IUSD’s assistive technology team distributed two C-Pens, a form of assistive reading technology, per school on Oct. 20.

The device is a pen-shaped text scanner that is used for reading text out loud, providing definitions and interpreting words, including for school assignments such as tests. It is mainly used for those with reading differences or for English learners. 

“I think they enhance learning for students who don’t quite yet have the proficiency to understand the content without them,” English teacher Sarah Riggan said. “It allows students to use it immediately when they need it and not just translate the whole document [with a computer].”

Funded by Irvine Public Schools Foundation’s $25,000 grant last March, IUSD’s special education department aimed to provide reading assistance after teachers requested the pens for classroom use. According to IUSD assistive technology specialist Sara Low, nationwide data shows a drop in reading proficiency, especially after COVID-19, making the tool even more beneficial to students. As a result, the department started coordinating with school principals to provide instructions on how to gradually incorporate the C-Pen. 

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if every school could have just a few?’ so that way, students who wanted to use them but maybe were embarrassed or didn’t want to appear different than their peers would be more willing to use them,” Low said. “We also have students who would need a teacher or an instructional assistant to come and read things out loud for them, [but] with this, they can be independent. They don’t need to have an adult come to them.”

Although Northwood has not decided how to distribute the pens yet, Low hopes that this technology will continue to foster greater awareness among students and motivate schools to provide more accommodations and technology for students.

“I hope students take away that technology can make their lives more independent and meaningful, especially as our students age up into high school,” Low said. “We have students in all different programs here at Irvine that have all different levels of learning differences. The hope with this is that we can embrace everyone’s unique variability in their learning, no matter what their strengths or their struggles might be.”