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Blog 4: Calling ALL Teachers.....

 Want to hear about something that will change your whole teaching life? Have you ever heard of a document camera? I am sure you have in this digitally sound world we live in. I guess a better question is have you ever considered using one in your classroom? Or you want to use one, but you don’t know how you would use one in your classroom? The really good news is, you are in the right place!

 

(Science and Literacy, n.d.)

A document camera is a physical tool that can be used in the classroom setting to enhance student learning. It is a tool that has a camera in it that can sit easily on your desk.  The camera is on a stand that is flexible so that the camera can be moved over the object that the teacher wants to show to the class. The camera can project and zoom in on any item so that it can be seen on a smartboard, OneTouch, etc., for the whole class to see.  

 


(Elmo Connecting Minds, n.d.)

The document camera can meet the Technology Integration Matrix or the TIM standards. For those who do not know what the TIM is, “The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) provides a framework for describing and targeting the use of technology to enhance learning” (The Technology Integration Matrix, 2021, para.1). From looking at the framework for the TIM, it seems to focus on showing children how to use technology to enhance learning instead of just the teacher using the technology to enhance their teaching (The Technology Integration Matrix, 2021).  By having used a document camera for instructional purposes as a teacher, it definitely has enhanced instruction. I can use it to show books, science experiments, math problems, and more while I teach or as we (my students and I) work together to solve problems. I can also see how teachers could show students how to use this technology so that the students can use it for experiments, projects, and various other learning situations.  Students can take pictures of their work and even use the camera to record activities that they do as learners to show their teacher or other students.

I know that most of you now are probably thinking, which kind of document camera does she use? Please remember that there are many different types of document cameras out there that have different features and at different prices.  First, you need to decide what you want to use it for and how much you want to spend. I use the IPEVO V4K Ultra High Definition USB Document Camera. Below is a link to the document camera that I use.  The IPEVO website gives more information about the document camera and even includes videos about how the document camera could be used. I watched these videos before I purchased my document camera to see if it would be a good fit in my classroom.  Along with these resources, there is a blog written by IPEVO. This blog gives some other creative ideas on how to use a document camera in a classroom. 

Link to document camera:

https://www.ipevo.com/products/v4k

Link to videos on how to use the document camera:

https://www.ipevo.com/products/v4k/do-more

Link to IPEVO blog: 

https://www.ipevo.com/blog

As always, thank you for stopping by! I hope you learned about document cameras and how you can use them to enhance student learning. I love teaching with my document camera, and I hope you will try it out in your teaching. J

Sincerely,

Courtland Smith

 

References

Elmo Connecting Minds. (n.d.). Document camera [Photograph]. Elmo Connecting
     Minds. https://www.elmousa.com/what-is-a-document-camera/

IPEVO. (n.d.). Blog. IPEVO. https://www.ipevo.com/blog

IPEVO. (n.d.). V4K Ultra High Definition USB Document Camera. IPEVO.
     https://www.ipevo.com/

Science and Literacy. (n.d.). Make demonstrations more interesting [Photograph].
     Science and Literacy. https://scienceandliteracy.org/
     how-to-use-a-document-camera/

The Technology Integration Matrix. (2021). The technology integration matrix.
     TIM. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix/

Comments

  1. Wendy P.February 25, 2023 at 3:59 AM

    Hi Courtland,
    I sat in the media center of my school on Friday, February 17th, working on lesson plans and listening to the other teachers talk. They were discussing resources they wish they had access to and one of them mentioned the document camera. The librarian, who was close by, asked how many people wished they had a document camera and about six teachers raised their hands. They continued talking as the librarian whisked away and came back with six unopened Hue document cameras. As she passed them out, she said, "Ask and you shall received, you did not let me know you needed one". I sat there thinking to myself that if the librarian had done a session on them when they came in, they would have already been distributed. I do not know how long they were is her closet of 'goodies', but they were instantly available. Most of the teachers did not have any difficulty in getting started, as it is a plug-n-play type device, however the ELA teacher in front of me, first had an issue with opening the complicated box and second getting it to work on our school issued Chromebook. I assisted her with opening the box and then the science teacher came over to assist her with troubleshooting and getting it to actually work. He knew this, because he mentioned that he uses one in his classroom. The librarian never came over, which made me think that maybe she did not know how to use the device, herself. Being that I am new to the school, I am trying to build, not burn, bridges, so I continued to work without questioning anyone.

    My experience with my own Hue document camera was during Covid. I am a math teacher, so it became an amazing tool to use to record videos. I used it in conjunction with HippoVideo. I also used it with paper or a whiteboard to show students during the Google Meet calls how to do math problems. This tool is more or less a portable overhead projector.
    Not sure if you are old enough to remember those, but I remember how teachers used to use Vis-a-vis markers with them and would lick their fingers to correct their mistakes only to leave school will black inked thumbs and/or index fingers. So unsanitary.😵‍💫

    Nonetheless, thank you for sharing, reminding me to locate my document camera, and the benefits of using it in the classroom.
    - Wendy -


    Hue Document Camera: https://huehd.com/products/hue-hd-camera/

    ReplyDelete

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