Dear Diary...

 Dear diary...

Document cameras are set to be the next big thing in the world of technology in education. Put simply, they are electronic imaging tools for displaying 3-D objects, such as books, insects or photographs, onto a projector screen, whiteboard, plasma or LCD monitor. Here, Mrs Dorothy Coe, Year 3 teacher at St Peter’s School, Scotland, describes her experience using one with her class to promote literacy in an innovative way.

Background

St Peter’s School in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, Scotland, goes by the motto that it is a happy, caring school where everyone is encouraged to become the best they can be. A non-denominational school (despite the name), with around 220 pupils it is the largest primary school in the Galashiels area. St Peter’s children achieve around or above expectations in National Assessments and the school has a significant number of placement requests. As well as receiving funding for ICT from Scottish Borders, the local authority, St Peter’s is lucky to have very supportive parents who have fundraised energetically so that they can have a SMART Board set up in every class.

Like many others, I have a firm belief that technology should not be there simply for the sake of it. It needs to enhance learning, becoming a part of life which serves a purpose. Children however often take for granted its benefits, and it is important to show them the advantages of technology when it is used for the right things; that it is a learning tool, not just a gimmick or toy to enhance play time. In school, our ethos is that learning is fun yet constructive at the same time, and that is the approach we take towards technology.

The ICT equipment that we decide to use in school has to motivate children to do well, so that their standard of work is higher. It also needs to be straightforward for teachers to use and manage. 

Challenge

My class has 26 boys and girls, encompassing a wide range of backgrounds and abilities, including a child who is on the autistic spectrum and several who receive learning support. I also have four children whose reading and spelling ability is considerably above their chronological age, so a wide spread to cater for! I came across document cameras in my general reading and had always thought they were a great idea, but slightly expensive for us. However, a few months ago I happened to be with my Quality Improvement Officer Liz Marroni at the Scottish Learning Festival and spotted the new SMART document camera. Excited, I asked to have a play with it and both Liz and I were extremely impressed with the potential for a significant impact on learning, so we acquired one for the school on a trial basis.

Putting it into practice

Over a few days of trialling the SMART document camera, the children showed evidence of a big impact on learning and I could see potential for much more. I found it very easy to set up and use on a standalone laptop. I took advantage of the fact that it displays objects in a bold and bright way, capturing the children’s attention, and thought it would be great to use in language or writing lessons to help improve their literacy skills.

On the first day I displayed a pupil’s jotter with work from the previous day, and we talked as a class about why it had fulfilled the criteria we had set. Following this the work of every child improved. As they finished we looked at each pupil’s work using the document camera to reinforce teaching points. Of course, every child wanted their work displayed, so they worked as hard as they could to improve on their handwriting and presentation skills.

The next day, I decided to display the illustrations from a book telling the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Without the document camera, it would have been difficult for every child to have seen them without taking the time to pass the book around. Our writing task was to retell the story, placing the events in the right order and using vivid words to describe the characters. The children were shown a series of pictures on the document camera and they had to put them in the right order to tell the story. As a whole class activity with 26 children this could have proved time consuming and chaotic – instead the children could work as a team and could give their reasons for the changes they wanted to make. After capturing the children’s version of the story we then displayed the first individual picture and they worked with a partner to suggest good opening sentences. I typed the suggestions under the picture and we edited and combined them until we were happy. The children then had the start of a story which they all felt was theirs, and set about writing their own versions.

On day three, we continued our Theseus story and I displayed some of the individual work the children had produced the previous day. The children were quick to spot vivid words and detail in the ones I had chosen. We constructed sentences for the next couple of pictures to scaffold those needing this support. Again, as they produced more of the story I could display the work of individuals and we could do very immediate and effective peer assessment. The children produced work of a better than usual standard, I felt, knowing it was going to be viewed by their peers and because they could see clear examples of how our success criteria were being met.

Looking forward

Creative writing is a fundamental skill in which children can lack confidence. This use of technology supports literacy learning in a direct, accessible way that offers as much to the most able pupils as it does to those needing more help.

By using the SMART document camera, pupils have been engaged, motivated and inspired. By displaying objects on the screen, everyone could see what to do, increasing each pupil’s confidence and independence in completing a task. I noticed hardly any children needed reassurance in the task I was setting them. They could compare their work with their peers, and we avoided the tricky organisation of getting 26 children to gather round a table so they can all see the demonstration. Evidence of our class work was also easily recorded – images were captured on screen which meant no need to photocopy! Luckily, just having the SMART document camera on trial for three days enabled my Headteacher to have a good look at its capabilities, and she was so impressed when she saw it in action in my class that she decided immediately that we should purchase one of our own. I am now looking forward to exploring more ways to use it in subjects across the curriculum.