Must Have Tool for "Back to School"

The HoverCam T3. The first
high-resolution document camera
that changed everything.

 A high-quality document camera is a must-have tool for any classroom teacher.

HoverCam, the technology leader in USB document cameras for schools, changed everything with the introduction of the T3, the world’s first USB document camera with high resolution, a fraction of the size and fraction of the cost of traditional document cameras. More than just a document camera, the HoverCam T3 is also a scanner, grading machine, video recorder and high-resolution web camera. Talk to teachers who have one and you can sense their passion for the HoverCam and all it does.

Over 100,000 HoverCam T3s (priced at $219) are in use at schools across the country. The company offers a newer model called Solo 5 which includes all the features of the T3 but is 5-megapixels, has a fully rotating camera head and is priced at $299.

Scan Right At Your Desk

HoverCam includes software for scanning and managing scanned images. Scan pages from a book, newspaper, magazine, kids’ homework. Use the motion sensor to scan multiple pages into one PDF file. Convert and stack scanned JPEG images into PDF. Email scanned images, post them to your website, organize them in folders or save them to Dropbox or Evernote. With the HoverCam, you’re getting more than a document camera. You’re also getting a scanner. No more trips to the school’s administration office to scan. Now, scan right at your desk.

HoverCam's Solo 5 features
a rotating camera head, giving it more versatility
when recording video. $299

Create Instructional Videos for Flipped Learning
The HoverCam includes a built-in microphone. Use the HoverCam’s software to conveniently record HD quality video with audio directly to your computer’s hard drive. With the HoverCam, it’s easy to create your own instructional videos for the flipped classroom. Upload videos you record to your website, Evernote, Dropbox, YouTube, Facebook or Picasa or email them. With HoverCam’s software, it’s easy to share files with students.

Save Time Grading Tests

Use the HoverCam you teach with to also grade tests. The HoverCam includes a free, one-year license of GradeCentral, a software program for creating and grading multiple choice quizzes and tests.  After students complete the test, place the tests under the HoverCam camera to scan them and record the grade in seconds. This will save you time grading. Data and test scores captured with GradeCentral software may be saved as a CSV file and shared with your school’s grading system.

Save Desk Space

The HoverCam has a small foot-print (less than 4” diameter) compared to traditional document cameras and doesn’t take up much desk space.  It’s always available to make a quick scan or use to present to class.  When not in use, the HoverCam may be “telescoped” or folded into a flat position to easily put away in a drawer or carried to another classroom. Because the HoverCam is USB powered, it’s easy and fast to set up and start using.

Striking Picture Quality
Expect superb image clarity from the HoverCam when compared to document cameras three times the cost. The HoverCam allows you to zoom in and out in real time with the spin of the mouse wheel. Combined with the ability to click and drag the image as needed, you have maximum versatility when presenting and teaching. It’s a great way to show worksheets, book pages, and even your iPad or tablet screen.

Industry Leading HoverCam Flex Software
HoverCam Flex is regarded as the best software of any document camera. It allows you to scan, record video, manage and share files. Whether you’re recording a “flipped classroom” video lesson or dropping a scanned image into a PowerPoint presentation, HoverCam Flex makes it easy. It even works with interactive whiteboards, allowing you to easily show captured images and live video on your interactive board. And, the software is embedded inside the unit, making it easy to install anywhere without having to download from the Internet or find a misplaced CD.

HoverCam Flex Software Features Include:

• Audio and Video Recording
• Screen Capture
• Annotation
• Picture-in-Picture (with the webcam on your computer)
• Interactive Whiteboard Integration
• Image Rotation
• Auto White Balance, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Freeze Frame
• Zoom and Scroll
• Archive Manager
• Drag-and-Drop Images or Videos
• Time-Lapse Photography
• Motion Triggered Scanning
• Video Conferencing (with HoverCam Connect)
• Compatibility with Skype, GoToMeeting, Zoom, WebEx
• Image stacking, conversion to PDF, and more

Improve Distance Learning & Remote Conferencing

The HoverCam image appears in a window on your computer screen, which means high resolution images of documents and objects can easily be viewed during remote conferences and distance learning sessions with Skype, GoToMeeting, Zoom, WebEx and other web conferencing programs in “screen sharing” mode. In addition, the HoverCam includes HoverCam Connect, a beta software feature that allows two HoverCam users at remote locations to share each other’s viewing screens over the Internet. The HoverCam provides much sharper, clearer images during remote conferencing than using a typical low-resolution webcam.

LED Lighting That Never Needs Changing
Have a dark room? No problem. The HoverCam camera works well in low lighting, and if your room is completely dark, the unit incorporates long-lasting LED lights. For the price of the replacement bulb of a traditional document camera, you could simply buy a HoverCam.

