10 Uses for a Document Camera in Your Classroom

Our school just purchased document cameras for the entire upper grade. If you're new to the world of document cameras, here are ten ways you can use a document camera in your classroom.

1- Place a book under the document camera. As you read aloud to your class, students can see the picture or even follow along with the text.

2- Place math manipulatives (clock, blocks, money, a protractor) under the document camera. All the students can watch as you or a student work a math problem with the manuliputives.

3- During oral reports, students can place their visual aids under the document camera. Students are inspired to add much more detail when they are aware their work will be displayed in this manner.

4- Place a piece of lined paper under the document camera. Project the lines onto the whiteboard, and students can view handwriting demonstrations with "real paper."

5- Place a digital timer under the document camera. Students can watch the countdown projected on the wall as they finish their assignment.

6- Place a mealworm pupa in a clear container and place it under the document camera. When it's ready to come out, watch it emerge.

7- Show student work samples. Choose a student who will let you edit his or her paper to model proper editing, or show off a "perfect sentence."

8- Use the title button to display the objective on the top tenth of the screen throughout the lesson.

9- Use the freeze button when teaching math. Freeze the image of the problem. While students are working on the problem, unfreeze the image, and Voila! There's the solution.

10- For fun, point the camera at your face and say something - anything! From their next homework assignment to your school's announcements - Kids enjoy watching you get a little silly.

What are some ways you use a document camera in your classroom?

Students Click Their Way To Success

"Thumbs up - Thumbs down" is a widely used way to informally check whether or not your students understand what you’ve taught them. But who actually counts kids' thumbs? And aren't most student responses held suspect because they are so worried about feeling judged by their peers? They look around to see who has their thumb up or down before they respond... Now, imagine if your students could send you their responses privately, with the click of a button. What if their responses could be tallied and displayed immediately in a bar graph or pie chart on an interactive whiteboard or projection screen. Wouldn't that be much more accurate? Wouldn't that be cool? Let me assure you: it is.

What are they?

Most people call them "Clickers." They look like little TV remote control units, and they work in sort of the same way. Generally speaking, they all do roughly the same thing: provide a direct wireless connection between a teacher and his or her students. Student response systems include a radio frequency (RF) remote for each student in a given class, a central receiver, software, and some form of assessment software, which tallies student responses, records attendance, posts test results and provides individual feedback. 

Enhances Interactive Teaching and Learning

The brand of student response system I've been testing for the last few months is the Senteo interactive response system. Like all student responders, they're designed to enhance interactive teaching and learning. It starts when the teacher either displays or speaks a prepared or ad hoc question. Students can then anonymously key in answers with their remote.  Responses are tallied and displayed on a projection screen or interactive whiteboard instantaneously.

Variety of Question Types

To assess student understanding, you can use a variety of question types, including true or false, multiple choice, numeric response and more-than-one-right-answer. Decimals, fractions and negative numbers can also be incorporated into questions and answers. 

Immediate Feedback

Student response systems provide immediate feedback to students, teachers, and even parents. Once a student completes a test, his or her score is revealed directly on their own responder. This eliminates the typical wait-time a student normally endures after a test. It used to take me an hour to grade a math test and sometimes it took me a few days before I even sat down to grade it. Now, I can spend that time designing lessons to remediate the ones who performed poorly. Furthermore, students are afforded time, right then and there, to analyze their own results: noting which problems they missed and correcting their own mistakes. 

Export to Spreadsheet

From a record-keeping stand point, nothing beats the "export to spreadsheet" feature. These scores can be easily imported into your existing electronic gradebook system (if it supports the "import" feature) or printed out and integrated into a paper-based system. There is even an option to send an e-mail to each student's parents the moment the test is over. (When I told my students I intend to enable this feature in the coming weeks, they looked as if they'd just walked out of a horror movie).

All in all, student responders are effective tools that should be in every teacher's tool box. But as with all technology, the price tag can be prohibitive. The Senteo Response System 32 Pack goes for about $2K. But if integrating technology is a priority for your district, then it's an investment that can lead to an enhanced learning and teaching experience for everyone involved. To read more about the topic of Clickers, check out "7 things you should know about clickers."

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7002.pdf

My Fingers Are Peachy Again!

One day in the teachers' lounge, I looked down at one of my colleagues hands, and noticed his fingers were colored purple, red, green, and blue. As I listened to him describe to another teacher his overhead transparency woes, I reflected how only a few months ago, my own fingers used to look exactly like his! Having access to the SMART document camera for the last few months has revolutionized the way I teach, not to mention that it's given me back my natural, fleshy coloration.

