Livescribe Launches Echo™ Smartpen
Posted by Gina Pucci, Livescribe PR Team in Uncategorized on July 20, 2010
Livescribe just announced Echo, the newest addition to its award winning lineup of smartpens! Available in 4GB ($169.95) and 8GB ($199.95) models, Echo captures everything users hear and write and provides quick and accurate access to important information by simply tapping pen to paper.
Not only does Echo feature a sleek, ergonomic design, rubberized grip and standard headphone and USB jacks, several software enhancements were also launched with Echo. Software updates are available for both Pulse and Echo customers and include:
- Launch Line: a new way to access and launch applications in seconds
- Password protection: ensures recorded audio on your smartpen remains private and safe
- Custom smartpen name: name your smartpen (or include contact information) so that when turned on identifying the owner of a smartpen is easy
- Custom notebooks: group and organize notes quickly and easily (similar to creating a playlist in iTunes)
- Pencast import/export: save and share pencast files locally to your desktop or a server. Notes can be sent to others as an integrated audio/notes as an attachment. Anyone with the Livescribe Desktop software (free download online) can now open, view and interact with a native Livescribe file
- Pencast Player from Livescribe on Apple
iPad ,iPhone and iTouch: enables users to access pencasts anywhere they go with a simple touch (free from the iTunes store later this summer)
With the launch of Echo, we are also previewing new communication and collaboration applications that will be available this fall. Connect software allows users to send notes, audio and Pencast PDFs directly from paper to email addresses, online sites and other popular third-party consumer, education and business applications. Livescribe is also introducing collaboration software, Paper Tablet, that lets consumers communicate in real-time, directly from a Livescribe notebook to a Mac or PC using an Echo smartpen and a standard micro-USB cable.
Interested in using Echo in your classroom or district? Education pricing and special components (not available at retail) are available through the dedicated education sales
Back from ISTE – Did We Meet YOU?
Posted by Gina Pucci, Livescribe PR Team in Uncategorized on July 12, 2010
The
Also, a big thank you to everyone who attended our breakfast at The Curtis Hotel. In case you missed it, Livescribe CEO and founder Jim Marggraff started off the presentation with a brief demo of the Pulse smartpen. He welcomed Sue Glascoe (community college math instructor, Livescribe customer and avid pencaster) on stage to show how she is using the Pulse smartpen in her classroom. (Click here to see an example and here to read her blog post about ISTE.) Holly De Leon and Andy Van Shaack were also on stage, outlining Pulse’s national adoption in education – 12,000 units in schools so far – and some of the efficacy study work we’re doing. A thought provoking Q&A with Jim concluded the session thanks to some great questions from current and future customers. It seems everyone wants to know what’s coming next!
We LOVE hearing how you’re using the Pulse smartpen in your classrooms. Post your Pulse smartpen stories here (as a comment) or on our Facebook page. For now, we’ll leave you with a video of James Gates telling us how the Pulse smartpen is making a difference in math and how it differs from other educational solutions. Notably, he talks about how Pulse allows you to record a lesson once but teach it again and again.
Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Customer Testimonial – James Gates @ ISTE 2010
Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Customer Testimonial – Jessica Aubry @ ISTE 2010 (Part 1)
Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Customer Testimonial – Jessica Aubry @ ISTE 2010 (Part 2)
Livescribe at ISTE 2010 in Denver
Posted by Gina Pucci, Livescribe PR Team in Uncategorized on June 23, 2010
Heading to ISTE? We’d love to see you there!
- What: Learn how to bring smartpen
technology to your classroom or district. - Who: Jim Marggraff (Livescribe founder and CEO) will speak along with Holly De Leon (VP of Sales, K-12) and Andy Van Shaack (Senior Science Advisor). Livescribe customers will also discuss how they are using Pulse in their districts today.
- Where: Curtis Hotel – 1405 Curtis Street, Denver; hotel is right next door to the conference center and the event is being held in the “Patty Cake Room.”
- When: 7 a.m. on Tuesday, June 29.
- What: Informal session covering the Pulse smartpen and how schools and districts are using Pulse today. Click here for more information.
- Who: Andy Van Shaack (Senior Science Advisor) and Sue Glascoe (community college math instructor, Livescribe customer and avid pencaster) will co-present.
- Where: Show floor –CCC Lobby A, TableP23.
- When: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 30 (10 minute presentation repeats over 2 hour period).
Join us at our ISTE Breakfast Presentation Next Week
Posted by Steffanie Johnson, Education Marketing Manager in Uncategorized on June 22, 2010
Livescribe Educators: Are you attending ISTE 2010 in Denver next week? Would you like to learn more about bringing the Pulse smartpen to your school or district? Then please join us for our Breakfast Event on Tuesday June 29th 7-8:30am at the Curtis Hotel (directly across from ISTE convention center).
For information on how to register, please email us directly at lparker@livescribe.com.
How to Embed Pencasts in PBWorks Wiki Pages
Posted by Tim Fahlberg, Education Sales Team in How to Embed Pencasts in PBWorks Wiki Pages on June 15, 2010
PBWorks is an extremely popular and powerful wiki (and more!) tool for educators, businesses, and individuals. If you’re not familiar with wikis I suggest you view this YouTube video: Wikis in Plain English.
