Use of 3D Printing to Manufacture Document Camera Mounts in Support of Online Education Shifts during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The 2020 pandemic involving SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) resulted in a rapid shift to online education for instructors at every level around the world. This shift occurred with little training and minimal resources available due to the rapidity of onset. In this technology report, we describe the use of 3D printing to rapidly manufacture mounts for commonly used webcams, which allow them to be pointed downward and serve as document cameras for those instructors and students accustomed to board-based pedagogical methods. These mounts were designed to connect a webcam to a standard laboratory ring stand and could be printed using as little as 55 g of plastic ($1.38 per unit using plastic at $25.00 per 1000 g) in about 3 h per mount using default printer settings. The use of these mounts allowed a semblance of normality in pedagogy for both students and instructors during the rapid shift to online education, and this was reflected in student evaluations from a General Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry II course where they were utilized.