Smartpen – Link Audio and Notes Together Digitally!

What an Idea!

A Smartpen is a digital device that fits in the hand like a pen but combines hand written notes with audio. As an example, the Livescribe Smartpens write on special paper and allow you to capture audio while you are taking notes. The Livescribe Smartpen is a wonderful piece of technology that lets you tap anywhere on your written notes and actually hear the lecture or audio comments that went with those notes.

A Smartpen Saves Time and Deepens Learning!

When a information from a lecture or from a heavy duty meeting is coming at you fast and furious, there is a temptation to try to write everything down. But that never works.

First, you can't write it all down. While trying to get the details of one piece of information, you lose critical information from what followed as the lecturer or speaker continues faster than you can write.

Second, while writing, you're really not learning and absorbing the information in such a way as to provide a context or create an analogy with which to deeply understand what you are hearing. Education experts would call this a schema–an organizational pattern that can catch and retain ideas like a box.

The solution is to use the Smartpen to spend more time listening and jot down key ideas but still be able to tap on the brief note and hear all the details of the lecture or meeting.

That's right. As you review your abbreviated notes that have been used to capture big ideas, you can tap on the note to hear the complete audio of that part of the lecture or meeting! 

It is the perfect marriage of DETAIL and OVERVIEW.

Wow! This is the way to capture notes to promote deep learning.

Our Example

We ran he Livescribe 4GB Smartpen through its paces. It is .8 x .8 6.2 inches and weighs only 1.3 ounces. The list price is under $200 with prices dropping right now. However, there are other smartpens out there that also do a good job.

Your complete package includes:

• The Livescribe Smartpen with anodized aluminum housing
• 4 GB of memory
• Software to manage the system (download)
• A Recording Headset
• 50 sheets of dot paper in included notebook
• USB charging cradle (for mobile use)
• 2 black fine point ink cartridges
• Smartpen case
• Interactive Getting Started Guide
• Tips & Tricks Guide

What You Need:

Windows XP™ 32-bit SP2 or higher, Windows Vista™ 32 or 64-bit operating system, or Intel Mac with Mac OS X 10.5.5 or newer • 600MHz CPU or higher • 300 MB minimum free disk space • Available USB port • Internet connection The Pulse smartpen works only with Livescribe dot paper..

The Best of Both Worlds

If there was ever an electronic device that was tailor-made for a busy college student or professional the Smartpen is surely at the top of the the list. A Smartpen combines the two kinds of notetaking and extreme portability and ease of use with the computing power of digital capture and storage.

If you purchase a Smartpen, you'll never look back.