Administrator or Teacher needing a document camera?

Document cameras are so useful for school administrators, teachers and other presenters. Classrooms, staff meetings, conferences, sharing at a faculty PLC (professional learning community)—all great places to use a document camera. There are some great doc cameras available. AVerVision, Dukane, Elmo, and Wolfvision are the leaders. These terrific tools cost around $600 or more. And, you would not carry one to an off-site conference or meeting. Without money and the need (or desire) to use such a tool, what can you do?

An HD quality web camera can do the job. Mine already has a gooseneck, so I just need a stable base. Generally, these cameras have some fine tuning—or they can be adjusted using the gooseneck. Lighting generally is not an issue, but even a small flashlight can work when using the camera on the fly. Check out this “make your own” method.
http://friedtechnology.blogspot.com/2010/03/update-document-camera-under-100-now.html

Uses?

• Show a page in a document
• Zoom in on test scores
• Project an object such as a crystal or even school contraband
• Display student work
• Share a diagram
• Create a chart
• Show examples

Most of the cameras allow saving a picture of the view. Great for creating handouts and follow ups.

Have doc cam, will travel!