"...A bigger, more profound impact on teaching and learning than perhaps any
other technological addition to the classroom."
- Dughall McCormick, Head of ICT, Holmfirth JIN School
Holmfirth Junior, Infant and Nursery
(JIN) School in West Yorkshire recently teamed the interactive whiteboards
in each of its 8 classrooms with an
AVerVision130 visualizer (document
camera). Injecting new life into lessons, the combination quickly proved
a huge hit among staff and children alike, who now use the technology to view everything
from text and pictures to slugs and snails (though not puppy dogs' tails!) Utilizing
a scanner to help children study textbooks and literature, and to allow them to
display, share and celebrate their drawn and written work with classmates, Holmfirth
JIN School was already a firm advocate of display technology's power and motivational
worth in the teaching environment. So when using the scanner became laborious and
time-consuming and the school was given the use of a
visualizer (document
camera), it was an instant hit.
The search soon began for versatile, inexpensive, robust
visualizers (document
cameras) for the remaining classrooms. And having scoured the Internet
and January's BETT Show to that end, the school quickly identified the
AVerVision130 as the ideal solution. "We found nothing that compared
to AVerVision130"
says Dughall McCormick, Head of ICT at Holmfirth. "The gooseneck, image quality,
simplicity of use and versatility were irresistible. We were also impressed by the
professionalism and quality of advice."
The visualizer's
(document camera's) advantages
over the scanner were immediate, he says:
- Instantaneous text and image capture and presentation.
- Real-time picture streaming through the IWB.
- The ability to view/appraise 3-D items, multimedia and even 'wet' artwork .
- The capacity to view and instantly zoom in on wildlife - especially 'mini-beasts'
like slugs, snails and beetles - in fine detail.
"The visualizers have had a major impact on classroom sessions!"
- Dughall McCormick, Head of ICT, Holmfirth JIN School
"Teachers can now display things - text, graphics, objects - quickly and easily
for the entire class to view in detail. It's also enabled teachers to innovate and
enhance sessions with ad-hoc or pre-prepared materials. And the ability to present,
annotate and save rapidly gives even greater breadth and depth to our whiteboard
usage. Children have become more engaged in debates and other activities - even
those at the back of the class - and the instant feedback and evaluation has led
to further pupil focus, involvement and enthusiasm. They've even become pretty expert
at using the technology themselves! The fact that children are able to see their
own work displayed instantly for the whole class to view is an added incentive to
meet lesson objectives, targets and produce their best."
Common Uses:
- Capturing children's work (art, sewing, writing, sculpture) for annotation/appraisal.
- Sharing of examples of excellence in whole-school assembly.
- Sharing items brought in by children such as swimming certificates or photographs.
- Demonstrating 'fine' techniques like sewing and knitting.
- Displaying worksheets for talking through/annotating prior to completion.
- Displaying work stimuli such as flowers, plants, animals and famous works of art.
The net result? "A bigger, more profound impact on teaching and learning than
perhaps any other technological addition to the classroom", and
visualizers (document
cameras) have become so popular with the whole school that the staff
is unanimously keen to assign budget to acquire further units.
"A source of 'awe and wonder' in the classroom!"
- Dughall McCormick, Head of ICT, Holmfirth JIN School
Thanks to Dughall McCormick, Head of ICT, Holmfirth JIN School.