Document+Camera-Review

Oak Grove School recently purchased four document cameras and 2 projectors.
Several teachers are trying out the new equipment and their reviews and uses will be discussed below.

I started using my document camera with my TV today and so far my students are enjoying it. I am enjoying being able to throw anything under the camera and not have to go down and make an overhead to share with my class. I am still testing out the focus and zoom, which seems to be the biggest problem so far as the tv screen is smaller than my overhead screen.

Carey- My class has been using the document camera with the screen as well as projected onto the white board. They absolutely love it! We have used it with a variety of subjects. It has been great to edit papers as a class, as well as show sample work from students. We have used it a lot with student work so the class can give feedback. My students love the fact that it projects in color and it has obviously been a lot easier to use since I do not have to make a transparency first to write on. It came in really handy when teaching graphs b/c we were able to write on the white board. This was a little more difficult b/c when you are standing at the board, you do block the projector and then it is difficult to see what you are writing on. The camera would need to be mounted in order to better utilize this. We also used it in math to show a variety of strategies students used to solve story problems. It is quick and easy because it projects the students' work right onto the screen so it saves time of having students recopy it on the board to show the class. The zoom and focus do take a little getting used to but it does become easier as you practice. I have easily used the document camera multiple times in a day without creating reasons to use it. It has been a welcome change to our class.

Lori - I have been using the document camera alone and love it! The ability of the auto focus and zoom on the camera has been wonderful to use and gives me the ability to focus on one particular item on a page rather than the whole page. This camera allows the class to follow along with me as we were highlighting together important information from our "Blue Book" for the Constitution test as well. My students like it, especially those in the back and enjoy watching the camera focus. By using this camera, I am able to focus without moving a cart back as you would an overhead. I use the camera daily and it has been a wonderful asset to our classroom!