Whether teachers teach English online, make use of teaching companies, or record lessons for their students in a classroom, a decent webcam produces a professional video outcome a teacher needs. Audio and image quality are vital features a camera should deliver. In this time of virtual classrooms it’s even more essential you get a good webcam for teaching.
We have researched many webcams and created a shortlist to help teachers choose the best webcam for their needs. Our editor’s pick is the Logitech C922 because it is designed for professional use and has excellent audio and streaming quality for moving around or using a whiteboard during class. Our list also includes the best budget webcam, a web camera for teachers who travel, and features of camera settings like lighting, user-friendly, and usability on social media platforms.
Best Webcams For Online Teaching
 | Logitech C270 Webcam Lowest Price | Check price at |
 | Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam | Check price at |
 | TedGem PC Full HD Webcam | Check price at |
 | Mevo Start Live Event Camera | Check price at |
 | Mimoday Plug & Play Webcam | Check price at |
Our Top Picks for Using Webcams Online
Best Overall Teacher Webcam: Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam
The Logitech C920 Pro Stream Webcam is overall the best webcam for online teachers who want more than what the built-in webcams in their computers have to offer. The teaching camera is designed for working professionals and features everything an online teacher may need for streaming high-quality videos.
The webcam records at 1080p compared to the 720p of the computer’s built-in camera. With the ability to record videos in resolutions of 1080p at 30 fps and 720p at 60 frames per second, the C920 is one of the best webcams for teachers. When live streaming, online teaching is a pleasure with high quality and smooth feed. It is ideal for working on a whiteboard, moving around, or demonstrating a live experiment to remote students. The webcam offers teachers better quality and a more professional product without paying for a professional webcam.
A glass lens and full HD 1080p capture detail and bright colors when recording and streaming. The 78-degree field of view is more extensive, colors more vibrant, and videos clearer and crispy, which teachers require when teaching a class. The Logitech C922 is the updated version of the Logitech C920 with improved clarity, sound, colors, the field of view, and low light performance. Video quality is excellent, with no grain effect in the small window.
Beginners may appreciate the autofocus feature, whereas the manual focus fine-tunes the image even more. The low light correction feature adjusts lighting situations to ensure a clear picture wherever a teacher streams from online; it also adapts the lighting in a room with multiple computer screens or flickering lights.
One of the features that make the webcam different than many other webcams is the dual microphones for stereo audio, creating a rich sound and no-drop audio. A microphone placed on each side of the webcam allows for receiving and transmitting sound in all directions. The omnidirectional microphones ensure sound is picked up equally from all directions, which benefit teachers who move around while teaching.
The versatility of placing the webcam on a Logitech stand, mounting it onto most monitors or standing on the teacher’s desk, gives teachers flexibility in movement. A teacher may position the webcam wherever it is best for their teaching style.
No assembly is needed; the webcam comes perched on an adjustable surface. The Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam is one of the best webcams for online teaching for teachers who use webcams in the classroom. The webcam is compatible with Windows 10 or later and Windows 8, and 7. It also works with Chrome OS, macOS, and Android. The Logitech C920S HD Pro Webcam, the previous model, includes a privacy shutter and a good buy at a lower price point.
Best User-Friendly Plug and Play: Logitech C270 Webcam
The Logitech C270 Webcam is the perfect webcam when technology is not your strongest skill or if you do not have the time, like teachers, to go through a difficult installation process. It is a true plug and play USB camera and has a 5-foot cable. By connecting the Logitech C270 webcam to your computer installation happen automatically. Without configurations, the webcam is ready for use.
The Logitech Fluid Crystal technology ensures a smooth video motion in real-time without choppiness. You may expect true-to-life detail and color reproduction to be natural. With one click, the camera takes 3-megapixel snapshots to share on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. The built-in microphone of the camera picks up the teacher’s voice up to about 15 feet.
Automation of most features gives teachers the freedom to focus on the lesson and not worry about picture quality or clarity of webcam images. The camera automatically adjusts focus, contrast, brightness, and color saturation. Connected to a Windows PC gives you the flexibility of manually changing the features too.
