Document Camera for the Classroom
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.
Not too long ago, I bought a portable document camera to try out. I have to say…it’s so great!
I didn’t have anything like this when I was teaching, but I know that it’s very common for classrooms to have something similar. A lot of document cameras work with your laptop and projector so you can share pictures, books, science demonstrations, or whatever else with your students!
Here’s how it works:
- Connect the document camera to your computer or projector. The HUE HD Pro Document camera made that a breeze! I simply plugged it into the USB port on my computer and it was ready to go. I didn’t even have to download any software to my computer.
- Since I use a Mac, I opened up QuickTime to use the camera. Windows Camera would also work.
- Then I just placed an item underneath the camera and a larger version appeared on my laptop. If I was in the classroom, I would hook this up to the projector so a bigger picture would be shown to students.
The point of this camera is to show close-ups to students. I’m sure you all know that feeling when you’re trying to show the whole class something, but not everyone can see. This solves that problem!
Ideas for the Classroom
- Show science demonstrations
- To show students words or pictures in a book
- Explain math problems with manipulatives
- Show & Tell items
- Demonstrate how to write alphabet letters or numbers
- Model how to do an activity
- Show concepts of print from a book
- Display students’ work
You can also use this for virtual learning!
I love that this document camera allows you to take snapshots or even videos of what you’re demonstrating under the camera. The neck is adjustable so you can position it however you’d like.
Here are some other features of this camera:
- built-in microphone
- auto-focus
- manual zoom
- can be used for video chat
This is really a cool addition to any classroom!
How would you use a document camera in the classroom?
What a great idea! We normally huddled around the monitor to see.
This would be awesome to use with my Pre-K students. They’d be able to see things better and interact more.
This would be great for story time!
I have always wanted to try this, just didn’t have an updated system- now I can do it if I win!
I borrowed a doc camera from one of my schools and I have loved it, especially for my virtual students! I had no idea that pictures could be taken with it! That is so cool! I would love to have my own so that I could use it for my in-person students and also be able to take pictures of their work as well!
I teach young preschoolers and this could be a lot of fun to use with a projector!
This would make story time so much easier so all the little ones will be able to see the pictures.
Thank you!
I woul LOVE this camera! As a Children’s Librarian I record online educational video, this would come in handy.. In addition I could see this being useful at Storytime for showing book pages to a larger crowd as well.
I think my students would love this! I would love this. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t seen one of these. It would be great for some of my vision impaired kiddos and basic everyday use too. How much more fun reading time would be AND I could do group demos and everyone could see what was happening.