AP Calculus Review with Livescribe

We received an email recently from Jeff Heida, a customer of Engaging Technologies who teaches math, including the “hard stuff” like AP Calculus, at Omaha Christian Academy in Omaha, Nebraska.

Already a user of the MimioPad and MimioTeach for classroom instruction, Jeff purchased a Livescribe Echo smartpen from us some time back, knowing that he was about to leave school for a knee replacement.

Here’s what Jeff shared with us about how his students are benefiting from the pencasts he is creating with his Livescribe smartpen…

Since I teach the advanced math, problems get long and involved.  In the past, I have provided a solution guide either with an equation editor or a scanned pdf.  Involved problems need explanation, so I am using the Livescribe smartpen to create a solution in pdf format with included audio explanation

It has been a hit with students that need interaction to learn.  One student spent about half an hour looking at a paper copy of the pdf and could not figure out why I did what I did….then he listened to the audio with the pdf and it all came into focus.

Jeff checked in with us again this week, and he’s using the Livescribe smartpen this week to help students review for the AP Calculus exam. What an excellent AP Calculus review opportunity for his students!

If you’re unsure just what a Livescribe pencast PDF looks like, click here to see the answer key Jeff created for students to a 4-question AP calculus quiz used to review for the AP Calculus exam. (If you don’t have an option to play the audio in the pencast PDF, make sure to download the latest version of Adobe Reader for FREE!  In addition, if you are using a Mac, make sure the file opens in Adobe Reader rather than Preview.)

Jeff, thanks for sharing your Livescribe ideas and success stories from your classroom!

Do you have Livescribe success stories or creative ideas for using the Livescribe smartpen in your classroom? We’d love to hear all about them in the comments below!