On the Road Again

I’m doing quite a bit of presenting this year on how to best employ Document Cameras in transformative teaching and learning. Here is a current list showing my speaking schedule, in case you are interested in attending. If you are in the vicinity, it’s also always a good excuse for an opportunity to meet, have some conversation, and practice our Donkey Cam Kung Fu.

Conference	Location and Date	Topic(s)
FETC	Orlando, FL January 31	·         Get Your Donkey Cam Kung Black Belt (2 Hour workshop)
TCEA Campus Leaders’ Academy	Austin, TX February 4-8	·         Cultivate Your Donkey Cam Kung Fu
Tech Forum	Atlanta March 1	·         Cultivate Your Donkey Cam Kung Fu
MACUL	Detroit, MI Cobo Center March 20-22	·         Cultivate Your Donkey Cam Kung Fu
Colorado TIE 2013	Copper Mt., CO June  (tba)	·         Visualize This! What’s New and Good to Know about Document Cameras in the Classroom

Simplicity

 One new finding I uncovered during my annual rounds at the ISTE educational conference was the arrival of Recordex _USA on the national document camera scene. This company features a new “SimplicityCam Series,” which starts at $225, yet sports many desirable features. Although some of these features are only available in Windows-compatible environments, I felt that the most intriguing  features (presented in order of uniqueness) were the following:

The Snapset Creator. This feature enables the teacher to put any number of pages down one at a time (for example, a 20-page science lab packet), hit a single button, and instantly generate a 20-page PDF  that can be emailed, posted online, or reused in the future. The Snapset Creator can also capture every document shown during an entire class and, at the end of the class, create a PDF of every document/object reviewed to send home to absent students.  I am certain educators will love this capability.  Here is a video demonstrating that feature.

Large Viewing Area. Two of the Simplicity models offer a large viewing area, with the ability to view up to 17.5” x 23.5” document or subject. This enables the teacher to easily display a children’s picture book, a large student project, over-sized realia, or even an outsized map.

AnnoZoom. You can annotate live images or videos, and then perform real-time zoom-in with your subject. The annotation remains.

Other positive features of this document camera include picture in picture video conferencing and an optional microscope adapter, just to name a few.

The Recordex simplicity series includes three doc cam models: the SC5i+, the SC5z, and the SC5z Duet. (A sample spec sheet is included here.) Besides its advantages for the regular classroom, this document camera offering goes a long way to support both the “flipped classroom” and the distance learning classroom. You can learn more about Recordex document camera options at this link. 

InfoComm-ISTE Update

The new  ELMO small form factor document
camera, shown this June.

Two of the largest technology shows in the U.S. were held this last June. Both InfoComm (in Las Vegas) and ISTE (in San Diego) continued the trend toward more products, rapid feature improvements, and new manufacturers in the arena of document cameras. Over the next few months, I intend to cover in the pages of this blog some of the most intriguing and surprising developments in the document camera field to date. For now, let’s just say that this industry shows no signs of waning. Instead, innovation and feature advancement are alive and well.

Wolfvision showcased their offerings
for the  medical and university markets.
This basic unit retails in the $3,000 range.

Every major manufacturer was present at these shows, along with some newcomers. Most were in the exhibit halls, while some (like Lumens) featured personalized private showings in nearby suites along with a solid exhibit hall floor presence. My book, DigitalShapeshifter, was on sale or on display at ISTE. But what was missing—and needs to be there—is a stronger “instructional practice” presence: presentations, workshops, and poster sessions evidencing effective classroom use of document cameras. It's not good enough to just be in exhibit hall booths. Document camera technologies, which are so potentially transformative in nature, must navigate their way into the educational and intellectual currents of these major conferences.

Pathway Innovations was showing new
versions of their HoverCam document cameras.

Watch for my list of updated document camera manufacturers, which will follow in the conclusion to this series. And don’t worry— I’ll continue to pepper this series and the entire blog with great instructional ideas and suggestions, not just new product reviews. It’s all about learning in the classroom…

The Lumens 3D and wireless document cameras
were also shown at ISTE

Wireless Doc Cams

At two recent technology conferences, teachers in my sessions have evidenced keen interest in the instructional freedom offered by wireless document cameras. Only three companies make wireless document cameras as of this date.  To compare on your own, take a look at these brief videos on each product. I have simply ranked the products by published wireless transmission distances:

• Lumen’s Wireless Ladibug offers a healthy distance of 95 feet and is a strong player.
• AVerInformation’s W30 offers a 45 foot range, and a sleek look.
• Elmo's brand new wireless document camera offers a slick, small form factor look, and collapses nicely, with a wireless distance of 33 ft.

InfoComm 3D DocCam Update

Here’s a timely update on last week’s 3D Document Camera Post. Last week I was at InfoComm 2102 and was able to see the new Lumens 3D document Camera up close and in action. I also found another 3D document camera hitting the market, produced by Wolfvision. Here’s what I found:

Lumens 3D Ladibug. The form factor is attractive and the visualization quality, using a DLP ultra-short throw projector was stellar. This unit will retail in the $700+ range and is well worth the money. Although aimed at the K-20 education market, the quality of image is stunning. It should fit anywhere. 

A science lesson demonstration featuring long-time 3D educator, 

Nancye Blair, using the Lumens 3D Ladibug.

WolfVision 3D Document Camera. This 3D document camera is ceiling mounted and designed for industrial and advanced medical applications.  The model shown was just released and retails for around $30,000. The sales rep was not able to demonstrate it well or answer simple questions about application, so I ended up explaining how it could be used to several University passersby. I also showed the sales rep how this technology is best viewed 10+ feet away, not up close, as they were doing. The latency on the document camera was quite significant, but I expect they will improve upon this problem in future updates.

Demonstrating the WolfVision 3D document camera at InfoComm

A 3D Ladibug

Ground-breaking news in the document camera world. Lumens recently released their new 3D Ladibug document camera. This high-definition document camera comes 3D-ready for both 3D projectors and 3D TVs. And don't worry, educators!  The 3D Ladibug easily can function as a 2D visualizer, as well! Lumens is a power player in the document camera industry, so this product release is not a trivial matter.

The context of this product release is not trivial within the education market either. A 3D document camera can be used by teachers to showcase immersive science experiments or model math skills through the visual display of manipulatives, tiny ‘blocks’ or shapes that teach place value, fractions, measurement, or geometry—with depth.  More importantly, the 3D document camera becomes another stout tool for content creation. Imagine student dioramas, stick or finger puppet shows, or model displays—again, with depth. And even primary children can ‘design’ the content. To learn more, take a look at this case study link and the following product data sheet link. You can also see live demonstrations on the exhibit hall floor at ISTE 2012 in San Diego in June. It’s fun to be alive.

Conference Talk

After attending FETC 2012 in Orlando and TCEA in Austin, I came away with a fresh wind of perspective as the 2012 ed-tech conference season got under way. A strong document camera technology presence was the most visible and thriving component of the educational exhibit halls at these conferences.  Strong new players joined the existing market leaders, stepping up to compete with the interactive whiteboard (IWB) crowd. The bottom line: the document camera market is growing, getting smarter, and maturing. And that's because the document camera is clearly loved by teachers.


By the way, I am scheduled to again deliver my popular 2 -hour workshop, Cultivating Your Donkey Cam Kung Fu, at the Colorado TIE Conference in Copper Mtn,  June 19-21. Be there if you can.