Here are some best practices for using Livescribe smartpens in classrooms with interactive whiteboards:

1. 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.

2. 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!?

3. 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.  

    

4. 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.