I’ve been using a document camera to teach for about 4 years now. It is an incredible tool. It is far better than a traditional “overhead” projector because you are not limited to transparencies. You can place any book, page, magazine, etc under it and see it projected through an LCD projector up on the whiteboard of screen. I know times are tight currently but you should press your school administration to get these for your teachers, they really work well and the kids are more engaged when I use mine.
Lately I’ve noticed that when I am teaching presentations from the board, I tend to inadvertently “block” the board as I am standing there. I realized there is almost always a set of kids somewhere in the room who cannot see the lcd projector until I move away. I may have found the ideal solution for this proximity issue.
I have been using sticky notes on the books and papers I put under the document camera. Imagine having a photo of Ben Franklin in a book under the document camera and then sticky notes under him in the book where I have written “inventor, genius, founding father, etc.” I haven’t harmed the book and at the same time I was able in real time to make the notes the kids need. If you are working with paper of course, you can write all you want. The best part for me is that I am not blocking the projection view. I think it is very important to use visual aides in teaching.
How do you teach with a document camera?