Engineering Masterpiece

The HoverCam was cleverly designed to leverage the processing power of the computer to zoom and control most functions, so the HoverCam doesn’t incorporate the large and expensive optical parts found in traditional document cameras. The result is a new form factor that’s compact, portable, durable and affordable. Moreover, with HoverCam’s strength as a software developer, the HoverCam software allows you to scan, record voice & video, remote conference and manage files which is why the T3 is so much more than just a “document camera."

For Mac & PC Users

HoverCam is compatible with Macs and PCs. Included with each HoverCam camera are:  1.3 meter USB cable, positioning mat, carrying pouch, HoverCam Flex Software and a one year free license of HoverCam’s GradeCentral grading software. 

For additional information about the HoverCam and to find out more about the company’s test-drive free-evaluation program for schools, please contact www.thehovercam.com or tel (858) 750-3499.

HoverCam: An Ideal "Document Camera" For Higher Education

HoverCam Solo 5x closed (l)
and open (r)

The HoverCam, based in San Diego, CA., makes document cameras, a product that's the modern equivalent of the obsolete overhead projector that used to be in every schoolroom and many conference rooms. Until now, almost 90% of the HoverCam's sales have been to the K-12 education market. That could change with the introduction of two new products, the desktop Solo 5x document camera and the ultraportable, pocket size HoverCam Mini 5.

The Solo 5x has unique features making it ideal for use on college campuses. Namely, its small footprint, high resolution, USB connectivity and multi-function capability including the ability to scan, video conference, record video and to present allow it to be used by college faculty numerous ways.

Here’s a list of the main features and uses on a college campus:

* Solo 5x has a small footprint -- it sits on an instructor’s desk in the office without taking up much desk space

* Scan documents and articles at the desk (without having to go to the photocopy machine down the hall)

* Use for instruction in class to show books, articles, iPad (tablet) screen – anything

* With its small footprint, the HoverCam Solo 5x doesn’t take up much space on a lectern.  It can be folded flat and easily put away

* Record instructional videos to post to a website for flipped classroom learning

* Incorporates a high-resolution, 5 mega-pixel camera, ideal for remote learning and "virtual office hours."  HoverCam works with Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, Zoom, WebEx, Skype to show clear images during video and web conferences

* Take the HoverCam Mini 5 (the pocket-size version of HoverCam) to the library or on the road to scan multiple pages quickly and accurately. Ideal for scanning archive documents, rare books and other precious resources that may not be removed from the library.

* The HoverCam Solo 5x costs only $299 and the ultraportable HoverCam Mini $249, making either affordable for every instructor on campus to have their own HoverCam camera-scanner.

For additional information, please visit the HoverCam website at: http://www.thehovercam.com/products/solo5 and http://www.thehovercam.com/products/mini-5

HoverCam Allows Any Teacher To "Flip" The Classroom & Create Flipped Videos

The success of the Khan Academy and the use of online recorded videos to demonstrate problem solving which students can access at any time is turning classrooms upside down.

Welcome to the world of "flipped learning" where the teacher's job is not to lecture and pontificate, but to coach, made possible by the high-speed web which hosts a world of instructional videos and education content. The concept of a flipped classroom is where students learn the concepts online at their pace (easily repeating when necessary) and the role of the teacher in class is to answer questions students couldn't figure out on their own.

Khan Academy and Internet searches will yield many results on how to solve specific types of exercises, but for those times when teachers feel compelled to create and post their own content online, what's the easiest way to create a high-quality instructional video? If the teacher doesn't have a stand or tripod for the smartphone, tablet or camera, attempting to make a recording by placing a device on a stack or books (or something more unstable) puts the device at risk.  And, where to find a special stand (with a clamp) that would hold a camera positioned over paper pointing down?

The HoverCam offers an easy solution. Essentially, a HoverCam is a high-resolution camera on a stick with software that allows recording in high-definition HD video.  Here's how it works.  The instructor plugs the HoverCam "document camera" into the USB port of a computer and launches the software. Next step is to position the paper or instructional materials directly under the camera and make sure everything is lined up. Then, press the record button in the software and the video is recorded directly to the computer's hard drive.  Because the HoverCam has a microphone, sound is also recorded. Viola, instant video on the computer which can be posted using HoverCam's software to a website, attached to an email, inserted into a PowerPoint and uploaded to Dropbox, Evernote, YouTube and other cloud services.

In addition to recording flipped videos, the HoverCam can also be used as a "document camera" to show live images of papers and solid objects to the class; used as a scanner to scan & file multiple documents or student assignments; used as a high-resolution webcam for distance learning and Skype; and used to grade tests.

Here's a step-by-step video tutorial from HoverCam's website showing how to create a flipped video for the classroom:



The HoverCam is priced right for schools with prices starting at $219 and is sold through a network of education specialist resellers throughout North America.  The company offers a free trial of its units to education institutions.  For additional information, please visit the company's website at http://www.thehovercam.com/teachers