Using the Livescrbe Pen to Develop eLearning Assets

Over the past couple of years I have done a number of workshops and presentations on using various tools to create eLearning assets in the ubiquitous Adobe PDF format. It is pretty incredible thinking about just how many ways you can use PDF's in your workshops and courses that you know can be successfully viewed with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

In my workshop: Delivering e-Learning Assets in PDF Format- I showed my participants how I am using Adobe Acrobat Pro Extended, Adobe Captivate 4, Camtasia Studio, and Adobe Presenter to create rich and engaging eLearning assets. Using a combination of these tools it is possible to create some interesting materials that can be shared with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. One of the real take away's from the presentation is that it is now possible to embed video in your PDF's which your users can view with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader 10.

One of the new tools on the horizon is the Livescribe Pulse and Echo Smartpens that makes the process of creating rich interactive PDF's a cinch. Just last week Livescribe added the the Livescribe Connect capability to output their penscasts in an interactive Adobe Acrobat format. Livescribe calls this format a Pencast PDF and it is really easy to create. So now it is easy for teachers to create  instructional videos complete with audio on just about any topic you desire. If you have taken a look at the Khan Academy you will be able to create very similar videos with the same look and feel.  The great thing is - it is so easy to accomplish with the Livescribe Smartpens. Open a page in a notebook - click the Record button and when you are finished recording plug the USB cable into your computer to upload your work to the Livescribe Desktop Software. Once your pencast has been uploaded on your computer simply drag the page under the Connector panel to the Computer option. This will automatically save the file in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format that can now be viewed by anyone who has the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Here is an example of what you can do with your Livescribe Pen to create an interactive instructional video. Click here to view or on the image below to view the Pencast PDF.

Using Livescribe Connect with my Echo Smartpen

Last June, at the ISTE 2010 Conference I had the opportunity to meet with Jim Marggraff where he showed me what was in store for the Livescribe line of smartpens. Well today, Livescribe released Livescribe Connect which provides users with a host of new features and connectivity. One of the most exciting features from my perspective is being able to create an Adobe Acrobat Pencast PDF which is able to be played with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. In fact today, I found out that the Acrobat Pencast PDF  works just fine with Adobe Acrobat Professional Version 9.4 which is on my Dell computer. In order to use the Livescroibe Connect features you will have to update the Livescribe Desktop software and your pen's firmware. The update went without a hitch and now the moment of truth was about to take place. I turned on my pen and did a short recording on a sticky note which I wanted to send to my Facebook page. After the recording was completed I used the convention of drawing a short line from left to right and back again and then was prompted to write the command- which I did by writing "Facebook" above the line. I was then prompted to select the page by tapping it and I finished the session by double tapping on the page. Now the LED screen on the pen prompted me to dock my pen which I did and within seconds my sticky note appeared in my Facebook page. Now anyone coming to my Facebook page can play and listen to the pencast right with the browser. Livescribe Desktop software supports a number of connectors which I'm sure you will find very handy. These include: Google Docs, Evernote, Email, Facebook, Mobile, Computer, and MyLivescribe. So if you have a Echo Smartpen then rush right over to the Livescribe website and update your software and pen so you too can take advantage of  Livescribe Connect- I'm sure you will enjoy the functionality just as much as I have!

From Livescribe Desktop to Evernote

Today I learned of an exciting synergy between Livescribe Desktop Software and Evernote. Ever since I got my iPad I find that I  been using Evernote more and more to store my notes and ideas. Working with the iPad makes you think about your workflow and having access to your notes and clipping wherever you may go. That is why I was so excited to learn about the ability of sending your Livescribe notes to Evernote from the Livescribe Desktop Software. So today I upgraded by Livescribe Desktop Software and gave it a try. The software worked as planned! Within minutes I was able to share my Livescribe notes and view them in my Evernote account. The the integration is seamless and easy to use. So give it a try and let me know what you think.

