Should I teach with a doc cam?
August 31, 2010 11:39 AM Subscribe
What are the downsides (if any) to using a document camera for university teaching in the humanities?
Until now, I've gone old school -- I use the chalkboard even for 130 person lectures. I have principled reasons for not using powerpoint, the gist of which is that I don't like to use prefab stuff. For example, you can't change the order of things based on student questions and discussion. And it puts them to sleep. AND they then think they should just be able to read the slides after class and get 100% of the info from them.
But I've recently learned of document cameras, and will be teaching this semester in a lecture hall that has one. And it seems to me that I could use it the way I use chalk, but without the downsides. No horrible dust all over me. More legible (legibility is a real issue when you have to erase the chalkboard and write over it again.) Am I right or wrong here? What should I beware of?
Until now, I've gone old school -- I use the chalkboard even for 130 person lectures. I have principled reasons for not using powerpoint, the gist of which is that I don't like to use prefab stuff. For example, you can't change the order of things based on student questions and discussion. And it puts them to sleep. AND they then think they should just be able to read the slides after class and get 100% of the info from them.
But I've recently learned of document cameras, and will be teaching this semester in a lecture hall that has one. And it seems to me that I could use it the way I use chalk, but without the downsides. No horrible dust all over me. More legible (legibility is a real issue when you have to erase the chalkboard and write over it again.) Am I right or wrong here? What should I beware of?
I think you're right, or at least that you should give it a try to see how it fits your teaching style. But a lot of your questions depend on the particulars of the room and the projection/camera setup, so you might want to give it a dry run first. There are two sides to the legibility question — since chalk, for all its problems, doesn't have pixels or camera shake or poor focus or low contrast under bright lighting — but on balance you'll probably be more legible to the back rows using the camera, especially if you can dim the room lighting somewhat. As advil says, the details of the camera/projection setup may make it hard to write while teaching, but you can compensate for this by mixing in more pre-prepared material while still retaining the ability to add some notes on the fly.
posted by RogerB at 12:00 PM on August 31, 2010
posted by RogerB at 12:00 PM on August 31, 2010
I've been a student for a long time now, and I still prefer when teachers use the chalkboard, no matter what subject they are teaching. It's bigger/easier to see. For some reason, it always seems that professors (especially in mathematics, but it holds true for all subjects) that professors who use the chalkboard are more likely to go over more problems/examples than professors using the document camera. Also, it always seemed like I had less time to copy the information from the camera than the chalkboard. YMMV, though.
posted by two lights above the sea at 12:01 PM on August 31, 2010
posted by two lights above the sea at 12:01 PM on August 31, 2010
I am a mathematician. (And a teacher at the college level, although very new at it.)
There is definitely a tradition of using document cameras (and their predecessor, the overhead projector and transparencies) in mathematics. I associate it with older mathematicians (above approximately 50, although take that with a huge grain of salt because I'm horrible at estimating ages).
But I prefer the old school chalkboard method, too, for classrooom teaching. In mathematics there are principled reasons to use it, which basically amount to the same ones you gave. There is also the issue in mathematics that because of the complications of mathematical notation, it's possible to write very dense slides. A lot of mathematicians prefer to teach their classes writing at the chalkboard because this forces them to slow down to a pace at which students can actually absorb the material. (But I, too, have problems with legibility.)
When people give seminar talks, on the other hand, they usually use slides -- especially since technologies for this have improved in the last few years. Speaking as someone who's seen a lot of these talks, it's often difficult to absorb everything in these contexts, although a lot of such talks are more about just sketching one's results and so perhaps this is acceptable.
Finally, one advantage of using the chalkboard is that it never malfunctions! (Okay, not never, and now that I said this I'll probably have a malfunctioning chalkboard in class tomorrow.) With any other technology you have to think about whether you want to spend your time playing around with technology. This is especially frustrating, I think, if scheduling forces you to spend time getting things hooked up after the time your class is supposed to start (say, if you teach in a room where the person before you usually overruns). Your students don't want to watch you trying to get the camera working.
