Looe Community School,
located in the city of East Looe in the UK, is a friendly, caring school, which
expects high standards of achievement, effort and behavior from all its students.
It provides opportunities for building confidence, team work, commitment, performance
and fun. It has been awarded high performing specialist school status; and, its
new specialism of Mathematics and Computing translates to an exciting new challenge,
new resources and an increased commitment to community learning. It states that
as a school they are always looking to the future and responding to the challenges
of a changing world. Their motto is “To create and sustain a caring, learning
school community of high quality, where everyone is valued for who they are and
what they may become.”
The visualizer alters the way class is conducted
Looe Community School is a small comprehensive school on the Cornish coast in the
UK. An AVerVision355AF
was recently trialed with KS3 students in technology classes, run by technology
teacher, Mr. Mike Turpin. The
visualizer (document
camera) was regularly used in lessons to allow students to create/design
their work so it could be presented as a ‘work in progress.’ The students
were keen to work in this way, since they were both willing and eager to ask each
other questions and make suggestions as the work progressed. By using the visualizer (document camera) in
this way, the students became much more accustomed to the notion of ‘class
critique.’ Across all classes it soon became the norm for students to review
each other’s work and accept the opinion of other students – the students
came to recognize the visualizer
(document camera)
as one of their normal learning tools.
“Do not be afraid to use the visualizer regularly. It should not be treated
as a precious object and hidden away. So far, the visualizer has proved to be a
really robust piece of equipment and despite a lot of handling and use there is
no sign of any problems.”
- Mr. Mike Turpin, Technology Teacher, Looe Community School
Examining circuits with the AVerVision visualizer
The visualizer
(document camera)
was used to great effect when producing electronic circuits. Initially, the
visualizer (document
camera) was used to show where the various components needed to be added
to the circuit and their correct orientation. Traditionally, this would have been
carried out slowly, with a large proportion of students finding it difficult to
see where components were being placed. The
visualizer (document
camera) gave the teacher and students the freedom to view the demonstration
from a distance without sacrificing image quality – a great advantage in the
classroom. Students could place their own work under the
visualizer (document
camera), or the teacher could leave an example on display so that students
could check their own work against the standard.
A closer look leads to a broader discussion
The visualizer (document camera) proved
invaluable when carrying out product evaluations. For example, when the students
needed to take a close look at the engineering of some cameras, the visualizer (document camera) made
it possible for them to take an overview of the product and then gradually zoom
in to show finer details such as textures, fastenings and materials. As they delved
deeper and deeper into the details of the product, the students’ enhanced
view aided them in providing intelligent responses to the teacher’s questions,
which then gave rise to other lines of questioning. The ability to react and focus
in on specific areas of a product in real-time, and in 3-D, proved to be a really
useful tool, especially when compared to the old method: observing from fixed view
points and images.
“I want to improve the way students capture and access their own work at any
point within a lesson… The basic operation of the camera is so straightforward
students will be able to use this in conjunction with other technologies.”
-Mr. Mike Turpin, Technology Teacher, Looe Community School
Simplicity and versatility make the visualizer a valuable teaching tool
Students enjoyed putting their work under the
visualizer (document
camera) and it was very clear that the whole class shared work much
more regularly and effectively. The success rate in terms of producing functioning
circuits increased when the
visualizer (document
camera) was employed to demonstrate where to position the components.
The students thought the ability to put objects under the camera was a great advantage
and were enthused by the prospect. The
visualizer (document
camera) was also used to take snapshots of the students’ work.
These snapshots were then uploaded to the VLE (virtual learning environment), so
that students could access them during later lessons. The
AVerVision355AF can be used to perform simple tasks, like sharing written/visual
documents, showing real objects and working in three dimensions, but it can also
perform advanced operations, such as capturing stills easily and recording video
to a USB flash drive. It is therefore a really valuable tool for any department.
One major advantage of visualizers
(document cameras)
over existing technology is that they are easy to operate. Mr. Turpin allowed his
students, including the younger ones, to make use of the
visualizer (document
camera), and they happily suggested new ideas for how it may be used
in class.
Our thanks to Wendy Delf at Cornwall Learning and Flic Hampton, Advanced Skills
Teacher, Cornwall Local Authority, for leading the pilot across all eight schools
and enabling teachers to come together to share good practice at regular intervals
throughout the duration of the project. The project would not have been possible
without their commitment and hard work, and AVer are indebted to their continuing
support for the use of visualizers across Cornwall Schools. AVer would also like
to thank Steljes Limited for helping to collect this case study.