How to embed Livescribe pencasts in PBWorks wiki pages
Method 1: How to embed a pencast with its normal (small) dimensions. Example
- Find the pencast you want on Livescribe.
- Click the "Embed this file" button.
- Select and copy the embed code to your clipboard. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-C on Windows or Command-C on a Mac.
- In PBWorks – Click the PBWorks Insert Plugin – PBWorks Magic – HTML/JavaScript tool.
- Paste the resulting embed code into the HTML/JavaScript plugin, click Preview, and press OK.
- Voila! When you click Save in PBWorks you should now see the pencast and right above it have a link to the pencast on Livescribe’s site.
Method 2: How to embed a pencast with small, medium, or large dimensions. Example
- Find the pencast you want on LiveScribe.
- Click the "Get a link to this file" button.
- Select and copy the link to your clipboard. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-C on Windows or Command-C on a Mac.
- Refer to the post "How to Embed Larger Pencasts" and use James Socol’s Pencast Embed tool to generate the needed embed code.
- In PBWorks – Click the PBWorks Insert Plugin – PBWorks Magic – HTML/JavaScript tool.
- Voila! When you click Save in PBWorks you should now see the pencast and right above it have a link to the pencast on Livescribe’s site.
How to Embed Pencasts in Wikispaces Wiki Pages
Posted by Tim Fahlberg, Education Sales Team in How to Embed Pencasts in PBWorks Wiki Pages on June 15, 2010
Wikispaces is a very popular and powerful wiki for K-12 educators, higher ed, businesses, and non-profits. If you’re not familiar with wikis I suggest you view this YouTube video: Wikis in Plain English.
How to embed Livescribe pencasts in Wikispaces wiki pages
Method 1: How to embed a pencast with its normal (small) dimensions. Example
- Find the pencast you want on Livescribe.
- Click the "Embed this file" button.
- Select and copy the embed code to your clipboard. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-C on Windows or Command-C on a Mac.
- Navigate to the desired Wikispaces page.
- Click Edit this Page, click the Widget button, and then click the Other HTML button.
- Paste the embed code on the clipboard into the HTML box and then click Preview (and then Close Preview) and/or Save.
- Optional: Click on the widget and change its alignment.
- Click Save.
- You should now see the pencast and right above it also see a clickable link to the pencast on Livescribe’s site.
Method 2: How to embed a pencast with small, medium, or large dimensions. Example
- Find the pencast you want on Livescribe.
- Click the "Get a link to this file" button.
- Select and copy the link to your clipboard. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-C on Windows or Command-C on a Mac.
- Refer to the post "How to Embed Larger Pencasts" and use James Socol’s Pencast Embed tool to generate the needed embed code.
- Navigate to the desired Wikispaces page.
- Click Edit this Page, click the Widget button, and then click the Other HTML button.
- Paste the embed code on the clipboard into the HTML box, then click Preview (and then Close Preview) and/or click the Save button.
- Optional: Click on the widget and change its alignment.
- Click Save.
- You should now see the pencast and right above it also see a clickable link to the pencast on Livescribe’s site.
Please leave a comment if this helps you or if you have any suggestions about how to improve on these directions. Thanks! — Tim F
Livescribe Wins AEP Golden Lamp and Distinguished Achievement Award
Posted by Steffanie Johnson, Education Marketing Manager in Uncategorized on June 10, 2010
We are excited to announce that Livescribe has won both a Golden Lamp and a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). This is the first time that one company has won AEP’s two top awards in
According to AEP, the Golden Lamp is the gold standard for educational products. Only four Golden Lamps are awarded each year – one for Curriculum, one for Periodicals, one for Professional Development, and one for
The Distinguished Achievement Awards (DAAs) recognize the year’s top educational products in the same four categories (Curriculum, Periodicals, Professional Development, and
Livescribe was selected as a winner by a two-tiered judging process made up of highly qualified industry experts. Winners were announced at an awards banquet on Tuesday during AEP’s Annual Content in Context Conference (CIC) at the Capital Hilton in Washington D.C.
Check out the Golden Lamp Award Announcement on YouTube.
How to Use Smartpens with Interactive Whiteboards
Posted by Tim Fahlberg, Education Sales Team in How to Use Smartpens with Interactive Whiteboards on June 9, 2010
Here are some best practices for using Livescribe smartpens in classrooms with interactive whiteboards:
- Student note taking with audio recording and work product creation (From Holly De Leon, Livescribe: VP Sales, K-12)
The basic way we describe integration with interactive whiteboards is that students still have to process the information, no matter if they are receiving instruction from a teacher or through a lesson presented on a whiteboard – the student has to take it in visually and auditorally, integrate the information, and try to get something written to help the retention process. They can do that with a smartpen and can capture notes and audio from their teacher’s instruction, videos projected onto whiteboard, and internet content being shown on the whiteboard.
