ICT graphics tool
Level: All
Area: Design and Visual Communication
Teacher: D'Arcy Belfield
School: Tokoroa High School
Category: Physical teaching tool
D'Arcy Belfield is currently completing a Technology teaching degree at Waikato University and has recently been appointed a position as Hard Materials and Graphics teacher at Tokoroa High School starting in 2012.
Previously, D'Arcy worked for several years as a cabinet maker and joiner, designing kitchens using Vectorworks CAD software. During this time, he also took up a position as a joinery tutor at the Waikato Technical Institute where he found "a passion for teaching teenagers through their STAR (Secondary Tertiary Alliance Resource) courses".
This teaching experience led D'Arcy to develop a simple, affordable and effective tool that projects drawing straight from a Graphics teacher's drawing board onto the class whiteboard, using readily available hardware and software.
This Snapshot looks at how, and why, D'Arcy developed the tool, and explains the benefits this system offers for student learning and the Graphics teaching environment.
The development of the tool
D'Arcy explains that the tool's development came from what he describes as "a natural inclination to try improving things, finding out where the problem is and solving it."
D'Arcy had noticed that using a standard drawing board to demonstrate graphics techniques in a classroom situation had some fundamental problems for students.
"As I walked around the class I could see stages of disconnection, and not just at one particular point," D'Arcy says. "No matter how skilled or thorough I was, it was difficult to show most of the techniques required to everyone. The instruments were difficult to use, especially on a vertical surface, and, worst of all, my body blocked the students' view."
Frustrated with students missing instructions, and becoming disengaged with the subject, D'Arcy looked into a solution that would suit both teachers and students.
"I wanted to develop something that would create 100% engagement, with easier learning that would convert into higher levels of achievement," D'Arcy says.
D'Arcy had found that students learnt techniques best when he "took over their instruments and showed them physically how to do it while talking them through." Of course this only works one student at a time, so D'Arcy wanted to develop a system that would allow him to demonstrate in this style but to the whole class.
Some of his first ideas proved too complex or expensive, but D'Arcy then came up with a much simpler solution. "It dawned on me that the answer was to mount a camera above a drawing board, send it through a program on my pc, then through a projector onto the whiteboard."
To find a solution that was both practical and affordable in a classroom environment, D'Arcy first trialled several different combinations of hardware and software, taking note of the best elements of each. For the software, D'Arcy eventually chose CyberLink webcam4 because of its unique full-screen function that has proved invaluable for this tool, and its affordable price.
The hardware used in D'Arcy's first model consisted of a piece of formed aluminium bent to shape over his drawing board with an older webcam screwed into it. While primitive, the results on the class were immediately effective.
"From the second I started using this setup, student learning went through the roof," D'Arcy says. "Their engagement was the first sign of success and then on monitoring their work I found they were all on-task and completing it."
D'Arcy has since upgraded this system with a fully adjustable camera stand and a high definition 1080-pixel web camera that gives a far clearer picture and can pick up finer pencil work.
"The quality of this hardware gave me the ability to draw using pencil on paper and made the drawing environment 100% authentic, producing a true example of the expectations for students to aim for," D'Arcy explains.
D'Arcy also realised that developing an effective teaching tool means thinking about more than just hardware and software.
"It's really about teaching practices, relationships and the dynamics in your classroom. For me the issues in development were practical, finding out how the students learnt Graphics best, the best hardware and software to use, and keeping the cost down!"
Classroom benefits
The practical benefits of this tool were apparent immediately and benefit both teachers and students.
- Visibility – Detailed work can be seen by all students in class without the teacher blocking the view.
- Authenticity - Teachers can draw naturally using exactly the same tools as the students.
- Class Management – The teacher can face the students while demonstrating.
- Engagement – Students and teachers have constant communication while teacher demonstrates, not before or after.
- Recording Capability –An added bonus is the demonstration can be recorded, which saves time with needless repetition of techniques. Students having trouble can refer to the recording while teachers continue with class progression. Absentee students can catch up far more easily.
"This tool makes quality usage of my strengths and puts them into a teaching and learning environment, helping me to be the best teacher I possibly can," D'Arcy says. "Most importantly it took the hard work out of teaching and learning and let me express my cognitive and motor skills in a real-world setting. It lets me teach the way I'd like to be taught."
Benefits for students
These immediately obvious practical benefits have also had more long-term effects for student learning. D'Arcy describes the effect on students as "astonishing" from the first use of the new system.
"Students were enjoying their learning because they were understanding it, keeping up and completing tasks – it meant we were all on the same page, "Darcy says. "Some students may not have displayed higher levels of skill but at least they felt they weren't being left behind. This is traditionally when you begin to lose students and it's a lot of hard work to catch them back up."
The student/teacher relationship is also something that has been strengthened in D'Arcy's classes with the introduction of the tool."Students want to be learning from you, not someone else on YouTube and that psychology is one of the important underlying issues that led me to develop this tool.
Resources/Expenses
The set-up
The base of the camera stand is attached with its existing clip to the teacher's drawing board, enabling the camera to focus directly down onto the surface of the page. The web camera is then plugged into a computer equipped with Cyberlink webcam 4 software.
The computer is then connected to a projector, enabling Darcy's drawing board, and any other onscreen applications, to be displayed directly onto the class white board on a large scale.
The components
The basic components for this system are readily available and can be adjusted to suit budgets and the specific needs of your classroom.
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Camera
D'Arcy uses a Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910, but any webcamera with a minimum1080p definition should give a clear enough picture when expanded to full screen. Autofocus features can be temperamental in poor lighting conditions and D'Arcy suggests that a manual focus option is preferable. Webcameras with these specifications are currently available from $120 to $200. -
Camera stand
While every environment will be different, D'Arcy has found that the base of an adjustable equipoise lamp (also called angle poise or swing arm) has worked best. Buy one with a clamp base to fasten to the drawing board rather than a weight. These can be purchased from Bunning's Warehouse starting from $40. Second-hand models are also available on TradeMe.
Darcy removed the lampshade from the lamp and bent its oval bracket flat. He then made a strong stable bracket to attach the web camera by cutting a strip of 0.8mm galvanised iron to the right size for his web camera's existing clips. He then drilled two holes in the iron strip so that it could be bolted to the existing screw holes in the flattened bracket of the lamp stand. The solid strip this created provided a convenient base for the web camera to be detached and reattached to easily. - Computer
Any computer running Windows 7, Vista or XP should meet all the requirements for the software. - Software
CyberLink webcam4 is available for download for $35 with a free 15 day trial. - Projector
D'Arcy has found that a LCD projector used in natural light works best. If your school doesn't already have one, these retail from around $350.
Advice
D'Arcy recommends experimenting in the classroom environment ahead of time to be prepared for any potential issues.
"Make sure you are set up and have practiced the activity the night before. Student feedback was that they felt it was professional so it's important to back this up in your delivery. Also use natural lighting as much as possible and pay special attention to any artificial lighting, because shadows and poor lighting conditions can create problems with the automatic focus on some cameras."
D'Arcy also feels there is potential for the tool within other subject areas such as Art or any other activity where "the focus is on the hands and what they are doing", such as threading a sewing machine.
As with any tool, D'Arcy stresses this is something to enhance, rather than replace, any aspects of the teacher's practice.
"In reality, this tool performs a small function, to enhance good teaching practice in the most authentic, pedagogically friendly way. It simply amplifies your knowledge and skills and puts them out there, enhancing a cognitive apprenticeship teaching practice and making your thinking visible, so the teacher remains the most important resource."
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