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Steph Lennon Personalised Learning Consultant shares some innovative ideas for using the Visualiser in school
Teachers have now been enthusing learners with Interactive Whiteboards over the years and many of them are now ready for the next exciting initiative to continue engaging learners in the classroom.
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The Avermedia 130 Visualiser would be the next best tool that a teacher could use in many ways which would complement their use with a projector or an Interactive whiteboard. Visualisers have been around for some time and to purchase one of high quality that is reliable, the price has previously been around £2000. Some schools had also purchased the cheaper document cameras but, as the price was low, so was the quality of the image and the scope of what you could do. Thankfully this is no longer the case as Avermedia has produced the Avervision 130 visualiser at a reasonable price of approximately £280. The Avervision 130 is a portable and lightweight visualiser with a mechanical arm design. In addition to linking it through the specific Visualiser program or SMART notebook on your laptop you can also direct connect this visualiser to a LCD/DLP projector, monitor or TV which might be useful for displaying objects during an assembly for all to see. This particular model also has the following features; flexible goose-neck stand, manual focus, 400% digital zoom, pan, mirroring, rotation, negative to positive conversion, and freeze function.
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It is connected to a laptop or PC through the USB port and also needs a separate power adapter (which is supplied). Unfortunately the power cable is not that long so consideration will be needed when organising a space for the visualiser ensuring it can be positioned near the power supply. The visualiser is connected to the projector (or via the wall connection) and the laptop or PC through a data cable (supplied). It may be useful to put stickers on the ports and corresponding cable to help teachers when it comes to connecting it all up.
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The software that comes with the visualiser is really simple to use. There are basic zoom and pan controls on the main window which are operated by clicking on the appropriate button. There is also the feature to change the colour of the image to black and white or a negative and the facility to take a snapshot which saves the image straight to a folder you specify.
This particular visualiser will enable teachers to scan and capture images straight into SMART notebook for annotation. So, what are the types of things teachers can do with a visualiser? One of the main uses and something really high on the agenda within schools is Assessment for Learning. Pupil’s work of a non-digital content can be placed underneath the visualiser to be annotated and attached in to Microsoft Word/SMART notebook or PowerPoint for assessment/record keeping. In addition to this, during a literacy lesson, a pupil could display their writing to the rest of the class. This work could be edited with a focus on using time connectives replacing the words such as 'then' with other connectives 'after' and 'later'. |
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In mathematics or Art, 3D objects can be placed under the camera for the class to see the same image and discuss lines, angle and in art, the tone of the object they can see.
Using the visualiser in Science allows pupils to view live video feed of minibeasts that has been zoomed in to see the intricacies of their bodies or use the zoom facility to investigate plants or materials.
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The important element of using the visualiser in situations like this gives the ability for all children to discuss the same image, which is difficult in a normal classroom.
A recent study by Nottingham Trent University has revealed that in most cases, where a teacher has used a visualiser to enrich learning, they observed that the standard of work was higher and achieved by a greater proportion of the class.
We do have further information about the use of visualisers across the curriculum on our ICT website at http://www.ict.oxon-lea.gov.uk and it can be found by clicking on Managing ICT and Primary Documents and you will find the document ‘A Visualiser or Visual Presenter’ on the page to download.
Suppliers
This visualiser can be purchased at competitive prices from the following people
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Matrix Display 01784 439000 |
RM 08709 086969 |
Technical Requirements
1. Pentium
class processor
2. Windows2000 Professional with Service Pack 2, Windows XP Professional or
Home, or Windows XP Tablet PC
3. 32 MB of RAM (64 MB recommended)
4. 60 MB of available hard disk space