Livescribe Releases Pencast Player App for the iPad

Livescribe just released Pencast Player App for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch today. Now you can log into your Livescribe account and view your own pencasts or view other pencasts that are open to the community. The Panecast app is free and is available now from the Apple Apps Store. So check it out! I will have more details once I have had a chance to use it.

Printing Your Own Livescribe Printable Notepads

I have been exploring my Livescribe Echo Smartpen and the Livescribe Desktop software and today I decided to see how easy it is to print my own dotted paper from my Windows laptop computer (Editors note: You can print dotted paper on you Macintosh computer from the Livescribe Desktop Application- 1. Open Livescribe Desktop.  2. From the top Menu select “Tools > Print Your Own Notebook…) . If you own or have access to a an Adobe Postscript color laser printer capable of printing at least 600 dots per inch you are in luck. I have been using digital pens for some time now and own an OKI Data 6100N, color laser printer, which is certified by Anoto to work with the digital pen and paper solutions, so I figured I would be in good shape attempting to print my own Livescribe notepads. So this evening I plugged my laptop into my OKI Data color laser printer and printed out a Test Page. Once the page printed out, I used the controls on the bottom of the page to record some responses and then docked my pen. Everything worked like I expected and the ink and audio worked just perfectly. Now that I know that it works, I can print out notepads which consist of 25 pages on ordinary 8 1/2 x 11 paper. It is good to know that I always have this option if I need it.

Using the Livescribe Smartpen with Students

In the past couple of weeks I have worked with a number of students with learning disabilities who all have difficulty taking notes and I have introduced them to the Livescribe Smartpens. It was truly amazing to watch them use this device and the potential it has to open up all kinds of opportunities for them. For students with dyspgraphia, learning disabilities, auditory processing difficulties the Livescribe Smartpen is a godsend. Once I demonstrate the technique of just writing keywords on the dotted paper the student get the "aha" moment when I showed them the Paper Replay" feature. For students who have difficulty listening and recording notes in real time this is truly a powerful tool and one I would put on my Back to School list of gadgets.

With the Livescribe Smartpen students can now concentrate on what the teacher is saying and don't have to feel the urge to write down and capture every single word. This is truly a relieve for students who for years are sitting in class feeling very anxious about taking notes. The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen can also be married with the Cornell or Landmark note taking strategies which can then be saved and archived on the computer. Creating templates on the dotted paper is easy to do and will provide the students with another level of support and structure that they may need. For students who will be using the Livescribe smartpens in large lecture or conference halls, I would recommend that they use the 3D Recording Premium headset for recording. While the Pulse SmartPen came with the 3D recording headset you will need to purchase this as an accessory for the Echo Smartpen. Having used the Echo Smartpen in a large lecture room with the 3D Recording Headset I have to tell you that it makes a big difference and the sound quality is fantastic.

So with school just around the corner, you should consider sending your child back to the classroom with a Livescribe Smartpen- it will make a world of difference. From a practical standpoint, you should always ask permission before recording the lecture and let your teacher know how you intend to use the recording. With that in mind have a great school year and record notes with confidence with the Livescribe Smartpen!

Great Workshop Day! Part 1

On Monday, I had a chance to work with a group of Occupational Therapists at Pediatric Potentials of West Essex, LLC in Livingston , NJ. I have worked with Laurice Kalb, OT, and Owner and Director of Pediatric Potentials for over 10 years and consulted to her in developing Computer Campus, a division of her occupational practice that is dedicated to helping students with learning differences to maximize their potential using the computer. At Computer Campus, students can learn to type and use a wide array of different technologies that can help support their learning in the classroom. It has been awhile since I had visited her center and worked with her wonderful group of occupational therapists to show them the latest and greatest technologies.

