Is an interactive pen worth it?
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by Xiaoning Gui, UNT doctoral student
I have worried about not providing my children with the best education since becoming a parent. This led me to search for every possible resource that could aid me with parenting. This was when I came across a digital tool called “Interactive Pen.”
An Interactive Pen is a pen-shaped machine that children can use while reading books. When the user points the pen at English words and sentences, the interactive pen will produce pronunciations. An interactive pen often features a cartoon or animal image on its exterior, in order to attract their target audience: young kids (see Figure 1). Beyond pronunciation, a translation feature is programmed into most interactive pens as a common component. An instant Chinese translation will be provided when pointing to the English words, enabling children to know the meaning and remember the word after a few repetitions of this process.
To use interactive pens for reading, parents need to either purchase physical books or download eBooks specifically designed or converted for the pen.
Figure 1. Interactive Pens. See source here.
During my research on this device, I discovered its immense popularity among Chinese parents, particularly for learning English. However, some Chinese immigrant parents in other countries also purchase interactive pens, which confuses me as they often already speak fluent English and can read for their kids. It left me wondering whether these expensive pens that require ongoing investment are worth the cost. Why do parents want an interactive pen?
To answer this question, I consulted seven friends, all of whom have at least one interactive pen for their kids. Based on their user experiences, I identified three primary reasons parents purchase these pens: education, parenting, and amusement.
Educational purpose
The primary reason parents use interactive pens is the function of assisting language learning during reading. Some parents believe that the interactive pen produces more accurate English pronunciation than they do, which they believe benefits their children's English learning. In addition to helping with English learning, the abundance of Chinese supplement learning materials parents can buy to match the pen is one feature that attracts Chinese immigrant parents. They use the pen to help their children learn Chinese words and practice Chinese listening skills, and wish this pen to help sustain and grow children’s Chinese language skills.
Compared to traditional reading, the interactive pen's built-in sound function and various sound effects make parents believe it can enrich the overall reading experience and assist in cultivating a love for reading in the early years. For example, the interactive pen mimics the sound of animals and vehicles, creating extra stimulation.
Parenting assistant
For many parents, the interactive pen can occupy their children’s attention, thus allowing them to catch a break. As one parent explained: “He can sit there quietly for a while with this interactive pen. That is sort of my leisure time, I can take a break.” Many implicit interactive pen advertisement posts online echo this view. One highlight sentence in a post said: “You are more than a mom. You are yourself!” It sounds like owning an interactive pen is a way to provide mom (or the main caregiver) precious moments to be themselves. The interactive pen also serves as a convenient travel companion, keeping kids occupied in the car and making trips more bearable for parents.
Entertainment purpose
Apart from its educational functions, many parents purchase the interactive pen as an extra toy, as it does not merely have a pointing function; it can play music, tell stories, and even play games. It gives parents satisfaction that they find a toy to assist learning, and their kids learn while playing.
So far, this interactive pen seems like a perfect tool. However, downsides start to emerge if we look from a technoskeptical perspective. According to technoskepticism, the effects of technologies on individuals and societies may be overlooked and invisible if we merely see technologies as tools (Pleasants et al., 2023). Hence, I decided to analyze the categories above from a critical perspective.
How do interactive pens change learning languages?
Growing up in a Mandarin-dominant environment, Chinese parents are eager to find effective ways for their children to learn “standard” English. For example, I learned English by imitating and following along to textbook recordings, which were recorded by foreign speakers who either had an American or British accent. This has instilled a standard for what constitutes “good” English and what should be learned. Interactive pens have capitalized on this parental expectation and opened the market.
However, the extent to which parents' accents influence their children‘s language acquisition remains unclear. According to Tao and Taft (2017), children’s extended exposure to accented majority language (in this case, accented English) may not always cause negative influences as parents worry. Instead, it “may help to enhance the ability to perceive foreign-accented speech in general, due to greater flexibility in processing nonstandard phonemic realizations” (p. 1031). The idea that there is a “correct” English accent, or that one accent is better than another, promotes language hegemony. The so-called “standard English” fails to value cultural differences, and fails to recognize there is no objective standard English accent (Lippi-Green, 2011).
