| Interactive Primary Bulletin 45 Lights, Camera, Action ..... |
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Early Level - I can capture and present my world and
experiences by taking photographs, or recording sound and moving images. TCH
008G |
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If you were inspired by the article on Digital Video in the Primary Science Class (Primary Bulletin 41) but felt that the cameras looked too complicated or fragile, two new models may be of interest. The first is the Busbi (right) This is a very basic camera, and is all the better for being so. It has only four buttons (see below): On, Record, Playback and Delete.
The Tuff-Cam has more features than the Busbi. It can take still pictures, and has a digital zoom, a flash and a threaded socket for a tripod. Tuff-Cams have a menu button that allows the resolution (level of detail) of the video to be altered and lets the user step through all film clips, viewing or deleting them. It has 64 megabytes of memory built in. This is only enough for a few minutes of filming but there is a slot for a memory card to increase this dramatically. Like those from the Busbi, clips played on all the computers that we tried. The guide that comes with the Tuff-Cam states that rechargeable batteries should not be used. Instead, it recommends Energizer Lithium batteries. These have a long life, though they are more expensive to buy than ordinary alkaline batteries. We contacted the company to ask why they were against the use of rechargeables. These batteries will not harm the Tuff-Cam but TTS say that they run down quite quickly in the unit. We think that a school with a number of Tuff-Cams may still decide that rechargeable batteries represent the most cost-effective solution. The cameras came with CDs but we found that no installation was needed to simply copy clips for viewing on a computer. At its best quality, video from the Tuff-Cam is slightly better than that taken on the Busbi. We think that pupils will love its looks. It is easy to hold, thanks to the pistol grip, though the trigger has to be held in for filming. At the time of writing, the Busbi can be bought for around £30 [1] including VAT. The Tuff-Cam [2] is more than twice as expensive. We wouldn’t pay the extra money just to get the stills feature as the quality was not that good, but potential buyers may feel that the camera’s design and its other features justify its cost. Both cameras are easy to use, even for those who don’t consider themselves to be computer experts. They feel tough enough for the primary classroom, where they have the potential to add another fun dimension to science and ICT. References[1] www.busbi.biz |
New
draft Experiences and Outcomes 
Camcorders
for Classroom Use
It
has no zoom and cannot take still pictures. The Playback and
Delete buttons only allow you to view or remove the last clip but all
movies can be accessed by hooking the camcorder up to a computer. Unless
your PC has an old version of Windows, the Busbi will behave just
like a pen drive when you link it via a USB socket. It comes complete with
an SD memory card that can store an hour of video. The quality of the clips
is surprisingly good. Colour, in particular, was better than on some of the
more expensive cameras we have tried. We also failed to find a computer that
would not play the Busbi movies - we tried PCs, Macs and our new
ASUS EEE (right). The camcorder uses two AA batteries. SSERC staff liked
the Busbi so much that we bought them for the delegates on our latest round
of CfE CPD courses.
If
an alien spaceship lands outside your school, it is probably best not to
film the event using a TTS Tuff-Cam (right) as it looks rather
like a ray gun. It has a pistol grip and large, clearly-labelled buttons
that could be operated even when wearing gloves.
