E-reader pens

[Sally Roberts]

Does anyone use an e-reader pen that they recommend. I work in a primary school and we're interested in an e-reader pen that can scan text and produce audio. It might produce the audio in the same language that it scans, or translate to another language.

Any known pitfalls of such devices? Do they get used? 

Many thanks,

Sally

[Anwar Khan]

Dear Sally,

Here are a few to consider/explore, but please remember I have a secondary perspective which tends to relate to exams, etc.

Our exams officers use the  basic scanning pens (£2400 for ten £250  each)  (last link) and we have now started using them in KS4 in conjunction with bilingual dictionaries to prep pupils for external exams as prior to this pupils tend to use iPads for translation in lessons, which are obviously not allowed for external exams.

Our SENCO advised me about the first two which have a much wider functionality (and are touchscreen) than the last basic one, as some versions can do translations, but like an iPad, often creates problems as pupils get used to them in lessons and find the shift away to dictionaries and basic exam scanning pens challenging. Pupils find it hard using both dictionaries and iPads at the same as the dictionaries are more challenging to use...so they tend to use the iPad as their usual way of working  unless specifically directed.

Scanmarker Pro

C-Pen Text To Speech Reader 2 – OCR Scanning Device for Reading, Literacy & Learning | Portable Assistive Tool for Dyslexia and Neurodiversity | Exams, Lessons, Remote Learning | Windows & Mac : Amazon.co.uk: Stationery & Office Supplies

https://www.scanningpens.co.uk/products-uk - variety

These are not recommendations as such as you will see there are so many versions, but my instinct is that the first one, scanmarker pro, may be more suitable for your context.

Kind regards

Anwar

 

Anwar Khan

Head of EAL (A105a)

 

Tel. No.: 020 3260 3159

www.plumsteadmanor.com

 

---

From: eal-bi...@googlegroups.com <eal-bi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Sally Roberts <hector...@gmail.com>
Sent: 16 March 2026 12:44
To: EAL-Bilingual <eal-bi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [EAL-Bilingual;10358] E-reader pens

 

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.

--
This group is managed by NALDIC, the UK's EAL Professional Association. Please visit our website for further information: www.naldic.org.uk Twitter: @EAL_naldic. NALDIC's Privacy Policy | https://naldic.org.uk/privacy-policy
 
National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum
A Registered Charity and Company Limited by Guarantee in England and Wales. Charity No 1110570. Company No 05159760
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "EAL-Bilingual" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to eal-bilingua...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/eal-bilingual/bff277d5-2886-4733-88e3-1a8e832ea86dn%40googlegroups.com.