I used to have to run to the lounge to make a simple transparency. Now, any time I want to show students a handout, a drawing, student work, realia, or any other visual aid, I just fire up "Notebook 10," SMART's whiteboard software, flick on the document camera and take a snapshot of the image. Just this week, a student brought in his pet gecko as part of his visual aid for his oral news report. The little guy was a mere two inches long, but under the SMART document camera, he was as large as a poster. I then saved the image for later use. If I ever need a picture of a gecko again, it's right there.

By combining 5.2x optical and 8.0x digital zoom, the SMART Document Camera displays images that are sharp and vivid. You can also automatically focus your images and adjust the brightness for varying light levels. The document camera’s head and arm rotate, so you can easily view an object from different angles. The camera lens can also be aligned to the eyepiece of a microscope without requiring an optical adapter. The SMART Document Camera’s control panel is intuitive, with a simple interface that allows you to conveniently control all the camera’s functions. You can also control it directly from a menu in Notebook software 10. The LED lamp even allows you to use the camera in a darkened room. You can save images even if your document camera isn’t connected to a computer by using an SD Memory Card (not included).

The camera connects to any digital display device, such as a computer monitor, projection screen or television, using a VGA cable. You can also connect it to a SMART Board interactive whiteboard through a computer using a USB cable. The document camera weighs only 6.4 pounds (2.9 kg), so it’s easy to move around the room. You can also secure it in your room with a Kensington cable lock. The SMART Document Camera comes with a standard five-year warranty.

Pros: The SMART document camera works seamlessly with SMART's Notebook 10 Whiteboard software. Cut back on the amount of time you spend preparing lessons by creating digital content instantly during a class. You also don’t need to fuss with transparencies or markers for overhead projectors. There are numerous display options, including USB and VGA.

Cons: Occasionally, the one light used to illuminate objects beneath the camera can cause certain glossy images to produce a glare. The price tag is steep. The SMART 280 lists at $999, but can be found in the mid- $900's on the Internet. The price is even lower when purchased as part of a package deal from a local SMART dealer.

Overall impression: Prior to using the SMART document camera, many teachable moments had to be tabled because there was simply no way to show a tiny image to the entire class. Teachable moments were put on hold because making an overhead transparency was impossible until the next break. Now, with the click of a button, even students in the nosebleed section can see even the smallest details. And when the moment requires that a given image be displayed quickly, it can happen lightening fast! But perhaps the best part is: my fingers are peachy again!

SMART Board 600i - First Impressions

In the coming months, I will be writing a lot about the SMART Technologies line of products, in particular, the SMART Board 600i. Several weeks ago, I approached SMART Technologies in an effort to attain a review unit of the SMART Board 600i in my classroom. I also asked Prometheum, a leading competitor in the interactive white board market, if they, too, would like to participate in my review. As of today, Prometheum has not responded. A couple of weeks ago, SMART Technologies indicated their interest. And last week, they installed a SMART Board 600i in my classroom. Since its installation a mere five days ago, I have already used the device in Language Arts, Writing, Social Studies, and Math. The moment I used it in one subject, I felt energized to use it in another. Even at this early stage, I can already see why interactive white boards are a must-have tool for teachers.

Today, I used the SMART Technologies document camera, connected to the SMART Board, to snap a picture of a page in our math text book. I then invited students to come up and solve some problems on the SMART Board. One at a time, students approached the interactive white board, selected one of the four dry erase markers, and began to write directly onto the enlarged image of the math page. Some students took a little longer getting used to the markers than others. Each marker is simply a prop designed to look and feel like a real dry erase marker. They come in four colors: black, red, green, and blue. One problem is that an incidental palm press confuses the white board about which press it should respond to -- the palm press or the tip of the marker. But students master this skill within seconds. By pressing firmly and deliberately, and by resisting the urge to rest their hand on the board, they find they can write on the board with success. After the math lesson, I saved our work as a PDF which I now have the option of either uploading it to my class website, archiving it for later, or printing it out for students.

The students' reaction to the SMART Board has been very positive. When they see me power it up, they suddenly become very excited because they know that in a moment, I am going to invite volunteers to come up and perform some kind of learning activity on it. In the coming weeks and months, I'll post more observations about the SMART Board 600i; review the SMART Airliner Wireless Slate; SMART Notebook software and lesson activities; and the Senteo interactive response system.