Livescribe smartpen one-on-one coaching session

I had the pleasure to do a one-on-one coaching session with Educational Assistant, Clair Jones (pseudonym) who I met in my second teaching practicum at a school in Hamilton, Ontario.  She was an E.A to two high-functioning autistic twins in my practicum classroom, eager to integrate new, engaging technology with our students.  I thought the livescribe technology would be extremely beneficial for her to use on a day to day basis as it is not simply a device or fad but a technology that can help facilitate and engage student learning and differentiate instruction.

I coached Ms. Jones for half an hour on the smartpen, introducing her to the smartpens main functions and capabilities.  I introduced how the smartpen combines all four modes of communication: reading, writing, speaking and listening - showing how the smartpen can record conversation and digitize the handwriting, automatically syncing ink and audio; explaining how the smartpen can be used to record teacher/EA instruction to students (for homework/absenteeism etc.) and can predetermine what work they want the student to do by writing and recording instructions where students can hear her voice and listen to instructions, read along with possibilities of slowing down or speeding up the speed of instruction to suit their learning style.  I introduced how the smartpen can also act as translator, learn basic piano chords (music composition), and also provides a scientific calculator for complex or simple calculations.

Ms. Jones was fascinated with the smartpen technology saying how she sees herself integrating the smartpen with her students, especially the basic piano chords she knows the twins would especially love.  After I introduced the pens functionality, Ms. Jones experimented with the pen herself - playing "Mary had a little lamb" testing out the pens chords, recording instructions and playing them back, doing some math calculations among other functions of the smartpen.

At the end of our session, Ms. Jones communicated her anticipation and excitement about using the smartpen technology with our students saying "I can't wait to see how they'll respond to all of its capabilities, especially translating tool for some of our ELL students and the piano and different musical instruments.  I can't wait to see what learning and engagement will result from integrating this technology into your lessons."