LiveScribe: Working in Groups

Recently, I have been experimenting with more group practice and problem solving in my grade ten math class. My main motivation comes from trying to find ways to help weaker students while not boring stronger students, and from believing that communicating well and working well with others is just a good life skill.
It seems to me there are some risks to allocating time to group work. Group work is not always efficient, so use of time may be a concern. Groups do not always stay on task, so classroom management may be a concern. I have been fortunate that I have not really encountered those issues so far, but the one issue that has concerned me is when groups in my class function as several individuals who just happen to be sitting in close proximity.

Can LiveScribe Pens help to Improve Student Discussion?

At the last Staff Meeting I mentioned group work as one of the contexts where the LiveScribe pens might be helpful, so this week I took my own advice and decided to see how the pens might help my grade ten students to improve their mathematical discussion. The process I used was:

1. Brainstorm elements of good discussion in math as a class.
2. Introduce the basics of the LiveScribe pen
3. Alert them that what they write and record will be shared with their group, another group in the class, and me.
4. Ask each student to write, speak, and listen to their name so that all students have a chance to try the tool.
5. Give students a problem to work on with the pen, first discussing their approach before starting calculations.
6. Ask the groups to listen to their discussion and evaluate it against the elements of good discussion
7. Ask groups to exchange their pen and notebook with another group, and evaluate their discussion
8. Ask groups to give feedback on whether using the pens was enjoyable, and whether they helped their discussion

And the Students Say…

All five groups said that the pens were enjoyable. They do have a certain "wow" factor to them, so this is not surprising. Beyond the wow, some comments were that they liked to "[hear] other groups' discussions," that they "would be good for studying," and "would be good for taking notes during a lecture." [1]
As for being helpful to their discussion the feedback was more mixed. Knowing they were being recorded was seen as both positive because some said "it helped us be aware of what we are saying," and negative because some students either felt they had to speak to get a sound bite in or felt scared to speak because they knew they were being recorded. I observed some groups being more deliberate about making sure everyone participated in the conversation, but this could be come from the initial list of elements of good discussion rather than from the technology.
Afterwards, I listened to each of the group discussions in full, and while I did have a fairly good sense of how well groups were functioning during class I picked up some more details from the full transcripts. Some comments were brilliant, one was inappropriate and I had to follow up with the student today. The pens did add to my workload in that respect. Still, the class has since asked to use the pens again, so I may yet bring them back.

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[1] This comment raises some clear concerns to think about before smart pens become common place.