On preview:
RogerB says
but on balance you'll probably be more legible to the back rows using the camera, especially if you can dim the room lighting somewhat.
but dimming the room lighting causes sleepiness, which is something to think about. (This is especially a problem when teaching early in the morning. Or right after lunch. Or late in the afternoon.)
two lights above the sea says
that professors who use the chalkboard are more likely to go over more problems/examples than professors using the document camera
this might have something to do with the technology. people using document cameras probably come into the room with some stuff already written out, and asking them to go over something requires them to write out new things. people using chalkboards haven't already written the stuff out (except in their notes), so are probably inclined to be more flexible. I may be explaining something that doesn't have a good reason, though; these two things could be correlated just for weird historical reasons where people tend to pattern their style after some teacher they liked a lot, or it could just be your imagination.
it always seemed like I had less time to copy the information from the camera than the chalkboard
well, lots of rooms have multiple chalkboards but only one camera.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:12 PM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
There is definitely a tradition of using document cameras (and their predecessor, the overhead projector and transparencies) in mathematics. I associate it with older mathematicians (above approximately 50, although take that with a huge grain of salt because I'm horrible at estimating ages).
But I prefer the old school chalkboard method, too, for classrooom teaching. In mathematics there are principled reasons to use it, which basically amount to the same ones you gave. There is also the issue in mathematics that because of the complications of mathematical notation, it's possible to write very dense slides. A lot of mathematicians prefer to teach their classes writing at the chalkboard because this forces them to slow down to a pace at which students can actually absorb the material. (But I, too, have problems with legibility.)
When people give seminar talks, on the other hand, they usually use slides -- especially since technologies for this have improved in the last few years. Speaking as someone who's seen a lot of these talks, it's often difficult to absorb everything in these contexts, although a lot of such talks are more about just sketching one's results and so perhaps this is acceptable.
Finally, one advantage of using the chalkboard is that it never malfunctions! (Okay, not never, and now that I said this I'll probably have a malfunctioning chalkboard in class tomorrow.) With any other technology you have to think about whether you want to spend your time playing around with technology. This is especially frustrating, I think, if scheduling forces you to spend time getting things hooked up after the time your class is supposed to start (say, if you teach in a room where the person before you usually overruns). Your students don't want to watch you trying to get the camera working.
On preview:
RogerB says
but on balance you'll probably be more legible to the back rows using the camera, especially if you can dim the room lighting somewhat.
but dimming the room lighting causes sleepiness, which is something to think about. (This is especially a problem when teaching early in the morning. Or right after lunch. Or late in the afternoon.)
two lights above the sea says
that professors who use the chalkboard are more likely to go over more problems/examples than professors using the document camera
this might have something to do with the technology. people using document cameras probably come into the room with some stuff already written out, and asking them to go over something requires them to write out new things. people using chalkboards haven't already written the stuff out (except in their notes), so are probably inclined to be more flexible. I may be explaining something that doesn't have a good reason, though; these two things could be correlated just for weird historical reasons where people tend to pattern their style after some teacher they liked a lot, or it could just be your imagination.
it always seemed like I had less time to copy the information from the camera than the chalkboard
well, lots of rooms have multiple chalkboards but only one camera.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:12 PM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I love the doc cam. I'm a teaching assistant for a history professor where I'm basically in charge of running the tech ends of things, and that usually involves throwing stuff up on the doc cam. I love it because you can easily show any number of things using the doc cam that are impossible with just a chalkboard:
-Color pictures/graphs/maps/etc.
-Pages from the textbook if you want to draw their attention to something
-Sample writing responses/grades
-The syllabus
-Lecture outlines
-Scantron forms/etc.
It's also really nice to be able to zoom in/out, adjust the color, etc.
From a student perspective, I always appreciate the doc cam over the board. Typed things are way easier to read than anything that's handwritten. I may be the only person that has this issue, but I also get really distracted watching someone write something out -- the line is never straight, the abbreviation is weird, this letter doesn't look like that one. And from a pedagogical perspective, any sort of visual to supplement a lecture is almost always good.
posted by lilac girl at 4:53 PM on August 31, 2010
-Color pictures/graphs/maps/etc.
-Pages from the textbook if you want to draw their attention to something
-Sample writing responses/grades
-The syllabus
-Lecture outlines
-Scantron forms/etc.
It's also really nice to be able to zoom in/out, adjust the color, etc.
From a student perspective, I always appreciate the doc cam over the board. Typed things are way easier to read than anything that's handwritten. I may be the only person that has this issue, but I also get really distracted watching someone write something out -- the line is never straight, the abbreviation is weird, this letter doesn't look like that one. And from a pedagogical perspective, any sort of visual to supplement a lecture is almost always good.
posted by lilac girl at 4:53 PM on August 31, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
I believe there is an old tradition of using transparencies like this in mathematics/logic (or at least I've encountered multiple such people of an older generation doing this), so it is doable in principle.
posted by advil at 11:49 AM on August 31, 2010