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Post by hsmom on Oct 5, 2010 11:35:32 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on Oct 5, 2010 15:36:52 GMT -5
It seems like a good concept, although I see that it only works with special notebooks/journals, and a pack of (4) 100-page college-ruled notebooks is around $20. I'd love to hear if anyone on Millermom is using this product or a similar item, and what they think of it.
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Post by snapplema on Oct 5, 2010 16:29:09 GMT -5
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Post by bros on Oct 5, 2010 18:56:36 GMT -5
It seems like a good concept, although I see that it only works with special notebooks/journals, and a pack of (4) 100-page college-ruled notebooks is around $20. I'd love to hear if anyone on Millermom is using this product or a similar item, and what they think of it. A pack of four 100 page notebooks is $20? Either my mom buys the cheap stuff or you shop at expensive stores. My mom gets like 10 single subject notebooks for $5 w/ 5 folders
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Post by healthy11 on Oct 5, 2010 19:12:41 GMT -5
Bros, the high cost of the "supporting documents" is exactly the point I was trying to make. While the pen sounds useful, and the article talks about classrooms of students who have been given the pen to try, I doubt they're paying for the special notebook paper themselves. No doubt the company is sponsoring at least a part of the costs. It seems a bit like the way computer printers are sold nowadays....the initial price may not be much, but the amount of toner in the cartridges has gotten smaller in many cases (like in my HP printer) and the replacement cost for the ink ends up costing a whole lot more over the life of the unit...
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Post by dhfl143 on Oct 6, 2010 2:37:59 GMT -5
Yes, we have it and I love its functionality -- especially if attending a conference. Each pad costs about $5. One drawback that I didn't realize when I got it was that the pen doesn't hold much ink. I went through one pen ink about in two days of extensive writing. I got it at a closeout sale at Target, so perhaps they had been lying around and the reason it dried out so quickly. One advantage is that each notebook comes with a built in scientific caculcator to use. I like the searchability that it provides. I believe you can also print out pages from your printer, but with the cost of ink -- I can't see where that would be more cost effective.
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Post by dwolen on Oct 6, 2010 6:59:07 GMT -5
The paper has specialized dots. Some time after taking your notes, you can place your smart pen over a particular word, and the pen will play the lecture from that point. It recognizes where in the lecture to start the recording by recognizing the dots around that word. It is really an amazing tool.
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Post by healthy11 on Oct 6, 2010 7:36:27 GMT -5
Is the ink cartridge for the pen replaceable/available separately, or do you have to buy a complete new pen for $100+ ?
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Post by momfromma on Oct 6, 2010 8:05:54 GMT -5
You can buy them separately.
When my son left in October, he bought a pack of notebooks and two boxes of cartridges.
He really likes it.
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Post by ldparent on Oct 7, 2010 18:54:55 GMT -5
i read somewhere that you could xerox rthe paper and it ould work. no personal experience though.
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Post by shawbridge on Oct 9, 2010 11:18:23 GMT -5
My daughter is using one and loves it (though she forgets to recharge) and my son, who has notetakers at college, asked for one for math classes, so he could write down what the teacher says in between lines of proofs. He's coming home for the weekend and we'll install the software into his computer.
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Post by Mayleng on Oct 9, 2010 18:39:14 GMT -5
What is the maximum distance for it to record, ie. if you were in a lecture hall in college would it be able to record the lecturer?
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Post by shawbridge on Oct 10, 2010 21:02:08 GMT -5
We'll soon find out, although ShawSon's classes are relatively small (25 to 50).
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Post by dhfl143 on Oct 12, 2010 22:42:39 GMT -5
Went to an assembly auditorium with over 7,000 attendees and I was impressed by the quality of the audio from speakers.
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Post by kc4braves on Aug 22, 2014 16:11:10 GMT -5
I am trying to figure out the Livescribe Echo Smartpen. I feel pretty dumb, though. I think it is great that the school provided a pen for him to use this semester but not enough directions and info. He had no idea it needed special paper and just trying to set it up with the startup guide has been trying. Some of the dots that give important info do not work.
