June 2007 — Smart Classroom
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Are Document Cameras the Next Big Thing?
While it takes less than an hour to learn basic use of a document camera, the advanced features are what make it an effective teaching tool. In the first strand, teachers learn the fundamentals, then are offered another four to six hours of training on the advanced features, which enable them to extend their use of the document cameras.
The second strand focuses on instructional practice and content. The Sustainable Classroom Project adheres to nine research-based instructional strategies identified in Classroom Instruction That Works. Nine three-week online modules provide background on each strategy and ways technology can be used to support the strategy. Teachers then write and implement related technology-supported classroom activities.
The No Limit! model brings professional learning communities together monthly to discuss curriculum and instructional strategies. Technology is not a separate agenda item, but conversations about the content inevitably lead to discussions of ways teachers are using document cameras to improve instruction. Anderson recently asked No Limit! participants to describe how the document camera has changed the teaching and learning of mathematics in their classrooms. The teachers identified four major changes:
- more class time devoted to discussions of students’ written work and thought processes
- increased numbers of students, especially English language learners, sharing and explaining their work
- growing student confidence in their mathematical abilities and better comprehension of concepts
- increased teacher understanding of students’ thought processes
BYTESIZE
A series of short video clips showing document cameras in action in the classroom can be viewed on the Sustainable Classroom Project web page.
A Gradual Adoption
Ideally, a technology adoption should change something about the way teachers teach or children learn. But Tschirgi points out that there’s a midway outcome that must be honored as teachers become accustomed to using a technology. “The fact is that many teachers will first be hooked by a technology that enables them to do something in a different, more effective way,” she says. “Teachers new to document cameras often focus first on the fact that the equipment makes it easier for them to show objects or text to students, or to demonstrate a lesson.”
It isn’t until later that the teachers fully embrace those capabilities that facilitate the shift from teacher-centered to student-centered learning environments. “Ultimately,” Tschirgi says, “this project encourages teachers to make sure that it’s the students who take the lead, using the document camera for presentations and peer teaching.”
Anderson thinks document cameras are a good candidate for the next universal presentation technology adoption. “In my view,” she says, “the document camera is the single most important piece of technology for all teachers, especially for math teachers who are seeking to understand their students’ thinking about the mathematics they are learning.”
Susan Brooks-Young is an education consultant and author based in Lopez Island,WA, and Vancouver, BC.
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