The webcam clips securely to LCD monitors and laptops. With its flat-panel design, the camera does not take up space and blends in with any style. The Logitech C270 webcam is the best webcam offering value at a low price.
See Also:
Best Document Cameras For Teachers
Best for YouTube Videos and Gaming: Growfast Full HD Webcam
The Growfast Full HD Webcam is an excellent webcam for streaming, gaming, and creating YouTube videos for students to revisit the lesson. If your budget is tight, but you need video quality professional webcams feature, to create YouTube videos for teaching online, then the Growfast webcam is an excellent pick.
A 360-degree rotation lens makes this webcam unique to many other webcams that have a fixed lens. A bracket allows a teacher to rotate and swivel the lens and adjust it to your requirements for that specific session. When using the webcam for conference calls or widescreen video calling, you may adjust the lens accordingly.
The resolution of full HD 1080p at 30 fps, captures clear and detailed pictures when recording. A low light correction feature adjusts automatically poor lighting for maximum visibility. You may also manually focus on the image. Unlike most webcams, the Growfast lens protrudes and allows for manual adjustments by turning it. The glass lens features an F/N 2.1 large aperture used for adjusting focus, a protective lens shell, and 5 plus 1 IR layer optical lenses.
Two built-in microphones to the left and right of the webcam lens capture the sound for video recording and calling. The microphones automatically filter out background noise so that your voice is clear to the listeners and stereo.
5.25. ft USB power cable should be long enough to reach the computer. A tripod clip is also included in the purchase. The webcam is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, and later, Mac OS 10.6 and above, Android V5.0 or above, and Chrome OS V29.0.1547 and above. It is also compatible with most software like YouTube, OBS, Skype, Lifesize, Mixer, Xbox One, and social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.
A great alternative to the GrowFast webcam is the Besteker webcam, which has about the same design and specifications.
Best Good Lighting for Facial Enhancement: Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam
The Razer Kiyo Webcam is one of the best webcams for online teachers and the beauty industry that requires the best lighting for facial enhancement. Online teaching sometimes requires the closeups of the teacher. Often the light is not flattering to a person’s features. The Kiyo multi-step ring-light camera projects your features in the best flattering light by adjusting the ring light’s brightness.
A camera recording resolution gives you two options, streaming in 1080p at 30 frames per second or in 720p at 60fps. The Razer Kiyo was designed and tested by top streamers to ensure the best quality streaming for online teachers, gamers, video bloggers, and users who use it for webcams jobs.
Full camera controls allow extensive customization by manually or automatically adjusting color saturation, contrast, brightness, and white balance. The webcam also features the ability to create multiple profiles. Teachers may preset images and save different looks on Razer Synapse 3, which may come in handy if you teach various types of subjects that require versatility in appearance.
The multi-step ring light enhances the teacher’s best features by eliminating harsh shadows and presenting the most flattering lighting. It is the ideal camera if the lighting is poor when streaming online classes. Teaching online to a global audience means different time zones. If online courses are early in the morning or in the evenings when low light is an issue, the ring light feature may present the best lighting.
The webcam comes with built-in support for Xsplit and Open Broadcast Software.
Best Portable For Travel: TedGem PC Full HD Webcam
The fold-and-go portable design of the TedGem PC Webcam allows online teachers to teach at numerous venues. An online teacher who travels or needs to transport their webcam from one place to another may find the portability feature of the TedGem webcam particularly useful.
For less than $50, you can have a webcam with a built-in microphone, a wide-angle lens, and excellent video quality. The full HD video camera 1080p resolution captures details and clarity at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. The picture quality is realistic, and with the beauty feature, faces are portrayed in the best light. A 90-degree digital wide-angle lens ensures a clear background eliminating optical distortions.
Two omnidirectional stereo microphones provide studio-quality sound. The microphone captures the online teacher’s voice up to 5 meters and automatically removes background noise that may interfere and reduce sound quality. The noise reduction features make video chatting effortless without noise interference.