Then when the child is asked to produce a work product (written essay, math problem, art creation) they can again use a smartpen and notebook to create their work product. Then their teacher can dock the smartpen and then share & project a pencast of work on whiteboard as an example of the lesson just presented. The student could give a verbal explanation of a battle in the Civil War that was just explored using whiteboard tools; they could show a different way of charting a series of numbers in a math equation. The point is the interactive whiteboard is a great way to provide instruction and interest, but the actual processing of information and integrating it for retention can be greatly enhanced with the smartpen.
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Note taking with audio recording shared as a pencast (From Tim Fahlberg, Livescribe – Wisconsin)
Ask a student who already takes excellent notes to record even better notes with audio using a smartpen. Make sure they write a heading with the class name, lesson name, date, and start time at the top of the page (or these can also be added after class).
After class the teacher (or a student/parent aide) docks the smartpen, quickly creates a pencast from the notes, and then shares it using a wiki, blog, or website. Pencasts can also be shared via email.
This way students and their parents or tutors can access notes quickly and get much more out of them since they can listen to the teacher’s instruction or classroom discussions while watching the ink written by the note taker appear like magic. And then if students who were absent also had their own smartpens they could use these to do and share some of their homework digitally back with their teacher.
Imagine being a student who is absent from school (or their parent) and being able to watch & listen to the notes on the same day that class(es) were missed!?
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Recording audio and sharing as a podcast
Ink notes with audio can be recorded (above) or audio only can be recorded (using the method shared in this blog post/video: How to Quickly Record …).
Audio only can then be shared by locating the audio file in the Livescribe Desktop (using the Audio tab) and then clicking the Upload button.
Audio can be exported in various formats and shared through iTunes or other sites.
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Note taking with audio using handouts
This idea is similar to adding notes and audio to PowerPoint slides printed on Livescribe dot paper (see How to Add Ink and Audio to PowerPoint Notes).. Basically the idea is that if a teacher has a lesson already prepared using their IWB software then the teacher (or student) could print out the slides/pages from it onto Livescribe dot paper and then add their notes and record audio along with it. And then students, parents, or a tutor could later touch their smartpen to their ink and be able to replay everything that was recorded while the writing originally took place.
Students who really struggle with taking legible notes (students with dysgraphia, etc) can either write whatever notes they can or simple make marks (dots, asterisks, exclamation points) when they here something really critical that they’d like to easily find and listen to later again.
How to Add Ink & Audio to PowerPoint Handouts
Posted by Tim Fahlberg, Education Sales Team in How to Add Ink & Audio to PowerPoint Handouts on May 28, 2010
Here are 3 different ways to add ink & audio recording to PowerPoint Handouts
- Print or copy PowerPoint handouts onto large (8 1/2" x 11") Livescribe dot paper carefully torn from a notebook. Then take notes with audio recording turned on with your smartpen and the dot paper.
- Take existing PowerPoint handouts printed on regular paper and add Livescribe "talking dot labels or shapes" to them (see "How to Create Talking Dot Shapes & Labels). Start recording and then make a mark on them using the Record control from any Livescribe notebook page (you can even cut these out and paste them onto a 3" x 5" card or something similar). The talking dot shape or label you use won’t have enough space for taking written notes but by tapping on the dot or mark you made later you’ll be able to hear the audio and add additional written notes to your PowerPoint handout.
- Cut up PowerPoint handouts that were already printed on plain paper and use a stapler or glue stick to affix them to Livescribe dot paper from a large notebook. Then take notes to the right of the slides while recording audio.
Corsicana ISD Orders 600 smartpens for Credit Recovery Program
Posted by Gina Pucci, Livescribe PR Team in - Special, Education News on May 25, 2010
Livescribe recently received a 600 Pulse smartpen order from the Corsicana Independent School District in Texas and since they have an interesting plan for their smartpens, we wanted to share their story with you.
The Corsicana Independent School District is planning to use Pulse smartpens to combat the district’s high dropout rates, especially in minority groups. With the national high school dropout rate at roughly 9 percent – and 21 percent for Hispanics – it’s no wonder this eight-school district considers credit recovery a top priority.
In case you’re unfamiliar, credit recovery options allow students to retake courses they haven’t passed, though they’ve met the minimum class time requirement. It’s a pretty common practice to prevent dropouts among high school students since credit recovery lets students finish coursework on a flexible schedule (generally speaking) to earn graduation credits. Corsicana is revamping its entire credit recovery program using the Pulse smartpen.
Marti Shaner, Corsicana’s assistant superintendent, had the idea to assign smartpens to the district’s best teachers in various subject areas. Shaner notes, “Pulse is the best piece technology for the money I’ve seen … it offers more uses than I can think of.” Teachers assigned smartpens are asked to record their lessons and upload the resulting pencasts to the district website, which is being completely redesigned for this program. All lessons with be indexed by subject, grade and state standard, so credit recovery students can easily access teacher instruction. Sometimes just having something explained differently can make all the difference, which is why having multiple teachers record lessons is so helpful! Students can watch the pencast lessons at their own pace, as many times as they need to.
We think this is a very innovative way to address an important issue that is facing school districts across the country and we’ll be keeping a close eye on Corsicana’s program as it develops. Stay tuned for future updates and congratulations to the Corsicana Independent School District for such a great program idea!
SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics <http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16>
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