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Resources
"The Lightsmith Imager offers our schools a flexible, inexpensive way to better collaborate in our classrooms. Students can share work immediately without the need for transparencies or copying work over. Demonstrations are much easier when we can
project anything to all students. Students are more motivated to present to the
class. We can record any interactions easily for assessment or sharing. Any book
becomes a "Big Book" using this tool. All of our teachers who get a chance to use
this technology wonder how they lived without it. Since the unit uses any video
projector or camera we can quickly put together a document imager or take it apart
and use the camera and/or projector separately when necessary. This solution has
been great for our elementary schools."
Cameron McKinley
Technology Coach
Hoover City Schools
Alabama Teacher of the Year 2006-2007
"I purchased the small portable Elmo a few years ago and the teachers disliked it immensely. It had glare from the classroom fluorescent lights. We added a light on the side to help.
I looked around for an alternative and came across the Lightsmith Platform created by a teacher. I bought a few to test out with a video camera. It works great. Excellent clarity and flexibility. I am purchasing a camera and platform for each classroom. The teachers love it. It gives them a video camera, a digital camera for snapshots and a great document camera. It cost me $450 to setup a classroom and there is no comparison in the lens quality to the small document cameras.."
Bea Geraci
Technology Director
Unity Point School District 140
Carbondale, Il
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When we built our new school, we decided to check into Lightsmith video platforms rather than ELMO presenters because Lightsmith offered so many varieties of use and at such a cost savings. We were able to buy 10 Lightsmiths and camcorders with the money we had budgeted for presentation equipment. We’ve been very happy with Lightsmith, and our teachers have been very excited about using them in the classroom. I would highly recommend Lightsmith to all schools or businesses that are in the market for a projection device."
Galen Havner, Principal
Central Park Elementary
Bentonville, AR
"I used a Lightsmith platform with a Sony Digital 8 camcorder and compared it to an ELMO visual presenter. Versatility was the top reason I passed the ELMO back to my tech person and kept the Lightsmith system for my own classroom. Because it is so affordable and durable, it has allowed me to develop my classroom into a true working laboratory for writing, science, and art without being concerned about damaging an expensive piece of equipment.
"Stephanie Cowan, Fifth Grade Teacher
Owl Creek Middle School
Fayetteville, AR
"When having my students share books they recently wrote, they could put them under the Lightsmith camera and read them to the class. Everyone could see the drawings on the big screen and the kids loved being able to use the projector to display their writing."
Geri Evans, Classroom Teacher
Hoover, AL
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The Lightsmith has been so helpful in my classroom. I use it everyday to display student work, have students show how they solved various problems, or display daily problems or directions. I can't imagine my
class without it. It works much like an Elmo only we can record what we are showing more easily. My students get very excited when we put their work up to share and/or edit. We also use it to demo science labs and
instructions."
Stephanie Brown, Third Grade Teacher
Central Park Elementary
"Using the Lightsmith Imager
made our math discussion better. I was able to show students' work right on the
projector for class discussion by just putting the student's paper under it.
Usually, the student would have to recopy the work on the board.."
Patti Tanner, First Grade Teacher
Riverchase Elementary
Hoover, AL
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I love it. We use it for science experiments so the students can get a closer view. I also use it instead of running off so many transparencies and for checking Math Box pages." Nancy Ballard, Fifth Grade Teacher
Vandergriff Elementary
"For me, using a Lightsmith means being able to show pages from books without making overhead transparencies, so I can meet student needs immediately. I am able to present visual connections between text and students during the lessons. I find it a valuable tool in teaching note-taking, skimming, outlining, summarizing and other important across-the-curriculum skills because I can show the students exactly what I want them to see." Judy Smith, Media Specialist
Vandergriff Elementary
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"The Lightsmith is a GREAT addition to my classroom. It replaces my old
overhead and is so much more versatile! I frequently use it to show the class how to use manipulatives during Math--"Check mine to see if you've done the problem correctly." And I continually use it in Science and in Social Studies to show my students pictures or objects too small to see well otherwise. My class is always excited when I pull down the screen and turn on the video camera. They know something great is coming soon! We ALL love our Lightsmith!"
