Kent ICT Blog

We use our visualiser to show live experiments in a large lecture theatre.

We also record these using a USB connection between visualiser and PC and screen capture software.

I used one in a FS classroom the other day with children to share their small world play.  I captured still images of it and put them in a book.  The book was put in the reading corner and this enabled the pair of children to continue retelling their story and others to tell the story in their own way to go with the images.

This really supported book behaviours and the idea that some books tell stories.

I am very interestd in the use of visualisers in the classroom, the bottom of the two case study hyperlinks is blocked by the websense filter - is there anything you can do about this so that is can be read in school?

Children loved the Visualiser - as do I.

We have used it for finding features in texts, modelling skills in art, looking at artefacts and editing and sharing work.

It's a great way for the children to get instant feedback on their work and a reason for working that little bit harder - so they can get their work on the 'VISUALISER!!'

I have the smaller Visualiser which is great! I have used it a lot and as it is very portable and light I can move it around to suit the lesson.

The flexible post holding the camera is good to direct the camera exactly where you want to. With A4 pages I have found you need to have it as high as you can to include the whole page. Also I have had to label the camera head so I know which way round it should be. Too many times I have shown a piece of work upside down or sideways.

If I had to mention one draw back with the visualiser it would have to be that the picture isn't crisp and when you zoom in the picture degrades a lot!! Also it takes quite a bit of fiddling with the focus to get the best picture.

I still love it and it's great for demonstrating, displaying work and even using for science experiements.

We've been using Elmo visualisers at St. Mary's, Whitstable, for 4-5 years now. We love them! They are brilliant for sharing and annotating texts in literacy hour (saves masses of photocopying). I use it during handwriting sessions, I can write on an exercise book book with handwriting lines and the children see it very clearly on the screen. As for science...well, having shown the children a diagram of parts of a flower, we then opened up a real lily, zoomed in on the Elmo and there was the real proof. The children's response was 'WOW!' We've also been able to zoom in on rocks, creatures etc. We've also used it to scan and save the children's work. Don't know how we ever managed without them!

Just an added bit to my previous comments. In my class the children do 'One minute talks'. They prepare these at home and are very proficient at loading up their talk from a flash drive and placing items to show on the Elmo, zooming and focusing.

I have used a visualiser to evaluate a piece of writing against success criteria.  During the lesson I selected the piece and agreed with the pupil that we could use it and then in the plenary the whole class checked the piece of writing against the success criteria - noting the successes and suggesting possible improvements.  I think it is this ability to spontaneously share a piece of work that makes visualisers really exciting - before I would have had to scan the work in and that would almost certainly have meant it would have been the next day (next lesson) when we would have been able to look at it.  

Visualisers in daily use in both classrooms. Mine has been invaluable for self and peer assesment, sharing children's work before , during an after the task.

We have used them for demonstrating tasks across the curriculum as well as sharing images from books.

Very handy for song words in hymn practice when used with the hall projector and for sharing small medals, badges and awards in 'show and tell'.

Most unusually perhaps we were all able to have a look at an xray of a pupil's broken arm.

Only one small drawback with the cheaper model is the blurry image when you are moving e.g. modelling handwriting  - I would recommend the elmo or better

I have set up a visualiser in my classroom and the children used it.  I videoed the children singing a number rhyme for the number bonds and they watched it back during their mental maths starter which was great!

We have also used it for problem solving and storytime - so far so good!!

A definite benefit is that I don't have to stand in front of the whiteboard to write and scribe - saving any issues with shadowing the work as the smartboard would normally cause.