Skype With A Document Camera?
6th in a series of articles about document cameras
With budgets being squeezed to wring out as much efficiency as possible from every expenditure, wouldn’t it be great to be able to borrow from the Saturday Night Live ad parody and say “Shimmer is a floor wax and a dessert topping!” regarding the effectiveness of your classroom equipment purchases?
But while that’s a bit of a stretch for two seemingly innocuous objects, you can say that you use your Diggiditto Document Camera in a multi-functioning capacity as a web cam and also for Skype calls!
As far fetched as it may sound at first, the Diggiditto can perform both functions in addition to its ability to make movies – what a combo! While desktop microphones or headsets have been traditionally used for VoIP applications, you can now add at least this document camera to the list. Once you’ve signed up and created your Skype account and have plugged in the Diggiditto, go into the “options” menu for Skype and select the “Video Settings” where you’ll see the Diggiditto as a choice for your webcam. Go ahead and select and save this, then open up the”Audio Settings” option. Under the “microphone” setting, you’ll similarly see the Diggiditto appear (but labelled as USB2.0 Web Camera.) Select and save this choice and you’re ready to go with your newly found broadcasting ability!
Read the previous article in the series about document cameras or return to the first one. Read about the role Skype is playing with distance learning programs.
Tags: Blended Learning, built-in mic, Califone DC596 Document Camera, classroom, computer, Computer Accessory, Distance Learning, skype, usb, webcam
