EzCam

Hello, everyone!

Today I am happy to present the EzCam as used in my school.

 This is a device that plugs directly into your computer with a USB port. It is about 7 inches long and 3 inches wide. It folds up easily as seen above and can fold out as seen below.

This device has many uses it can record video, magnify images placed in front of it, and take pictures. 

How is this used in my class, you say? Well, in my class it is used for two reasons. One, we have the students see exactly what I am writing or doing on a paper, and then can easily follow along or understand my directions. Another variation of this is when I have students come up and show their work to the classmates. As seen below: 

The second use is recording role plays. When students are given a story to role play, they are told that it will be recorded. This makes them very motivated to succeed, because their role play will be seen outside of the classroom. I have had homeroom teachers request videos from the role plays to use in different activities. Many times this device gives the students an opportunity to see themselves as we see them.

Why would I use this? As stated before, this is huge motivator for my students, to be able to make something with their role plays or their written paper work is seen as a new experience they want to test out. When given options to be video recorded or not, most students want to be recorded and they want the videos played back later for them to see their classmates and themselves again.

This sounds golden! Why WOULDN'T some one use it?
This is still computer software. As such if the computer you are using is slow it will take a LONG time to load the camera as seen below.

Some students also have a huge fear of being recorded, in my classes at least 1 or 2 students don't want to be recorded. If you use this technology in your classroom you HAVE to allow for the option to not be recorded. This goes double for showing student's work on the board. I usually only use it to show new things the students are doing, like underlining key words. Or drawing a picture of what is happening in the sentences. DO NOT use this for showing mistakes of students.

Also, the mic of the video recorder is located on the camera. So if you students are too far away from the camera they will not be heard. The cord is a bit short measuring only at 3 feet. So if you want to make it mobile you will need an extender.

In my classroom this has increased participation and helped me facilitate more understanding during direction time. It allows for Dual Coding and different MIC techniques. For the students who need it turned off I can simply fold down the camera when they present and open it back up for those that want it. This allows me the freedom to make student videos without having to ask permission to use the one of two cameras my school has.

I recommend this for anyone with an electronics budget and for anyone who has a large display tv in their classroom.