Family Guardian in partnership with Multimedia Technologies donated two pieces of hardware to make the distance learning process easier for the teachers and students of D.W. Davis Junior High.
The first piece is a whiteboard camera, Kaptivo. Kaptivo turns an ordinary whiteboard into a distance learning teaching tool. Content written on the whiteboard by the teacher can be saved and shared with the student later, so the student can concentrate on the lesson and not worry about taking notes. Kaptivo also has Optical Character Recognition (OCR) features which enable teachers to convert different types of documents and images captured by a digital camera into editable and searchable data. Kaptivo also has language translation features.
Kaptivo can be used to create pre-recorded content as well as for live student instructor interaction. With live student instructor interaction, content written on a whiteboard can be live streamed directly to students who are learning remotely.
The other piece of equipment donated is a Poly Studio. The Poly Studio is a video bar (as opposed to a video camera). It is a combination of microphone, voice tracking camera and speakers. It would allow for a teacher to move freely and be tracked by the camera while teaching a class where the students are remote learners. For example, a science teacher can use the Poly Studio to conduct a demonstration without being restricted to a video camera in front of the screen.
For a classroom, the Poly Studio can shorten the distance between the presenter and students. In a classroom the Poly Studio would automatically focus on any student speaking so an instructor, who may be socially distant from students, can through technology, be able to interact with that student on a one on one basis.
“As a school family, we are grateful for Family Guardian and Multimedia Technologies Ltd. For the generous donation of the Kaptivo whiteboard camera and the Poly Studio video bar presented today. These items, in addition to the laptop provided by Family Guardian, will go a long way in assisting our teachers and students with virtual learning, ” noted Ms. Nicolette Brown, Principal, D.W. Davis.