Other features the webcam comes with is H.264 video compression technology, simultaneous autofocus, light correction, and full HD function. The convenience of plug and play allows users to use the webcam by connecting the USB cable to the computer, and installation happens automatically. No additional setup is required.
The TedGem Webcam works with Windows 7, 8, 10, and later and with most video calling applications. In USB video device mode, the webcam works with Mac OS 20.6 or later, Chrome OS, and Android 5.0 or above.
Best Wireless for Field Trips: Mevo Start Live Event Camera
The Mevo Start Live Event Camera is a wireless webcam that is one of the best webcams for online teaching. Teaching online is not always a static classroom setup; sometimes, a field trip is necessary. The wireless webcam that works with a smartphone is the best webcam to use at live events.
With the dedicated Mevo App allows teachers to stream from their smartphone. The more than 6 hours of battery life gives teachers enough time to record and stream the event from beginning to end. By streaming the live event, students who cannot attend physically may experience it through the camera lens.
The three digital MEM microphones ensure clear audio. The online teacher’s voice may always sound the best with the signal-to-noise ratio feature. External audio equipment connects via a 3.5mm port at the back of the camera. The webcam works with level and microphone line inputs, and mixing is done through the app.
An HDR image sensor with a larger pixel size of 2.9um produces a strong low-light result when recording and streaming in dim lights. Live streaming in 1080p video resolution creates a full HD experience. The Mevo App presents fine-tune editing features online teachers may use to finalize a top-quality video recording. These live editing features include panning, zooming, and cropping.
The webcam connections work with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet cables. The webcam supports online teaching on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, NDI, and LinkedIn.
Best Budget All-Rounder Webcam: Mimoday Plug & Play Webcam
The Mimoday Plug and Play Webcam is an inexpensive but quality webcam for teachers with a limited budget. The webcam may surprise you with its audio and visual quality and the extra features like the 360-degree rotation and adjustable display stand base.
Connecting the webcam is quick and effortless; no drivers are needed. The webcam supports a variety of video conferencing software, Skype, Yahoo, MSN, and is compatible with Windows XP, 2000, Win7, 8, and 10 as well as Vista 32-bit, Android TV, and Mac. A teacher may use their computer screen for video streaming for a big-screen experience.
The full HD glass lens delivers sharp, clear video in high definition. The beautifying features ensure that your face is portrayed in the most complimentary way. An automatic low light correction feature ensures quality visibility even in dim light. The HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology provides consistent high definition images with no fuzziness or color imbalances.
Audio is clear and natural for the best audio experience when teaching online or during a video conference. The built-in dual stereo microphones have noise-reducing features and pick up the teacher’s voice up to 10 feet distance.
The webcam head rotates at 360 degrees allowing a teacher to adjust the camera for the perfect recording position. The webcam clip is also adjustable in 180 degrees for the ideal mounting on a desktop, laptop, or LCD monitor.
Should I Get A Standalone Microphone?
Most quality webcams have a built-in microphone that can filter out background noise during the audio recording stream. Unfortunately, not all webcam microphones are successful in blocking out the background noise.
If your webcam does not have a built-in microphone or the audio quality is not to your satisfaction, then the solution is a standalone microphone.
Do I Need External Lighting For Best Results?
Some HD webcams include built-in lighting that is sensitive to dim lighting conditions. The features automatically adjust to improve the light. If the webcam does not come with this feature, then external lighting is required when teaching online; you want your students to see your face clearly and the whiteboard or other tools used during the lesson.
Do I need a webcam, or is the resolution of my laptop sufficient?
Your laptop or computer’s video camera records in 720p resolutions, whereas most webcams at 1080p and some of the latest professional webcams at 4k. The 1080p camera may give better video and audio quality for online teaching than the computer’s built-in video camera.
Frames per second may also influence if the video recording is smooth or choppy. Most webcams have a 30fps which is sufficient for online teaching.