Doc Cams and Assessment

In the examples below, teachers in Colorado elementary schools show how to use the document camera in assessment. The italics are my attempt to highlight some very thoughtful and creative uses of the classroom visualizer.

• Effective assessment requires that results and progress are effectively communicated to stakeholders. So, a third grade teacher takes snapshots of student measurements (a math activity) and posts them to the web so parents can see the progress of their own children in measurement skills.

• A teacher laments: “In fourth grade, my students don’t get to type as many papers as I
  
  would like them to.  The majority of published work is handwritten due to technology constraints.”  One solution this teacher has developed is to quickly and efficiently capture written desk work in PDF format with the doc cam's snapshot feature, and then, using Adobe Reader’s annotation features, annotates each student paper with individualized feedback. “I email the commented papers back to them so they can review their comments and use some of my suggestions to improve their writing,” he explains. “It’s like running 28 conferences simultaneously,” remarks the teacher. “It also makes me more efficient; I am much quicker at making digital comments than handwritten written ones. This allows me more time to plan quality instruction. ”

• A middle school math teacher records audio feedback on the the doc cam (with its camera and built in microphone) as she grades assignments, providing individualized feedback for each student on her/his work. We call this approach ‘doc-casting.’ She finds it is particularly helpful for students still learning English.

• A fourth grade teacher assigns a math problem to the class and then observes how students go about solving the problem. He then chooses a few students, each using a different approach, and has them share their thinking with the class as a whole using the doc cam in a live setting. The entire class then discusses the demonstrated approaches. Each approach is also recorded in case students need to review them at home or later in the week. “This is also powerful to show parents at conferences,” adds the teacher.