So, can someone give me an idea of what we need to buy to give this a try and where to get the best deals. I don't want to buy a lot of expensive things and then him not figure it out or like it. I am hoping he can try it in one or two of his classes and see how he likes it and how it works.
Also, he was only given the pen and a start-up booklet. Is that all he needs plus paper?
Thanks, Kathy
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Post by kc4braves on Jan 4, 2016 19:39:30 GMT -5
Just thought I would update that my son loves the pen and is still using it at college. If the college every stopped providing it for him, I would invest in one.
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Post by healthy11 on Jan 5, 2016 10:18:44 GMT -5
Thank you for the update!
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Post by mykids on Jan 9, 2016 9:41:50 GMT -5
Has anyone tried converting hand written notes into text? If so how well does it work and would it work to print out note cards (3x5) cards to study off of?
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Post by healthy11 on Jan 9, 2016 11:46:28 GMT -5
We haven't tried handwritten notes to text, but my guess is that it would depend a great deal on how legible the handwritten (or hand printed) notes are. We DID recently try a program to translate a hand-printed note from English to another language, and I'd say it got about half interpreted accurately. (You can imagine the difficulty, when, for example, a person makes a cursive or even printed small letter "o" but if it's not a completely enclosed circle shape, it could be interpreted as a "c") Furthermore, if words in the notes are misspelled, or abbreviations are used, I would expect major difficulties in converting to text.
I'm forgetting your child's age, but is taking notes on a laptop to begin with an option, then printing them out on cards later?
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Post by dw on Jan 9, 2016 16:45:25 GMT -5
With the smart pen, you plug it into your computer, and the notes are converted into text. If a word is uncertain, you can go back to that word on the special paper, and play the recording to find out what the word should be. Ie, the pen records whomever is talking/dictating/lecturing while the pen user is taking notes. There is a camera in the pen, and it recognizes the place in the recording that corresponds with the special dots on the paper where the possibly illegible hand written word is located, and start the recording at that point. Since the pen down loads text into the computer, then you could edit the text any way you want, and print out into note cards for studying.
If I were a student, I would use it! I often missed some part or a few words in a lecture while I was taking notes. Having the recording and the camera in the pen makes it a really nifty study tool. I bought one for my dd upon her college graduation, but she has not gone back to grad school, so I don't even want to think about where the expensive pen is. The pen should have been bought in middle school, if it had existed back then, 14 years ago. Then a habit would have been made of using it.
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Post by kc4braves on Jan 9, 2016 18:46:53 GMT -5
I was going to purchase one for my dd who is a jr. in HS but she is stubborn. She felt she was too busy last year to learn to use it and this year she doesn't have any classes with heavy note taking. My son is loaned one by the Disability Office at his college each year, but if they ever said they could not, we would purchase one. He has an older model but the newer models I guess do even more. He plugs his pen into his laptop and it prints out the notes. He can then also listen to parts of the lecture again if he wants to through his laptop speakers. They had some great sales at Christmas. Not sure what they have now. He also actually saves on notebook paper because he doesn't have to try to write every word. He can write key words if he gets behind or needs to listen in class then listen to the audio on his computer when he studies. He has used it quite a bit because he is a history major and most history classes are lecture classes. I'm not sure how it works for math but I think I would have loved to have had one for math. We get our notebooks on Amazon.
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Post by mykids on Jan 10, 2016 2:02:30 GMT -5
My son is in 11th grade. He would be allowed to use a computer in class, but he won’t. He has great difficulty with doing anything different and that he thinks makes him stand out from other students. However, I was thinking it would benefit to use even if just at home and hopefully would be something he sees would help him. Bringing a pen into the classroom would not be as obvious. He often times writes study notes, vocabulary words, etc.. on flash cards to study and I noticed that they are very illegible to the point where he has difficulty reading them. Although he agrees that it would be easier for him to read and study typed cards than hand written,he won’t type them on computer even at home because he has difficulty copying, it would take him so much longer.
