A document camera doesn’t need to be locked in to its name. I know you are probably saying, “What is she talking about?” My answer is going to sound like a George Carlin skit. You know the one where he decomposes the word “Tennis.” “Why is Tennis called Ten-(nis) when it is only played by two people? This made me think about the word “Document Camera” and how often I just see it being used for its face value.
Just because the word “Document” is tagged onto camera doesn’t mean it is limited to projecting worksheets and pages in a book. Not in the least! Many different brands of document cameras are made with multi function ability. The stem can be bent or the lens twisted turning the document camera into a video or still camera. What does this mean to the classroom?

By Jmiewald [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Document Camera Uses
- Project Worksheets on an Interactive White Board (IWB)
- Capture worksheets to insert into slide presentations and etc…
- Take photos within the classroom
- Record student created videos
- Record classroom activities
- Use as web cam
- Allows for Google Live Hangout participation
- Teacher sharing lessons and collaborating with colleagues
- Guest visitors presenting to a classroom full of students
- Allows absent students to participate in the classroom
- Classrooms can connect globally to collaborate on projects
- Allows for Google Live Hangout participation
The above mentioned is just a few possibilities a document camera can provide to a classroom. Kick a document camera up a notch by replacing with a tablet in a stand and this maximizes the possibilities even more. Bottomline “Don’t just use technology tools for FACE VALUE” “Be Innovative and Maximize the Use.”