Visual Presenter - Document Camera

The technology hardware I have been most enamored with is the document camera.  This piece of hardware is a real time camera that projects whatever it is aimed at onto a wall or screen.  The hardware, depending on the device, can work alone or be attached to a computer through a USB cable or other type of cord depending on the device.  There are even several warless document cameras that get good reviews and that are not very expensive (≈ $200.00).  When document cameras are attached to a computer there is software that comes with the device that allows for recording, freezing images, and writing over the frozen image with digital drawing tools or tools connected to a smart board.

When considering the R.A.T. Model of technology–enabled learning along with the document camera there are several ways of assessing this technology’s contribution to learning in a k-12 classroom depending on how it is used.  A math teacher who is showing students how to do a proof in geometry is simply replacing a smart board or a whiteboard with pen and paper. The technology streamlines the work and allows the teacher to stand in one spot and work smaller.  This also meets the amplify portion of the R.A.T. model through increasing efficiency.  This technology also transforms instruction because the teacher can save the work done when the camera is connected to a computer and revisit it later, or send it to students in a virtual classroom for their notes.  The students could use the notes to build new ways of working with the proofs on their own devices.

Another use of the document camera that transforms instructional methods, student learning processes, and perhaps expands curriculum goals is in the realm of fine arts.  As a former art teacher, I often struggled with teaching twenty-five or thirty kids at one time how to learn a particular artistic skill.  For example, teaching crochet requires that students watch closely as you move your hands.  It is impossible to teach all students at once because they all cannot get close enough to you to see the stitches.  With a document camera everyone can see.  Further, a teacher can save the work and replay the video demonstration over and over and even adjust the speed so that the movements are very slow which allows students to work along with the video. This same concept works with teaching drawing, pen and ink, painting, and calligraphy techniques.  The document camera is not replacing what is taught just how it is delivered (R).  It makes the lessons more effective and efficient (A), because no one has to wait for the teacher to do individual or small group demonstrations (which occurs when a lesson is just beginning), and finally, the document camera can be a means of transformation because, just like in the geometry example, the work the teacher does can be shared and saved and returned to over and over.  The student might even be able to share the lesson with someone at home (T) or make his or her own art instruction video library.

There are many, many websites that are full of great ideas about ways to use document cameras in the K-12 classroom.  Two I found particularly good are the Scholastic site's technology page and the SchoolOutfitters' “document camera” webpage.