About Chemistry Pencasts

Looking for chemistry help? Here are many examples that cover a range of chemistry topics that are covered in a general chemistry or organic chemistry class. Most of these are shown as pencasts.

A Pencast and Pencasting is a lot like a podcast or screencast, but much smaller and focuses only on written text and audio. I like to think of them as about as close to a virtual blackboard experience as you can get.

More Information

What is a Pencast?
A pencast is in many ways similar to a podcast. With a podcast, you can share, deliver, or experience audio and/or video that describes or entertains. Pencasts are also able to deliver audio, but the audio is linked to written text that appears on the page in sync with the audio you are hearing. This is accomplished through specialized pen and paper combination, one of the easiest to use is produced by Livescribe.

Who am I? (Contact me: search for Stasko on the USM Faculty Directory)
I am a professor at the University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn College, which specializes in interdisciplinary curriculum that tightly integrates the liberal arts with professional concentrations and community involvement. I teach several different flavors of chemistry including general chemistry, chemistry for health professionals, and other chemistry and science related classes.

How am I using Pencasts?
Currently, I am using the Livescribe pen to record and capture live lectures and to provide these lectures to students as a way of supplementing their studies. I have also used the pen to create mini-lectures or 'virtual recitations' to share specific problem solving examples. I am in the process of generating a library of problem/answer 'virtual recitations' for use in my classes as well taking advantage of the social-networking features of the Livescribe software by experimenting with shared note taking between students.