Tools for School: LiveScribe SmartPen

by Sean Cook · 5 comments

Today, as I was online looking for inspiration about last-minute gifts, I came across a neat little gadget that I wish I had in college: a pen that will record audio as well as capturing the notes you take during your meetings, lectures, or brainstorming sessions. It’s called the LiveScribe Pulse Smart Pen.

Back when I was at Penn State, I had a staff member who had a similar product that was made for kids, but he used it religiously and it really seemed to work for him. I have a college student client with ADD and I can see this pen being a great tool for him. After reading up on it this morning, I sent him an e-mail telling him to check it out. And I am totally placing this on my wishlist.

Besides being a cool way to capture your notes and audio, it’s a great content creation tool. You can make and share “pencasts” of your notes, lectures, mind-maps, brainstorming sessions, or even art and poetry.

Check it out at Amazon.Com today. They have the 2G model for just under $100 and the 4G model for about $140. On the Amazon page, you can watch some short videos to learn more about how the pen works. It’s pretty amazing! I’ll be really surprised if I hold out until the new year on getting this gizmo. If and when I give in, I will share some information with you on how I like it, and you’ll likely see “pencasts” begin to appear on the site.

Have you used the LiveScribe or a similar pen to help you with your note-taking, brainstorming, or mind-mapping?

If so, please share your thoughts on the pros and cons of using one in the comment section!

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Tagged as: ADD, attention deficit disorder, career coach, college, life coach, note-taking, student, tech tools, university

About Sean Cook

  • George Niebling

    I have one (the 8GB Echo) and *highly* recommend it … I’m using it for my dissertation (a qualitative study of Orthodox Christian undergraduate education in the United States) in interviews and in mind mapping the project and well as in impromptu note-making. It is a *fantastic* tool … if you have any questions you’re welcome to contact me: georgeniebling at yahoo dot com

  • http://higheredcareercoach.com/ Sean Cook

    Thanks George. The main question I have is how expensive it gets with the special paper. Other than that, I love the idea and will probably own one soon enough.

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  • Anonymous

    I have the 4G Echo and it’s *amazing.* I recorded almost every lecture I had this semester in my masters program, and after having a moment of confusion about instructions from my supervisor, I started recording those sessions too. It’s invaluable for going back to double check details, or going straight back to a section of lecture I didn’t understand. I fit a semester with 14 hours of classes on it, and the battery lasts just under a week.

    The special paper isn’t something I’ve found to be an issue – I used just over half a notebook in one semester, so I’ll easily get through 2 years with the four pack I bought at Target for $20. What has been an issue is the ink; it runs out within 50-60 pages and you get no warning, so always have a backup with you. I’ve also found that the pen doesn’t release you from taking notes. The value is in being able to go straight back to the parts you don’t understand, and if you don’t have notes for that section you’ll be stuck scrolling back through as if you’d recorded the lecture or meeting on a traditional tape recorder. I don’t have the patience for that, so I learned to write something down at a minimum each minute, so as to keep markers in the recording if I were to go back.

  • http://higheredcareercoach.com/ Sean Cook

    Thanks for the tip. I just got the LiveScribe Pulse 2G and love it. I was wondering how long the ink would last. I was wondering, too, if there are ways to use other headsets than those that come with the pen. The Pulse does not have a USB slot, just the dock. The Echo has mini-USB, correct?

    I would love to figure out some way to use this to capture 2-way phone and internet chat audio. I used the pen to take notes during a meeting, but you could only hear my side of the conversation. I am going to experiment with the idea of taking notes during a teleconference and syncing the audio to see if I can make a good pencast.

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