Meredy Dockery, Second Grade Teacher
Fayetteville, AR
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What Most Teachers Don't Know |
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What sets the Lightsmith system apart from other presentation technologies are the additional benefits of having a camcorder in the classroom. As Gary Stager explains in his article “The Digital Video Revolution,” digital video has the potential to reshape classroom learning. Today’s students think and learn in different ways than students of the past, and they need different learning tools. Digital video gives students the multisensory format they require to process information and apply their knowledge in exciting ways. Even students who are hard to engage by traditional classwork are energized by multimedia projects.
Students need little convincing to try a video project—more often, it is a matter of convincing their teachers. What many classroom teachers don’t realize is that most of the work has already been done for them! A large community of digital video enthusiasts have worked out all the steps of the process, written lesson plans and correlations, posted downloadable worksheets and rubrics, and produced tutorials that are available for free.
Not only that, but we've found that virtually all schools already own camcorders and computers with powerful video editing software on them. Most commonly there are only two things missing--an inexpensive FireWire card to connect the computer to the camcorder, and a little bit of training. To help your video program hit the ground running, be sure to visit our extensive list of Digital Video web links.
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The 14” x 16” Lightsmith video platform is made of durable laminate, so it is waterproof and stable enough to hold messy science experiments or art projects. It was designed with student use in mind, because a technology tool that is either too fragile or too expensive for students to operate sends them exactly the wrong message about the usefulness of technology.
 The camera support arm is 26” long, tall enough for adults to easily manipulate objects under the camera. It is flexible so that the camera can be rotated 180° to point anywhere on the platform or in the room, letting a Lightsmith additionally function as a very stable tripod. The focal length allows a piece of notebook paper to be completely in view or viewed close-up by using the camera’s optical zoom. Fine details can be observed by moving the camera closer to the object. For microscopic magnification, see our microscope adapter.
The compact light source provides color-enhancing light optimal for video and its flexible neck allows unlimited positions. Occasional bulb replacement is no problem either, because a Lightsmith uses compact fluorescent bulbs available anywhere light bulbs are sold.
We are so sure that a Lightsmith Imaging Platform will be among your most long-lived and most-used technology investments that we offer a 90-day money back guarantee and a 3-year replacement warranty on all parts. So go ahead, let your students use it, too. They’ll love it!
Patent pending
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ISTE Technology Standards as Adopted by NCLB |
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| Basic operations and concepts | Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems
Students are proficient in the use of technology. | LS provides students access to a camcorder functioning both as a handheld camera and as part of a video imager. They may use it as either an input or output device and become comfortable connecting its power and video cables properly. | | Social, ethical, and human issues | Students understand the ethical, cultural and societal issues related to technology.
Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity. | Through recording and editing video footage with LS, students are introduced the concept of point of view, and the potential for media bias. They can produce multimedia projects reflecting their own unique perspectives and interests. | | Technology productivity tools | Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, preparing publications, and producing other creative works. | In addition to documenting their work in video form with LS, students using video editing software have the ability to use lively transitions, add sound effects or voice-over narrative, and vary playback speed for cinematic effects. | | Technology communications tools | Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences. | A LS can easily be set up as a high-quality input camera station for distance learning. Also, multiple copies of edited video productions can be distributed and viewed by other classes, broadcast on cable television, or archived in the campus media center. | | Technology research tools | Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources. | Students can use LS to conduct interviews, take informal polls, record experiments, or document oral history as an older relative interprets a family photo album. | | Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools | Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions. | Campaign commercials and mock election debates can be recorded and discussed at length. |
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Buy a Lightsmith Platform Now$199.99
Customer Testimonials"Why spend thousands of dollars on obsolete presentation systems when all you truly need is a Lightsmith? I highly recommend this product and hope to expand our twenty-four Lightsmiths per middle school to one per classroom." Patty Plummer Technology Integration Program Manager Fayetteville Public Schools more
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