Hello all! It's almost school! I'm in a fourth grade classroom and am looking into graduating from the transparency world (I hate them!) and trying to obtain the funds or a grant for a document camera. I really like the idea of being able to share student work with everyone in the class and of the interactive potential in the classroom. Do you use a doc cam? If so, do you like the one you have? Do you know which ones are best for schools? I'm trying to compare them in terms of price and use for the classroom - durability and clarity, and what I really want is a teacher's opinion, not just the regular reviews. Any suggestions for good or bad cameras? Thanks all!!
If you just plan on showing documents, why not just buy a scanner, or printer scanner combo. You can scan a document to a PDF or Picture in 30 seconds. It will be way cheaper as well. I got my HP Photosmart Printer/Scanner a couple years ago on sale for 69.99 and it came with a $40 best buy gift card.
I have a lumens. I don't have a cute red one. I have the white one that came out right before. The difference is very minor between them. (Simpler remote and buttons for the most part.) I LOVE my doc camera. I use it daily and it's super durable. The neck is tough. I bend it all sorts of directions, depending on what I'm doing. (To show the side of a cup of water for a sound vibration demonstration, connected to a microscope, flipped around to let a child demonstrate something on the floor, etc.) Our school used Title 1 funds to purchase them for us, if that's not an option you might could approach your ptc, find a grant, or try donors choose. Good luck!
christy, can you please share more ideas if you remember them? I have one all nice and neat in a box. I think it needs to come out and show off this year!
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Interactive-Projection-Camera/dp/B004NBHJBK/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1344813209&sr=1-1&keywords=luna+camera I am eyeballing this one because it is simple, fairly cheap, and highly rated on multiple teaching blogs.
I love my doc camera which is an Elmo. I use it all the time. In my sped classes, I like to put the page we are talking about. Kids can track with me or read their own copies. The kids like it as much as I do!
I have an Elmo brand doc camera. I haven't had any problems. In order to use a doc camera in place of an overhead you also need a projector, which is going to cost more money that the doc camera.
anybody have any tips on having a computer monitor AND a document camera running thru the same projector. I was given a doc camera last year but I already have my monitor wired into my projector. My projector doesn't accept two inputs (i think all are VGA type connectors but I'm not the brightest when it comes to this stuff). Like most people are with cars, I can use it but not comfortable with the nuts and bolts. thx - and sorry if this is a thread hijack.
I think even Target and Walmart still sell that sort of thing, too, AlwaysAttend. It might also be called an A/B switch.
I have this one by Lumens. I haven't used it more than a dozen times in the 5 or 6 years I've had it. It came as part of my Smart Classroom setup. I can scan a document into a Notebook file in the same amount of time I can switch from my computer to my document camera.
I really like mine. I use it everyday. The school bought it for me, so I am not sure how much it costs. I have a large one. However, I went to a workshop this summer, and the presenter had this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UBPBTC...&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B002UBPBTC Check it out!
