Underutilized Technology
In spite of advantages the document camera offers teachers, I found only one in use in fourteen Minnesota public schools. I believe this is due to cost and a lack of familiarity among school personnel. A school district can purchase ten stand-alone transparency projectors for the cost of a document camera. The document camera is best utilized in conjunction with an overhead projection unit, another costly piece of equipment. Still, with many schools installing ceiling-mounted projection units, it makes sense to take full advantage of the situation by incorporating the document camera. The two technologies are complementary and most electronic boards support document cameras.

What to Look For
I have used cameras by Elmo and Canon with complete satisfaction. A 12X or greater zoom with automatic focus is fine for the classroom. The camera should have a large and unobstructed base with a backlight for displaying transparencies and bright florescent side lamps for showing everything else. Most cameras allow for a variety of hookups, but I prefer to use an S-Video cable. Controls should be on the front of the camera and be easy to operate. The camera should have a nice color display with minimal screen flicker. A small table will easily accommodate it.

Camera Costs
Camera prices run from under $1,000 to $4,000. In 2007, I used ebay to purchase my camera, in unused condition, for $167.50 but schools are not going to be buying on ebay. Teachers, being professionals, should consider weighing the camera cost against the tremendous results and timesaving a document camera can procure for them. Though the cameras are not cheap, prices are falling and costs of not upgrading to them are even greater. For districts looking to provide their educators with the best visual technology currently available to advance content clarity and familiarize students with college-level technology, the document camera is an investment worth making

Looking Back
Looking back upon my first day as a substitute teacher, I acknowledge transparency projectors helped to educate students since the Greatest Generation, but something better exists and educators owe it to themselves and their students to try advanced technology. As I walk the schools and observe teachers using traditional methods to display content, such as PowerPoint and transparency projector presentations, I see teachers, not students, presenting material and mainly text being displayed to bored students. In contrast, the document camera opens up a world of colorful possibilities! I have had test scores increase dramatically, close to a full grade, possibly the result of students paying attention to better presentations made possible through the use of advanced technology and a bit of ingenuity.

Additional info. can be found at: www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00002162.shtml

Bibliography

Crystal, Garry. Wisegeek.com 2008. What is an overhead projector. www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-overhead-projector.htm

» More Gazette articles...