I was able to start the day talking about trends that I see when looking at the intersection of special education and educational technology and we spoke about the impact of Universal Design for Learning, Web 2.0, and Cloud Computing to get the day going on the right track. Introducing them to the world of Google Docs was a real eye opener for them and you could see the wheels were turning as to how they could incorporate these tools in their practice. The rest of the day was dedicated to showing them so new and exciting technologies that I have been exploring and talking about its application in the classroom.

The group was very interested in taking a look at how they could use the Livescribe Smartpens in their practice to teach students how to take notes. I did a demo of the Echo Smartpen and described the various ways it could be used not only for taking notes but as a tool to support students who may need some audio supports for learning and for taking tests. In the first scenario I printed a map with the counties of New Jersey directly onto the dot paper and then simply added some dots. Once the dots were added I hit the Record button and then recorded some facts about the counties. This really brings the page to life and can be a wonderful support for students who learn best by providing them with this type of material. In the second scenario, I showed them how they could cut up the dot paper and place a small audio dot on the page next to a test question and record the question so that a student with a reading disability could access the test independently. When you think how huge that is both for schools and for the student you can begin to see the value that tools like the Echo Smartpen can bring to the classroom. With a little creativity and imagination the Livescribe Echo Smartpen can provide a student with a wide range of supports in their learning and that's even before you think about pencasts!

Exploring ways that teachers and therapists in the practice could use the Echo Smartpen to create pencasts was just another seed that I know will germinate with them. I had a chance to demo how to share a pencast by uploading it online and how to acquire the link or embed code to place it on their website. The therapists in the room with intrigued with the idea of pancasts and how they could use it to help demonstrate ideas and concepts. I closed by showing them how to use the MyScript Handwriting Recognition plug-in to turn their handwritten work to editable text in Microsoft Word. To say the least it was very exciting to experience all the energy and interest in what I was demonstrating.

In part two of the blog post I will talk about the rest of the day and how we explored the Apple iPad and got reacquainted with the NEO 2 from Renaissance Learning. Wow we did cover a lot of ground. To be continued........

The Echo Smartpen from Livescribe

I have been using the Echo Smartpen for the past week and to say the least I am very impressed with the second generation pen from Livescribe. Livescribe evidently listened to customer feedback and made a more ergonomic offering with this release. With its new shape and design the pen feels much more comfortable in my hand. Adding the soft rubberized grip gives the pen a good feel when writing. With the new design the pen will not be able to roll of your desk as was the case with the Pulse pen. The Echo Smartpen is now available with 4 GB ($169) or 8 GB($199) of memory which would allow you to store and incredible amount of audio notes and apps which are available from the Livescribe Online Store. The 8GB Echo Smartpen is capable of storing over 800 hours of audio depending on the quality of the audio recorded. In any case the Echo Smartpen can store a huge amount of audio.

So what do you get when you purchase the Echo Smartpen? In the box you get the Echo Smartpen, a mini USB cable, one digital A5 Starter pad, two pen tip covers, and some Quick Start guides. To get started using the Echo you will first need to download the Livescribe Desktop software from the Livescribe website and register your pen. By registering your Echo Smartpen and setting up an account you will be given space on the Livescribe server to store your penscasts. More about pencasts later in this review. Once you have downloaded and installed the software you are ready to start using the Echo Smartpen. Now the fun begins, just touch the Record button on the bottom of the dot paper and everything you write is synchronized with what was said at the time. The quality of the recording is very good but on some occasions you do here some pen tip noise as you are writing on the paper. To listen to what you recorded you can use the Paper Reply feature by tapping the text with the pen tip on the dot paper to hear the recording. That part is almost magical!

The Echo Smartpen does not ship with the 3D noise cancellation ear buds as the previous model did, which I found to be very useful when recording in large lecture halls. Once you have written on the dot paper you can download the notes to your computer using the mini USB cable that plugs directly into the top of the pen. Changing to the mini USB cable I think is a move in the right direction and makes it easier for those that travel to carry it in their bag for fast syncing. The OLED display gives you visual feedback letting you know that the Echo Smartpen is transferring data to the Livescribe Desktop software. Once the process is done the Livescribe Desktop software provides you with a message that the transfer is complete. The process is straight forward and easy to do.