His writing is difficult to read, so maybe this would not be for him.
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Post by kc4braves on Jan 12, 2016 0:46:09 GMT -5
I know our kids are all very different but my son also has terrible handwriting. He prints most everything and then it's hard to read. In grade school we had to get notes from the teacher because nothing was legible. However, his writing has improved with the pen because he doesn't have to write every word. It's still not great but can be read. He can use a computer to take notes in college and has a nice laptop/tablet but he isn't secure in his ability to get everything this way so still writes with his echo pen.
My son was never crazy about being different either ( although he is getting over it)but he loves technology and the Echo Pen is a new toy. Other kids might be jealous. You made need an accommodation to record the teacher at HS but we had no trouble. My daughter has it on her 504, though, she has not used an echo pen yet.
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Post by shawbridge on Jan 16, 2016 14:48:13 GMT -5
Both of my kids stopped using the Livescribe pen. Neither has been concerned about being labeled as being different.
2e Newsletter wrote an article about ShawSon and one of his tips to 2e kids was: "Don’t be afraid to acknowledge your learning disabilities to your teachers and other classmates. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I used to ask people for notes. They were much more understanding when they understood my reason for asking." His advisor hypothesizes that ShawSon 'has no sense of himself being "normal" so he embraces that and thinks and acts in unique ways. But talents aside, “his success was due to his hard work.”' I don't know if this article would be helpful to your kids, kcbraves and mykids. ShawSon really struggled in elementary and middle school and figured out how to be successful in HS with immense effort. He did unbelievably well in college and has remained equally successful in the three years since college. I don't want to post things publicly, but he did the interview to be helpful to other 2e kids.
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Post by mykids on Feb 4, 2016 17:05:42 GMT -5
Finally school “formally” acknowledges that my kid qualifies for assistive technology AND I find something (Livescribe Smart Pen) that he is willing to use in class and school says no, because it has a recorder on it. They would have to get a signature from every person saying they know they are recorded and agree to it.
So back to square one with a kid who would greatly benefit from using technology but won’t use anything in class that makes him look different. I guess when he is ready it will be there waiting for him, maybe this is all we can do.
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Post by mykids on Feb 4, 2016 17:06:45 GMT -5
Shawbridge - how do I find the article about your son?
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Post by eoffg on Feb 5, 2016 5:16:55 GMT -5
Mykids, you wrote that the school says no, because it has a recorder on it. But all laptops, ipads and tablets have a built in microphone and can record as well.
So that if they allow students to use any of these? Then they can't use this as a reason, for not allowing the use of the Smart Pen.
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Post by mykids on Feb 5, 2016 11:17:01 GMT -5
I agree eoffg - unfortunately I was not aware that we would be addressing the AT in our meeting and was not fully prepared. I’ll bring it up again. He happens to go to a school that provide career pathways such as culinary, media, construction, automotive, all of which are video taped for various reasons & uses. I know we get a letter sent home about pictures and videos and must sign if we do not want our child video taped or picture taken. So just one more hurdle to get thru.
They are giving him a chrome book and I am sure they will say the recorder is disabled.
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Post by shawbridge on Feb 15, 2016 20:47:56 GMT -5
mykids, if you PM me your email address, I will send it to you.
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Post by kc4braves on Feb 24, 2016 8:19:36 GMT -5
I somehow missed these messages. I would also love to read the article. As for the school not allowing recording, I just don't get it. Our school nor the college even blinked at the request. My daughter has not chosen to use it in HS ( classes are easier this year) but my son certainly would have if we had realized the difference it would make. I actually think the biggest thing with the pen is the confidence to slow down and listen while also taking notes, knowing that if he misses something, the recorder didn't. I don't understand school making blanket policy with no exceptions but I know there are other school that do. I always find myself wondering what they are hiding. Even cell phones which most kids nowadays have in their pockets, are recording device. I just think it's time we start working with technology instead of somehow thinking if we ban it long enough it will go away.....especially when it could benefit our special kids so much.
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