The Pen That’s Mightier

by Collin Hitt This week’s NYT Magazine has nearly a dozen stories on technology and education.  Much of it focuses on online learning technology. But one piece told the story of a classroom teacher who has equipped every one of his students with a computerized ink pen, manufactured by LiveScribe. The pen electronically records every...

by Collin Hitt

This week’s NYT Magazine has nearly a dozen stories on technology and education.  Much of it focuses on online learning technology. But one piece told the story of a classroom teacher who has equipped every one of his students with a computerized ink pen, manufactured by LiveScribe.

The pen electronically records every scribble, and can record surrounding audio at the same time.  Students can go back to their notes, press their ink pen to the page, and hear what the teacher was saying at that moment.

To refresh her memory, Dervishaj pulled out her math notebook. But her class notes were not great: she had copied several sample problems but hadn’t written a clear explanation of how exponents work…If her written notes are inadequate, she can tap the pen on a sentence or word, and the pen plays what the teacher was saying at that precise point.

Or, when creating a paper outline, students can jot down basic ideas while talking quickly and in greater detail about larger concepts or long sentences that they have in mind – effectively getting detailed thoughts “on paper” without writing them down.

The pen wasn’t necessarily developed for use in the classroom, though it is certainly something the LiveScribe has kept in mind.  I for one, can think of several uses in my daily like for such a device. In fact, I’ve been window shopping a little. As of this writing, there are 4,707 reviews on Google Products – average 4.4 out of 5 stars.