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Document Camera - Tech Expert Module

Module by: Kelly Eaton. E-mail the author

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Overview

A document camera is a new and improved version of the overhead projector. It is a simple, very practical tool for any teacher. It functions very similarly to the projectors that have been used in classrooms for years, but is more convenient and easier to use. Teachers no longer have to convert pages into transparencies before projecting them on the overhead. Instead, teachers can place normal printed sheets underneath the camera, and a perfect image of that page is projected onto a large screen; it can even project 3-D objects, books, photos, etc. onto a screen for the whole class to see. This allows the teacher to work more intimately with the whole class at once, showing pictures in a book, or giving examples of math problems. Rather than passing a picture or example around to the class, or having it made into a transparency (if even possible), a teacher can give all the students an up-close image at once, saving time and allowing the class to experience things more simultaneously.

Figure 1
Figure 1 (graphics1.png)

How to Get Started With Document Cameras

Document cameras work pretty similarly to projectors. They are easy to use, even for teachers unfamiliar with technology. Essentially, a document camera is a digital video camera mounted on a stand and attached to a video projector, which allows the user to display moving and 3-D images on a large screen. Most document camera stands hinges so that the camera itself can be moved to accommodate whatever it is the user is trying to project. For most models, there is an on/off button and a way of focusing the camera, comparable to projectors.

Videos and Links for Further Instruction

• http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=3f823ae1d2742f879422 The “60 Sec Tech” shows you, in-depth, how to use the ELMO document camera

• http://classrooms.uiowa.edu/multimediaforms/DocumentCamera.pdf This site contains general document camera information, and tips on how to use it in a classroom.

• http://www.elmousa.com/flash/P30S/index.html This is basically an advertising video for ELMO, a brand of document cameras. However, it contains some useful information for new document camera users.

• http://www.elmousa.com/files/DigDocCameras/P30S/P30S(E)_IM.pdf The manual for the ELMO P30S document camera.• http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Document+Camera/ Information on the Smart brand document camera.

• http://www.teachersnetwork.org/ntny/nychelp/technology/doccamera.htm One teacher’s advice on upgrading from projectors to document cameras

Classroom Examples

Document cameras can be great for any classroom to get all the students involved in one image, activity, or example simultaneously. I found that several teachers have compiled lists of ways to implement the use of a document camera in the classroom:

• http://www.pre-kpages.com/elmo.html - Great suggestions for ways to use document cameras in early elementary classes

• http://www.umesd.k12.or.us/techlinks_100ideas - “100 Ideas for Data Projector and Document Camera”

• http://www.timbedley.com/articles/article05.htm - Ideas meant for mostly upper-level elementary

• http://tnttips.blogspot.com/2008/10/document-cameras-in-classroom.html - Helpful hints and tips.

Science in “60 Sec Tech” Example

• http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=6398791637ceeadd3601 - This video is actually an example for the “60 sec tech,” a technology expert who makes videos on how to use different technology. However, this video features a science teacher using the document camera the way he might in a typical classroom. He uses the camera to show students experiments they could not otherwise see, and also to give them examples of how they should do their own experiments.

Middle School Writing

• http://www.edutopia.org/elmo-tickles-student-writers - This is an article a teacher wrote about using a document camera to help her middle school English class improve their writing.

Circulatory System Lesson Plan

• http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bstpract/bpIII/136/136.PDF - This is a middle school lesson plan which incorporates the document camera into a lesson on the circulatory system. The teacher demonstrates how to dissect a heart using the document camera, so the whole classroom can see it at once, and, even more importantly, can clearly see just what the teacher is doing.

Kindergarten Lesson Plan: Consistency of Shape

• http://wvpt4learning.org/lessons/pdf07/doyousee.pdf - This is another lesson plan. This one, however, is for kindergarteners learning how shapes change depending on how it is turned. The teacher uses the document camera to show the class a book on shapes and how they appear.

Assessing Document Cameras for the Classroom

Pros

• No messy transparency markers.• Don’t have to convert pictures and such to transparencies• Easy to use!

• Excellent for sharing work among students

• Good for teacher demonstration (of an experiment, etc.)

• Makes it easier for lower elementary teachers to read aloud to the class because it gives teachers a way of magnifying the pictures and showing them to the whole class at once

• Versatile – good for many different and many different lessons

Cons

• Not as good for group work as it is for instructor-led work

• Cuts back on students actually holding objects in their hands

• Expensive – not all schools can afford them

Tips for Teachers

• Be sure you know how to connect the document camera to the projector or smart board before you try to use it in class.

• Make sure the lesson would not be better with hands-on before simply projecting whatever object the students are exploring onto the screen.

• Get used to the zoom and focus functions before using it in class.

• Get your students to use it, too. Have them show how they solved a problem, or even put problems up for them to do. It will get them more involved in the work.

• Have fun and be creative!

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