Learning in Hand Blog by Tony Vincent

Homemade Document Camera Solution

Dale Ehrhart, education student extraordinaire, has fashioned his own "handheld cam" and is kind enough to share photos of it with us. Dale needed to show his handheld's screen for a class he is taking and he doesn't have access to a manufactured document camera. He created the solution you see pictured below. He used a milk crate, a stick, a plastic bowl, and some screws to make a contraption where he can position his camcorder above a handheld. The camcorder then outputs to a television. Pretty creative, I must say!

Dale says his wife had many glowing comments, including:

"Did you put a hole in one of my plastic bowls?"
"You're going to drag that thing around school?"
"You're such a dork!"

I won't tell Dale's wife that if he has access to a Windows machine, he can use software like PDAReach or TapSmart HandShare free for 14 days and there's no hardware to buy. Using the handheld's USB cable, you connect your handheld and computer. The Palm's screen appears on the Windows computer's screen. Since what's on your handheld is also on the computer's screen, it can be projected just like you would a PowerPoint slide show. Unfortunately, neither of these solutions are Mac compatible.

Click a photo for a larger version. Notice Dropairs on the screen in the first photo? Dale has created several Pair Boards for Dropairs.

Comments:

Ok Dale....I was going to download PDA reach and try it out, but I think your setup looks more interesting-hmmm!

Wendy

posted by

Anonymous at Thursday, November 10, 2005 3:29:00 AM

Well, it's pretty creative, I must say. I didn't have all those fancy overhead camera thingies, either. However, having had a photography studio in my life-before-teaching I just used a mini-tripod, sometimes called a table-top tripod. They cost as low as $5 from places like:http://www.minitripods.com/gindex.html
The mini tripod sits right on my desk, points downward, and works like a champ. Folds up and will fit in your camera bag.

posted by

Casey Hales at Thursday, November 10, 2005 7:37:00 PM

I like PDA reach but it doesn't show animations or video clips, which I needed.

So, with using a tripod you get to point a camera straight down and still maintain your dignity?
....Well there goes my vision of having that blue thing sitting in my classroom for thirty years. :)

By the way, I just found out that I passed the first of two basic skills tests that I need for formal acceptance in my Edu program.

Dale

posted by

Anonymous at Thursday, November 10, 2005 8:35:00 PM

Lap Link Controller provides a great option for the Palm and Pocket PC. It is great. You can even choose skins that makes it look like the outside casing of your handheld while showing the screen. There is a seven day trial and the software costs $29.95 to buy! A colleague showed it to me and I absolutely love it!

http://www.laplink.com/products/controller/overview.asp

posted by

Dawn Sweet - Western Illinois University at Thursday, November 10, 2005 9:56:00 PM

Dale,

'Tis a thing of beauty, no doubt! :)
Here in Texas, they have warning on those milk crates that promise some serious consequences for wrangling them. And you know what they do to cattle thieves here. Cattle/cow/milk/milk crate... Yeah, it's a stretch, but...

Did the passage of those two skills involve milk crate and mop handle integration? :)

Rube Goldberg would have been proud! :)
http://www.rube-goldberg.com/html/gallery.htm

posted by

Casey at Friday, November 11, 2005 11:46:00 AM

You should be an Engineering major...A+ for creativity and ingenuity! -Barb

posted by

Barbara Smalla at Monday, January 28, 2008 1:02:00 PM