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THOMAS

180 West River Road, Waterville, ME 04901| 207.859.1111| www.thomas.edu

Katrina Booth
170 Meadow Hill Rd.
Manchester, ME 04351
boothk@thomas.edu

April 19, 2018

The Meemic Foundation Grant Program


1685 N. Opdyke Rd.
Auburn Hills, MI 48326

Dear Meemic Foundation,


I am writing to you today as a pre-service teacher at Thomas College. I am approaching
the end of my sophomore year and beginning to think about the needs of my future classroom. I
write to you today to be considered for a grant of $2,000 for the purchase of 10 Livescribe
Smartpens to be used in an ELA classroom.
Technology is constantly changing, and it is important that our classrooms change with it. Pen and
paper have become an outdated idea except when it comes to notetaking. However, with new and
emerging technologies there is opportunity to enhance notetaking within the classroom. New
Livescribe Smartpens allow students and teachers to take notetaking to a whole new level. The
importance of the Livescribe Smartpens is that students still put a pen to paper and write – which
has proven to enhance memory. However, Livescribe pens allow students to have their notes
digitized and shared with their teachers and peers. They can also play back voice recordings that
were taken at the time of writing to reflect on anything their written notes may have missed.
Livescribe Smartpens have the ability to change classroom dynamics, improve teaching strategy,
and enhance student learning.
Livescribe pens can enhance and allow more group discussion and collaboration. Years of research
has concluded that group collaboration enhances student learning. However, it is often hard to
have students break into groups for discussion and analysis when there is only one teacher to
observe. With the help of Livescribe Smartpens students will have more time to collaborate and
discuss in small groups. The pens will allow teachers to listen back on the discussions among each
group and reflect upon students learning.
Livescribe Pens have proven to have a variety of uses in the classroom for all students, but they
have proved especially useful for students with learning disabilities. Berkeley School of
Information conducted a research study on 40 students with varying physical disabilities and
learning disabilities. They gave students Livescribe Smartpens to see if their classroom
performance was enhanced. They discovered that, “Many of the students reported that the pen
reduced their classroom anxiety and freed them up to pay better attention.” The pens proved useful
in a variety of ways, they write,
“One student would go back and rewrite the notes he had taken in class, while re-listening
to the lecture recording. Another participant with a physical disability limiting his fine
motor control found the pen especially useful; his notetaking is restricted to writing a single
word to describe each part of the lecture. He could then use the pen to reply just the section
of the audio recording associated with each of his keywords” (Berkeley, 2011).
This study and more have found various way in which the Livescribe pens can enhance each
student’s learning. The pens will give students more time to focus on the topic at hand through
discussion and lessen the focus and stress of needing to take notes and get everything written down.
Smartpens can also be utilized to help students who may have chronic absences for unforeseen
events. Classmates can take notes to be shared with their peers and the student can playback their
teacher’s lecture. With the help of a smartpen students who for one reason or another must miss
class lessons can easily get themselves back on track with their peers.
In my classroom, I want to utilize Smartpens to encourage my students to discuss freely and
openly. I hope to encourage group work and discussion often to allows students to learn from their
peers. With the help of the Livescribe pens, I can listen to my student’s learning and discussions
without worry of missing important discussion points or sections of confusion. It will allow me to
better prepare my future instruction to know where my students are based upon what they
discussed in small groups. I also would utilize these pens when my students have missed classroom
instruction and lectures. Lastly, I would utilize the pens to help any student with a learning
disability that could benefit from the opportunities that these pens provide.
For the reasons here and many more, I hope you will consider me for this grant of $2,000 to
purchase 10 Livescribe pens to experiment with and utilize in our classroom. Thank you for your
consideration.
Sincerely,
Katrina Booth
References
Burnett, D. (2016, April 09). Does working as a group actually help us learn? Retrieved April 19,

2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/09/does-working-as-a-group-

actually-help-us-learn

Gittlen, S., & CDW. (2013, June 25). Will New Smartpen Innovations Change How Teachers and

Students Write and Draw? Retrieved April 19, 2018, from

https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/06/will-new-smartpen-innovations-change-how-

teachers-and-students-write-and-draw

UC Berkeley. (2011, August 16). Computerized pen helps students with disabilities in unexpected

ways. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from

https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/news/2011/computerized-pen-helps-students-disabilities-

unexpected-ways

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