If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video clip is worth a thousand pictures. With the rise of video sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo teaching and learning is fast becoming a completely multimedia based exercise. To harness the full potential of the video format, a camcorder is an absolute necessity. With various makes and models flooding the market, what would you need for your teaching purposes?

Figure 3.5 Camcorder

The webcam

The webcam is the very basic model of video recording technology and the camera for the most part will stay attached to your computer, even though there are some portable webcams that can be taken around from place to place. Most webcams today are in the RM50 to RM100 range and use a very low resolution for viewing the video. Low level webcames have limited options, if any, to change the resolution or size of the video output. The upside is that it is very easy to use and produce small video files for the purpose of getting information out to students in a timely fashion.

Figure 3.6 Webcam

A high end webcam has the same ability as the low end webcam but the webcam has the ability to change the screen resolution and size of the viewing screen. Some have face tracking options, are able to take still shots and can be used a separate handheld camera. The downside of this is that you will have to contend with familiarising yourself more editing features and dealing with large file sizes.