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?
Some teachers I know have these and love them. It would be great for kids to share their work without having the others crowd around them.
I have used these in the past at a previous school and the camera is awesome! I loved it! I would highly recommend this purchase and would love to have one in my current classroom. Thank you for this opportunity.
I have used this type of thing before and found it very helpful in class and would love to have one of my own to use in my Pre-K class.
This Camera looks amazing very innovative I would like one of these
This would be a game changer for my classroom!
This looks so versatile! I could really use this in my classroom. Thank you for sharing this. I had not seen one like this before.
Wow! That looks so cool!
Would love to win this product to help my student see those small documents or show how to follow directions on assignments.
I have a document camera( not this one) but it hardly connects and it does not move around well. This one looks a lot more functional.
The document camera would be helpful in the event we have to return to remote learning