How to project to an external monitor from your iPad

The iPad is a powerful device that is virtually unlimited in its application. There's an APP for that - never has a statement been so true!

But what about the other aspect of this tool for presenters - using this tool for professional development activities. Out of the box, the iPad does not connect to an external monitor and project all APPS. There are some APPS that can be sent through the Dock Connector to VGA Adapter (available separately for $29.00) to project onto an external projector - such as Keynote.

That's fine if you want to show a presentation. But what if you want to display your iPad's screen to show the steps of using an APP. Out of the box - there is not way to do that. The only solution for this is to jailbreak your iPad.

Now I know some of you started to panic at the mention of Jailbreaking your device! Don't panic - it is an easy process that does not negatively impact your iPad. Even better - one of the first steps of the process is to back up all your data to iTunes. That way if it all goes wrong - or you need to restore your device to the factory settings - you can simply connect it to iTunes and select Restore.

Check out this video from C/NET which does a great job of walking you through the steps of this process. The external monitor APP isn't free (it costs $2.99) but very reasonably priced.




Pretty straightforward - right? I followed this process with our iPad and it worked perfectly. Now I am able to incorporate my iPad into my presentations and show my screen to an audience.

Have you Jail-broken your iPad? Do you have another strategy for using your iPad for professional development? Leave a comment and tell us about it.