Teachers like goodies. We like things that make our jobs not only easier, but more effective. Projectors are becoming more the norm in classrooms rather than the exception. Teachers are finding ways to best make use of this wonderful tool.

At a recent EdTech conference (MECA in Mississippi) I was able to obtain the Ziggi HD Plus document camera. To be honest, I wondered just how effective this tool would be, as it was priced at around $100. Talking to Alex, at the Ipevo booth, he promised that this camera had great resolution. I decided I would take this little guy for a spin.

First things first. The unboxing. When you open the box, you get a camera. Surprise. You also get an anti glare shield and the instruction manual. No CD, no software of any kind. Normally, this might be a concern. Ipevo, however, made it a simple matter to download the software from their website. As soon as the software has been downloaded and installed, you are ready to plug the camera in and go.

The software was pretty self explanatory. A screenshot of what I see when I am working with the camera is below. You can make several adjustments directly in the software itself, without having to touch the camera.

Overall, I am very impressed with the resolution. Projected on my board via an Apple TV, the image was quite nice. Students had no problems reading text from the camera.

One thing I have noticed, having taught younger kids as well as my middle schoolers, is that document cameras tend to lag a big when turning pages. If, for example, you are reading a picture book and projecting the image through the camera, when you turn the page, the image often blurs and lags several seconds. This has not been an issue at all with the Ziggi.

Ipevo makes a claim that they want to make technology for the classroom at an affordable price. Many people can make a camera for this price, but I have yet to find one that does as superb a job as the Ziggi HD Plus. For $100, this thing is a steal.  If you have not had a chance to take a look at one head over to ipevo.com and take a look. If you are at a conference and see them in the exhibitor hall, definitely stop by and talk to them.

(image of actual camera property of Ipevo)