Mme Layman,
I am not able to get the install to work using the parameters. I too got it from Reflector support, but every time I run it, either I get a crash in msiexec.exe or I get if it does not crash, the license is not installed/activated for any of the users. Just the icon which is not a big help. I am running win7 and I have tried with multiple security settings (wide open local admin, local PC). Waiting to hear something from their support which is not the speediest.
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Support suggested the same fix for us as well.I got similar results.
1. Computer in WIndows Domain Windows 7 Enterprise 32bit.
2. Installed as recommended from support under local admin account.
3. Works fine under local admin account. Prompts for license key from every domain account that logs in with any rights assigned.
4. Support’s response:
“Very sorry about that. We are aware of this hassle at this time. We are in the process of resolving this problem and we will release an update as soon as possible. Please join our mailing list from the website and/or follow us on Twitter @reflectorapp for future updates and releases.”
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Hi,
Sorry to ask but did you get this to work? I am having the same issue as above i.e.the installer will not execute. I have contacted Reflector support but they have not got back to me.
Please could you let me know what you did to get the installer file to run from command prompt?
Thanks
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Hi,
Not really. We mean to use Reflector for many installations. For now I have my own scripts that copies the license file where it needs to go and puts a settings.xml with some recommended settings. There are also some registry settings that we set to turn off autoupdate and turn on autostart on login. We also put a “reset wireless display” icon on the desktop to kill and restart reflector if needed. So we could/would eventually run our wrapper installer.
Hope this helps.
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