EDPC 610 Foundations IIFall 2007Gillian Edwin
Name: Reading Pen II
Manufacturer: WIZCOM Technologies Ltd.
Description: The reading pen is a portable pen designed to assist students with literacy issues and reading disabilities. The pen scans words or sentences and read them aloud. It is equipped with Houghton Mifflin’s children’s dictionary and thesaurus thus providing immediate help with definitions, pronunciations, syllabication, and other basic word support. It works with any printed material with text sizes 6 – 16 points or up to 8mm. except red on white background, white on red background, blue on black background and black on blue background
Price: $149.99 and up depending on the type
Student: The reading pen was designed to for students with reading disabilities, dyslexia, English language learners and students with other literacy issues. It should assist these learners in developing and increasing comprehension.
Research: Most research conducted on the Reading Pen noted positive results on its effectiveness. In a study that investigated the compensatory effectiveness of the Reading Pen on students with LD, the authors noted:
the statistical analysis revealed significant increases in correct responses to reading comprehension questions. Students not only read the easier selections on the test more accurately, but were able to move on to read more difficult passages with good comprehension. Each selection increased approximately one grade level in difficulty as the child proceeded through each one. On average, the children obtained scores 7 points higher, more than a grade level higher when using the pen. difficulties in children (Wise & Olson, 1992), as well as
enhancing writing performance (Higgins & Raskind, 1995; Meyers, 1992; Raskind & Higgins, 1995).
For more research visit http://www.wizcomtech.com/Wizcom/products/articles.asp?fid=172
Benefits: Increase reading comprehension; teach pronunciation and syllabication; reduce frustration in students with literacy issue; develop vocabulary.
Recommendations
I would recommend the reading pen to use in the inclusion classroom. Based on research there is a correlation between using the reading pen and increased comprehension. The reading pen can reduce frustration in students who are having difficulty reading/ comprehending the material. However, students must be trained in using the pen before it can be used effectively. In using the pen, I found it very frustrating at first because I was not using the pen correctly. As a result the pen kept giving me half the word or a completely wrong word. Once I got used to using it, I was ready to throw away my Franklin electronic dictionary and invest in a Reading Pen II.
For more Information
http://www.wizcomtech.com/Wizcom/products/product_info.asp?fid=172
demo - http://www.wizcomtech.com/presentations/main_18.html
http://www.pls.uni.edu/miller/research.html
http://www.quicktionary.com/Wizcom/UploadFiles/DGallery/6191498137.pdf
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7 comments:
This reminds me of the fly pens that we saw in the class demonstrations. I like your description of the usage in inclusion classrooms. I think that is a good idea. I didn't really see my ELL's using it originally but as you describe it in a mixed level class it could be a great tool to help my Beginner level ESL students in their content classes and mixed level ESL classes. Thanks.
Hi Edwin:
I think that this device, the "Talking Pen" can be very useful, particularly for students who are learning a second language.I also wonders how this device affects the teacher's role. In addition,if all the students are simultaneously "reading" text with this device in the same classroom, there must be a very loud noise..
Actually, I first read about the Talking Pen around 3 years ago. At that time I really wanted to purchase this device for my struggling readers to use during reading instruction. I wanted to find a way for my non-readers to experience success in reading before leaving high school. At the time I also thought that my English Language Learners could benefit from using such a device. I remember asking the assistant principal to purchase this device for my classroom. However, I was told that it was too expensive and my school never ordered it ($150.00). So, I decided to find a device that can do the same function but at a much cheaper price. One item I found was a Franklin handheld talking dictionary, but the price was almost the same as the Talking Pen, around $125.00. I was about to give up hope when I came across something called The American Heritage Talking Dictionary for computers. The Talking Dictionary software for computers was priced only at $20.00. I decided to buy one which I installed on a desktop computer in my classroom. The students liked it so much that I went back and purchased another one, which my students still use today. I believe the most significant advantage to using the American Heritage Talking Dictionary software is that students need to use the keyboard to input the words they want to hear pronounced. In turn this has made a positive impact on their spelling and keyboarding skills. However, the most significant disadvantage is that the desktop computer is not portable. On the other hand, the Talking Pen is a portable device that easily fits in your hand. This portability makes the Talking Pen more convenient to use in today’s cooperative learning classroom environment. Maybe I will ask my school again about purchasing this device since now there is research that supports its use for students who are learning disabled and English Language Learners.
greypuma
Sorry. The pen is equipped with ear phones.
Angel
Try using http://www.donorschoose.org/homepage/main.html
You can submit a proposal and they get donors to sponsor your project. All the informtion is available on the site
After reading this review and reading more research on "The Talking Pen II," I would discuss this device during an educational planning meeting for a child's IEP. I like that the device is equipped with headphones and gives a student access to books and information. The frustration caused by difficult text is unnecessary when I want students to enjoy reading and begin to comprehend and make connections. Decoding and sight words, though important, seem to get in the way of this.
I wonder how durable the device is.
If this assistive technology toolis as effective as it is explained in the text, I would encourage it to be used in our school. It's a cool technology!
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