The Fly Pen is an innovative piece of technology designed to help students age 8-13 excel in school. At the most basic level, the pen converts handwritten text into digital text. This means that what the student writes in his or her notebook can be easily uploaded onto a computer as a text file.
Handwriting recognition is only the tip of the iceberg. Students use the Fly Pen to write on special Fly Paper. Touching the pens to one of the icons at the bottom of the Fly Paper opens menus and programs that the student can use to complete an assignment, study for a test or even play MP3s. Students also have the option of drawing their own icons and clicking them to open other programs. Pretty cool.
Leap Frog, the designer and manufacturer of the pen, has put a great deal of effort into making this product a powerful educational tool. Custom homework and games are available online and the pen can even spellcheck the student’s handwritten work.
One of the most beneficial features of the pen is its calculator. A student simply draws a calculator on the Fly Paper and clicks the numbers and operations to perform calculations. Far from a cheat, the calculation feature also guides students step-by-step through quadratic equations and other tricky math operations.
Another useful feature is that students can upload the notes they handwrite in class onto a computer. This allows students to search and edit their notes with ease. With this ability, students don’t have to worry as much about how they organize their notes in class, because they can always come back later and make a more organized outline.
A really cool program for the pen provides students with instant translation into Spanish or French. Just write a word in English, tell the pen to translate and the pen responds by saying the word aloud in the desired language. I wish I had one of these when I was in middle school.
What the Fly Pen Does
