Make Your Own Document Camera

Module 2 in the All Things Document Cameras Series

In this module, you will learn how to make a document camera with your smartphone or tablet and everyday items you find in your home.

Time to complete: 40 minutes

The module is organized in five parts:
  1. Read, Listen, Watch
  2. Let's Try Things Out
  3. Summary
  4. Tutor Challenge
  5. Next Steps

Imagine, you are all set to try out one of the IPEVO document cameras in your next session. But wait! Things don’t go according to plan. Maybe they are all signed out from the LU library! Or, maybe, you don’t make it to the LU office to pick one up in time! Or, worse still, you discover that you or your learner do not have a USB port on your device to hook up the document camera! What now?

Don’t worry! As long as you have a tablet or smartphone and a few items from your household, you can build your own functional document camera that you can customize for your needs.

In this module, we will show you how to build one and use it in your Zoom tutoring session.

Read, Listen, Watch

A Guide to Making Your Own Document Camera

Watch this short video where you will see the presenter demonstrate how to build several document cameras using different everyday objects from around the house.

Let’s Try Things Out

A practical exercise for you to try!

Make Your Own Document Camera

Find out how to build your own document camera by downloading and using this guide:

Build Your Own Document Camera

Use this step-by-step visual guide to test your home-made document camera on Zoom:

Step-by-Step Guide for DIY Document Cameras with Zoom

Take a picture of your DIY document camera and share it with LU staff and tutors.

Summary

Here’s a quick summary of what you covered in this module.

In this module, you have learned how to set up and use your smartphone or tablet as a document camera. You’ve built your own DIY document camera using everyday items you find in the home. You have tested your document camera and thought about how to use it in a tutoring session.

Tutor Challenge

Go to the next level!

Teach your learner how to build their own DIY document camera. Watch the DIY document camera video together. Challenge your learner to set up a document camera and use it in a session. Think about:

  1. What did you both like about using a document camera?
  2. Who was actively interacting with learning materials during your session?
  3. How can you use the document camera in writing activities with your learner?

Next Steps

Here are some ideas of what to do next.

Congratulations!

You have completed Module 2 in this course. You are ready to try Module 3. Click on the link below:

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