MODULE 104: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES 1

Assistive Technology

Assistive technologies are pieces of equipment that improve the function of a child’s

learning (Winslow, Dickerson, & Lee, 2017). Assistive technologies play a crucial role in aiding

students with a variety of disabilities in the classroom including but not limited to learning

disabilities and difficulty seeing, hearing, speaking, writing, reading, and being mobile. Assistive

technologies are recommended based on disability and severity.

Text to Speech Pen

One emerging piece of assistive technology that I consider cutting edge is a text to speech

pen. A text to speech pen is a pen that a person can hold in their hands like a pen and run along a

printed text to hear the text read aloud. Text to speech pens can aid students with disabilities that

prohibit them from reading print or reading print fluently and accurately. These disabilities

include physical disabilities such as blindness and visual impairment; learning disabilities such

as dyslexia, reading disabilities, ADHD, ADD, and autism; or any other disability that impedes

the ability to read (Neese, 2022).

Review, Effectiveness, and Estimated Cost Comparison

I researched the C-Pen Reader, specifically, for this review. This pen is said to be very

easy for an individual to use. It features a human English voice to read printed text in a

conversation like style with typical voice inflections. This pen is totally portable and includes

character recognition, text to speech, a dictionary, voice memos, and a USB drive- all of these

features “making it ideal for students” (C-Pen, 2022). Before text to speech pens, there were

other past practices used for disabilities prohibiting students from reading. One of the most

common past classroom practices for visually or reading impaired students are read alouds.
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These read alouds include a teacher or tape recorder reading texts to students. A student learning

to comprehend texts using a read aloud makes the student dependent on that person or device.

Also, tape recorders cannot read just anything- they can only read the tape that is in them.

Another common past practice for visually impaired students is braille, a written language where

words and letters are felt with fingertips on raised dots. Braille is not often available in

traditional schools. A text to speech pen allows students more reading independence since they

can take it wherever they want and run along any printed text. This is helpful in the real world

where a tape recorder read aloud probably isn’t available. This also promotes self confidence in

students reading more difficult or lengthy texts. They can use the pen at a comfortable speed and

go back over the text more quickly. This reading independence and confidence is important for

student growth, and the text to speech pen seems to foster this growth more than past practices.

One drawback to the text to speech pen’s state of the art technology is that they can be

expensive. One individual C-Pen costs $430, and a classroom set of C-Pens contains 10 C-Pens

with USB cables, cases, and earphones costs $4,670 (C-Pen, 2022). One tape recorder cost

between $100 and $300 according to Google Shopping. One C-Pen is more expensive that

having a tape recorder but can read an infinite number of texts. A teacher reading a text aloud is

at no extra cost to the teacher already being in the classroom, but the teacher cannot go with the

student everywhere, so the student is limited in reading help with a teacher. Braille books are

rare and expensive.

Installation and Maintenance

Text to speech pens are easy to use with an on and off button. They do not require any

computer software installation, although that is a feature on many of them if interested.

Maintenance of a text to speech pen in minimal.

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References

C-Pen Reader. (2022). Spectronics. Retrieved from

https://www.spectronics.com.au/product/c-pen-reader

Neese, B. (2022). 15 Assistive Technology Tools & Resources For Students With Disabilities.

Teach Thought University. Retrieved from

https://www.teachthought.com/technology/assistive-technology/

Winslow, J., Dickerson J., & Lee, C. (2017). Applied Technologies for Teachers (2nd Edition).

Kendall Hunt Publishing. Retrieved from

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781524936600