January 2006 — Smart Classroom
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Camera Ready
Just when we thought we'd seen it all, we recently found out that digital camcorders also can be used as FireWire Web cams to help students to take part in great programs like NASA LIVE (live.larc.nasa.gov) or to videoconference with local experts. Canon (www.canon.com) and Sony (www.sony.com) both offer free drivers on their Web sites that let you use their cameras as Webcams with Windows Netmeeting (www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting), and Macs will do the same thing with Quicktime Broadcaster (www.apple.com/quicktime/broadcaster), also a free download from Apple. And the folks at Lightsmith have thought this one through--they offer the optional service of linking up their customers as videoconference pen pals.
I've always loved camcorders, but I'm still amazed at how this familiar tool has been transformed in our classrooms. Our district is now using more than 30 Lightsmith Video Platforms with either Digital 8 or DV camcorders, and new ideas just keep coming. And with a Lightsmith Video Platform at only $200, and digital camcorders running about $350, it's the best presentation technology bargain we've seen.
Greg Wenderski is a third-grade teacher in the Fayetteville Independent School District in Texas.
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