The document discusses the Livescribe smartpen, which records audio and links it to written notes. It can then replay audio when the user taps on notes. The document discusses how the pen helps various students with disabilities including visual impairments, cognitive impairments, learning disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and hearing impairments. It allows these students to have more independence, organize their notes better, and review lectures to improve retention and exam performance. Students reported writing less in class, feeling more confident, and better understanding material from class.

1. The LivescribeSmartpen: The Impact of Intelligent Use of Technology on Academic Achievement for Students with Disabilities Jill Roter, Assistant Director Office of Student Disability Services, Lehman College

2. What Does the Livescribe Pen Do? Links everything you hear to what you write Replays the recording instantly when student taps pen tip on written notes Access the Lecture ANYTIME

4. Meetings / fieldwork

5. Talking / tactile docs

6. Tutoring sessions

8. The Pen and its Parts

9. Livescribe’s Free Desktop Software

10. Livescribe Connect (Sharing)

11. Students’ Responsibilities Students must… Commit to the SDS’s semester-long program Participate in one-on-one training sessions Provide ongoing informal feedback Provide formal feedback (survey) at 2 points in the semester

13. Pen’s display is too small and not navigable; required magnifying glass to view

14. Students with LD, TBI, and cognitive impairments:

15. Determining best way to organize notes (LD)

16. Multiple steps for optional online component (LD, TBI, cognitive impairment)

17. Practice required to use its features successfully and remember steps (LD, TBI)

19. Create an outline with headings and subheadings as the lecture proceeds, and leave space to fill in info later on via audio review

20. Jot down key words and sentences to create an indexed recording

22. Listen to entire lecture and taking notes to fill in info gaps

23. Listen to specific parts of the lecture by tapping or clicking (Desktop software) on keywords, and filling in specific info gaps

24. Listen to specific parts of the lecture by tapping or clicking on keywords and filling in specific info gaps sometimes

25. Listen to specific parts of the lecture by tapping on words in notes

26. Listen to entire lecture and write a complete set of notes in a separate notebook

27. Listen to audio while reading notes

29. Anonymity: no need for a notetaker in the classroom; no one knows student has a disability

30. Increased independence: if student misses something, no longer a need to rely on a peer, the prof., or their own notes Can go back to the exact spot in the recording

31. Details notetaker missed are no longer an issue

32. Access to a more complete set of notes than before

33. More attentive listening than before

34. Better retention and focus / better participation in class

35. More organized: ability to create custom notebooks in the Livescribe Desktop

37. Studying is more concentrated / can sit for longer periods without distraction—technology makes it fun

38. Details previously overlooked now apparent, helping to improve performance, esp. on lecture-based exams

39. Ability to review verbatim lecture either in total or in part and rewrite notes repetition, which was extremely helpful

40. Ability to be more organized when studying/have more information to study from

41. Ability to listen back to classes each week rather than trying to decipher sloppy handwriting

43. Student Profile: Cognitive Impairment (due to Chronic Illness) Diagnosis: Multiple Sclerosis Major: Community Health Age: 43 Sex: Female Primary Academic Challenge: Writing too slowly “The pen is like a security blanket. When the professor begins to go too fast, I don’t get into a panic because the pen is recording and I can always go back. I let the pen do most of the work, and if I don’t get things while in class, I can listen to the information when the class is over.”

44. Student Profile: Learning Disorders (LD) Diagnosis: Dyslexia, dyscalculia Major: Therapeutic Recreation; minor in geriatric health Age: 26 Sex: Male Primary Academic Challenge: Not knowing what to write down (esp. in absence of board notes); missing important details (esp. in unstructured lecture) “Now I have to write only key words; I have the recording to do the rest. It’s also more confidential, because you’re doing it yourself; there’s no one in the room that’s sitting next to you. The instructor might think that if you have someone in the classroom, that you’re lower than you are. I can now download my classes on to the computer and I am able to listen back to my classes every week instead of reading my sloppy handwriting.”

45. Student Profile: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Diagnosis: Traumatic Brain Injury Major: Social Work Age: 52 Sex: Male Primary Academic Challenge: Trouble keeping up with prof. and re-reading own notes; remembering / recalling info “I don’t have to write long hand. Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with the professor, so I just put the title, or the word. It gives me that recall that I’ve lost. When I need to remember something or expound on an idea, I just tap on the notebook and say, ‘oh, now I remember.’ With this, I know exactly what part of the conversation I want to remember, vs. a tape recorder.”

46. Student Profile: Hearing Impairment Diagnosis: Hearing Impairment Major: Speech Language Pathology Age: 23 Sex: Female Primary Academic Challenge: Not hearing everything being said “I would still miss things even when using a recorder. The combination of the notes and recorder bring it all together and help me review. It is the best technology that I have used for school. It helped me understand material that I didn’t understand in class because when I played the audio back, the recording helped me remember different examples the teacher gave.”

47. Contact Information Jill Roter Lehman College Office of Student Disability Services Shuster Hall, Rm. 238 250 Bedford Park Boulevard WestBronx, NY 10468 (718) 960-8441 or 1167 jill.roter@lehman.cuny.edu