Cheap Document Camera

I am often asked if I know of any ways to fund technology in the classroom or if I have any sources for cheap technology. I am pleased to announce that I have finally found an inexpensive piece of technology to share with you. I had a document camera in my classroom for several years and found many ways to incorporate it into the daily classroom routine. It wasn’t until I started presenting on the topic of using technology in the early childhood classroom that I ran into an obstacle. I had access to most of the necessary technology at my events with the exception of a document camera.

I started shopping around for portable document cameras on discount sites with no luck; they were all too big and too expensive. Then, I stumbled across a blog post by a teacher who made her own document camera for about $100. Her idea sounded great but it was a bit complicated and required a trip to the big box home improvement store which I wasn’t too keen on. I started searching more diligently on the internet and finally stumbled across the IPEVO Camera for only $69. It sounded too good to be true but I decided to give it a try and I wasn’t disappointed.

In addition to being inexpensive, the IPEVO camera is very small, portable, and works extremely well- much better than I hoped for. In fact, my super expensive school district model required me to turn off the classroom lights each time I used it, but that is not the case with my IPEVO, it works just fine in regular light. I recently used it at a presentation with the house lights on, no problem. It might not have some of the more fancy features like record, but it does zoom and take pictures which is enough for me.

Before anybody reminds me that $69 isn’t cheap here are my tips for funding sources.

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