As you can see, there are many educational uses for smartpens -- today, we are going to focus on one: how to include a document in your pencast recording. This is especially handy for doing demonstrations of skills required in your content area (problem-solving, graphing, proper editing/mark-up on papers, etc.), but could also be used for providing feedback on assignments.
"Where do I start?"
Unlike most of the tools that we use in Technology Tuesdays, this one is neither free nor trivial to learn, but it is definitely easy enough to be well within your grasp. If you are willing to make the investment, you can create some invaluable learning materials for your students.
Before you can get started, you will need some hardware (the pen, dot paper, etc.) and some software (Livescribe Desktop with Livescribe Connect, Adobe Acrobat X Pro). Here is a checklist for you:
“All 4 GB Echo and 8 GB Echo smartpen users can download Livescribe Desktop with Connect Premium for FREE.
All Pulse and 2 GB Echo Smartpen users can upgrade to Livescribe Desktop with Connect Premium for additional sharing capabilities.” (Livescribe)
- Install Adobe Acrobat X Pro
If you are installing this software on a college computer, check with TSS to see if there are any available licenses. Otherwise, shop around for an academic discount – for example, as of 2/19/12, the Academic Superstore had the software for $69 (full price is over $400). OR, you can purchase the software through the Maricopa Employee Store.
You can buy dot paper at almost any store that carries the Livescribe pen, or online. There are options for printing your own dot paper, though; one option is to print a notepad while you are in Livescribe desktop, another is to use this Custom Paper Deployment tool from Rohan Kapoor (includes graph paper and lab paper!!).
- If you use the smartpen frequently, we recommend keeping some Livescribe smartpen ink cartridges handy!
About $6 for a box of 5 cartridges – 4 black and 1 red.
- A handout (or other type of document) that you want to use
- Save your document as a .jpg file (instructions are in the checklist handout below)
- IF YOU GOOGLE CHROME AS YOUR BROWSER, be sure to disable the "Chrome PDF Viewer" - it doesn't handle PDFs that contain animations (instructions are in checklist handout below)
CHECKLIST BEFORE YOU CAN EMBED A WORKSHEET.pdf
How to print your own dot paper in Livescribe Desktop
Custom Paper Deployment Tool by Rohan Kapoor
Click here to complete the workshop survey!
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