The smartpens from Livescribe combine the ease of writing with the functionality of a computer. You can record audio while you write, which can be played back through the smartpen or on your computer. Not sold on this concept? You might change your mind after watching the video below:
Now, you might be thinking, "Can't students just do this using computers?" While there is a great degree of functionality with computers, there is also a learning curve that comes with using them. The Livescribe,on the other hand, is very easy to use. Not only that, but it also costs less than $100, making it significantly cheaper than a computer.
If you still aren't convinced on the usefulness of the Livescribe smartpen, please watch the short news report below on a school that is using this device:
The Livescribe smartpens are very easy to use. As you can see, there are no inputs on the pen itself, other than the power button. The reason for this is that the special dot paper made by Livescribe has the function buttons at the bottom of the paper. Below is an image of these function buttons:
Arrows:
The arrows on the left hand side allow you to navigate the Livescribe smartpen menu, which is displayed on the pen's screen. You can access this menu by tapping the pen on the button at the center of these arrows.
Record, Pause, Stop, and Jump:
There is a set of three buttons to the right of the arrows. These buttons are used to record audio while writing with the Livescribe smartpen. The pause and stop buttons can also be used when playing back recordings. While listening to these recordings, you can use the jump buttons to quickly rewind or fast-forward by 10 seconds.
Bookmark:
The bookmark buttons allow you to save specific times of your recording, so you can easily go back to them later. You can save bookmarks during a recording by clicking on the first bookmark button on the left. While listing to the recording, you can jump to each bookmark using the other two bookmark buttons.
Jump to Position:
The jump to postion bar allows you to jump to any point in a recording by tapping on that point within the timeline.
Playback Speed:
If the speed of a recording is too fast or slow, you can adjust the playback speed using this buttons. The minus button slows down the speed, while the plus button increases the speed. Use the middle button to return the audio back to it's normal speed.
Volume:
Increase, decrease, or mute the volume of a recording.
Livescribe has not only made it easy to record your own notes, but they have also made it easy to share your notes. You share your notes through what Livescribe calls a pencast, which sounds a lot like the word podcast, but unlike a podcast, you can share writing along with audio. Please watch the short video below for an introduction to pencasts:
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