There have been lots of changes to the Livescribe Desktop software that bears mentioning. One of the new features which I believe will be used a great deal is the ability to create custom notebooks from selected pages you have downloaded. This works very similarly to how you can create Play Lists in iTunes. Simply create a Custom Notebook and drag pages into it. This gives you the ability to group pages of your notes as you see fit so that you can quickly access them. Having the ability to search through your notes to find specific information is one of the most powerful aspects of this system. Of course if you like you can listen to any of your pages played right from the desktop.

Sharing your files in different formats is one of the strengths of the Livescribe digital pen system. Educators will be able to export saved notes as a Pencast, PDF, orImage file. If you decide to save your notes as a Pencast anyone who has the Livescribe Desktop software will be able to view and listen to the recording. You can if you like also just download the audio portion of your pages which gives you another way to share information that was recorded. What I am really excited about is the announcement that I will be able to share my recordings as a PDF pencast that will be able to viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. I am told that this feature will be available sometime in the Fall. Likewise, Livescribe is working on an app for the iPad that will let me view my pencasts on the Apple iPad to be released later this summer. For those of you who missed my post about hand writing recognition and the Echo Smartpen click here to see how easy it is to convert your handwriting to editable text. It is really exciting to think about all of the possibilities for extending learning in the classroom with the Livescribe Echo Smartpen.

For those of you who may not be familiar with pencasts - this has got to be one of Livescribe's real strengths from and educational perspective. Over the past year educators have posted thousands of pencasts on all different subjects for others to access and view. With a Echo Smartpen a teacher can quickly record and model how to solve an algebraic problem for example that can be accessed from the web. Creating a pencast is as easy as writing and recording your voice and then uploading it to your Livescribe account. Once you upload your pencast to your account you can embed it on your website or link directly to it. You have full control of the file and who has access to it right from within the Livescribe Desktop software application. Just imagine the possibilities as a teacher being able to model a process and having your students watch you do a problem step by step. As more schools move to Learning Management Systems having a tool like the Echo Smartpen will become indispensable for creating digital content is straight forward and natural way. You can view a pencast that I did on how to solve for x below.

Solving for X
brought to you by Livescribe

The Livescribe ecosystem has really developed since the Pulse pen was released and with the release the Echo Smartpen, Livescribe continues to develop a very strong platform for pen computing that opens the doors for all kinds of possibilities. Look for another post on using apps with your Echo Smartpen and for ideas on how to use this technology in the classroom. For those of you that are using Livescribe smartpens I would invite your comments.

Livescribe Launches the Echo Smartpen

At the ISTE 2010 Conference I had a chance to sit down with Jim Marggraff, CEO of Livescribe and talk about the the status of the Smartpen Ecosystem. Jim was very excited to meet with me and to share Livescribe's newest offering the Echo Smartpen which will be released today. The Echo Smartpen will over time add some exciting new features and expand on the number of applications that can run on the digital pen. Jim was very excited to see how educators have embraced the Livescribe products and noted the shear number of pencasts that are now available. With the move to portable computing, Jim was very excited to share with me the new design of the Echo Smartpen and to talk to me about how pencasts can be shared going forward. There have been some updates to the Livescribe Desktop software that will make it easy to customize notebooks and to export audio and pen strokes. Likewise, we should see the availability to view pencasts on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch making this a compelling learning tool. With the new Echo Smartpen design it will be even easier to download our digital ink and charge, now that it uses a mini USB connector on the top of the pen. I was rather impressed with all of the new features and the move to integrate the features to make the Livescribe solution even more powerful as a computing platform. Watch the Livescribe website for new announcements and updates. Look for a complete review of the Echo Smartpen within the next couple of weeks on my blog.