Document cameras have been enhancing the way teachers present material to their students for nearly three decades. Introduced in 1988, document cameras, also called digital visual presenters or visualizers, have helped teachers clearly present a wide range of information to their classrooms without spending a lot of time, money or effort.
Document cameras grant teachers the ability to project three dimensional objects, zoom in on text, take pictures, record video, and much more. They have greatly enriched lessons and helped keep students engaged in the classroom. However, as with all technology, there is always room for improvement.
Recent advancements in technology in the classroom are greatly impacting the way students learn. With interactive whiteboards, mobile learning devices, and online courses and activities widely available to students and teachers, your document camera should have the ability to Interact with technology already existing in the classroom.
Interactive exercises and lessons are a great way to keep students engaged and actively learning, and many current models of document cameras have the ability to integrate with the technology that makes interactive learning successful. Furthermore, the majority of new document cameras can connect to mobile devices such as iPads, making them great collaborative tools for 1:1 classrooms.
Brands such as Lumens Integration have recently released its updated versions of document cameras to help facilitate collaboration. “The new Lumens’ camera includes HDMI in or out, allowing teachers to use any HDMI or HD device in the classroom and plug it directly into their document camera,” says Eddy Boyette, vice president of sales for Lumens Integration. “The height of the document camera market was five or six years ago, and we’re seeing a large refresh within those document cameras at this time. The technology is much better and newer.”
Along with aiding in collaboration, newer models of document cameras also support distance learning programs and flipped classrooms. For example, the AVer TabCam allows teachers to record a lesson and quickly upload it to the web via Youtube or Dropbox, enabling their students to access the materials from the document camera on their own devices anywhere, anytime.
Implementing technology in the classroom has already made a large impact on the way teachers teach and students learn, and it’s important your document camera is as up to date as the rest of the technology in your classroom. If your current document camera does not allow for collaboration and lacks the majority of the features mentioned above, it may be time to introduce your classroom to an updated version.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!
Leave a Reply