Thursday, July 1, 2010

Exciting Development for Notetaking: Livescribe Pulse pens available

I'm always on the lookout for new and better ways to remove barriers. You may remember I posted (read, gushed) before about the Livescribe Pulse pen. We've run a pilot program with some students who replaced the traditional notetaking accommodation with the Pulse pen.

They loved it. If it works, I reasoned, we should try it on a larger scale! So that's what we're doing. We now have 25 Livescribe Pulse pens in inventory to loan to students who would otherwise be receiving notetaking accommodations. Some use it as a simple index to notes, some will use it in conjunction with PowerPoint slides from class... but there are other uses, as well. Rather than writing about it, though, I think I'll just show you!

Pencast description of Pulse pens for notetaking at SOU


Audio study guide example (from Livescribe)




Creating audio flash cards (from Livescribe)




Just as in everything else, one size does not fit all... the Pulse pen is not right for everyone. Students who are Deaf, have significant vision loss or mobility impairments may not benefit from using it. If you're uncomfortable with technology and that would present an additional barrier for you, this may not be the best choice. However, for some students this is going to be a huge barrier-buster.

Questions? Comments? Shout 'em out in the comments space!

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