The Echo Smartpen
The recently released Echo Smartpen, a high-tech pen that would impress the likes of James Bond, could be a helpful tool for kids with learning disabilities.
Just a few of its superpowers:
- Holds 400 to 800 hours of recorded audio.
- Transfers written notes and audio to your computer.
- Built–in speaker plays back recorded audio.
- Replaceable ink tip allows removal of ink cartridge
For special education students, it could be helpful a number of ways. Here's a review from ZDNet:
If a student did a math problem with the pen and described his steps out loud, the teacher could hear what he was doing and provide feedback or partial credit even if he couldn’t read the assignment or the student could organize speech better than written work.
And another benefit, described by the blog Assistivet Technology.
For students who have difficulty listening and recording notes in real time this is truly a powerful tool and one I would put on my Back to School list of gadgets.
With the Livescribe Smartpen students can now concentrate on what the teacher is saying and don't have to feel the urge to write down and capture every single word.
And to see these pencasts in action, check out these videos that show how the pen is used.