While clear pronunciation is undoubtedly important, creating a positive language environment that inspires children to use English may be more beneficial than paying attention to correct parents’ accent influence. This is where the interactive pen falls short. No matter whether pointing to the words to read or translating them, the fundamental approach is remembering and repeating. It is rote learning. This method, devoid of context, can result in mechanical memory rather than flexible application, potentially rendering learning outcomes less effective.
One of my friends who purchased the interactive pen for learning Mandarin reported this dilemma. Both she and her husband came from Guangdong, and their home languages are mainly Cantonese and English. She did not see significant progress in her kid’s Mandarin learning as their child seldom is in a Mandarin environment. Compared to the interactive pen, she feels the Chinese language class in the daycare helps more, as in that class, her child has the opportunity to interact with the teacher and their peers. As many theorists have claimed, learning is social, and claims that technology—whether interactive pens or Duolingo—can replace language immersion deserves skepticism. It is wise for parents to see the interactive pen as just a support for language learning. It can not replicate social experiences when learning languages.
The translation function of the interactive pen raises additional concerns. When children develop the habit of looking for meaning whenever they encounter a new word, they may lose the ability to think independently. The learning focus shifts from words to labels created by the translation function. Children can lose the ability to infer word meaning from the context. Thus, cognitive thinking can be missing. Similarly, Nicolas Carr (2008) argued that browsing the Internet rewired his brain in a way that stole his capacity to concentrate, the interactive pen's translation function may reduce children’s ability to learn words from inference. Instead, they may become used to being spoon-fed the meaning. Texts, then, are no longer coherent but turn into a meaningless pile of single words. So we can ask questions: What is the point of learning words without connections? How does one learn paragraphs if one does not comprehend the relationship of words in sentences? How does one learn to write? Most importantly, does the interactive pen really meet the diverse needs of kids who are trying to learn to practice a new language?
Taking a break or not taking a break?
I do not judge parents who need to take a break. Parenting can be unceasing. My question is, does the interactive pen genuinely help parents snatch a moment from their hectic lives? Maybe the answer is no.
First, like any other electronic device, the interactive pen is not without its glitches. Mechanical problems, such as dysfunctional keys, delayed sound, inability to be turned on and off, unpairing, being stuck in testing mode, etc., can disrupt its functionality. Parents must ensure it works well every time they hand it to the child. One friend told me she has to prepare an ejection pin to force the interactive pen to restart occasionally. In addition, as the pen’s target audience is children, which means that the pen will likely experience some harsh treatment from sucking, banging, and throwing. Once it is broken, parents need to figure out how to fix it or apply for an after-sale service. Oftentimes, the manufacturer would ask customers to ship the product back for checking, costing time and back-and-forth conversations, not to mention the service fee due to damage. Moreover, because the interactive pen needs specially designed books, parents need to choose the appropriate books or download ebooks to pair the pen, and the books are extra charged depending on which brand of the pen and which book are chosen. Different brands of interactive pens pair only with books from the same company, adding extra work and constant investment.
This extra labor also happens during the reading process, particularly when reading stories. When adults read stories to children, they will follow the timeline and sequence to read. However, young children who haven’t yet grasped the concept of the story structure do not know how to follow the narrative flow. Hence, they cannot read independently. When left to the interactive pen without adults’ supervision, children often point here and there randomly and rush to the next sentence before the current one finishes, possibly leading to a loss of meaning. This turns the intended educational time into a form of meaningless work. Feedback from parents indicates that their kids are obviously more drawn to listening to sound effects, such as animal sounds or weather effects, rather than focusing on the narrative. Additionally, if sentences are too long, children may lack patience and just point to another section. Even after parents model a reading process that follows the flow of the narrative, children still immediately start searching for the parts they are interested in and point at them with the interactive pen. My friend who wanted to take a break finally found a solution by reading all the new books by herself and only allowing her child to read the most familiar stories with the interactive pen. As Allie Thrall and Paige Arnell point out in their blog post about “labor-saving” household technologies, the interactive pen may not free up as much time for parents as the company might like them to think. It also may not teach the type of reading parents desire.
Why interactive pens cannot replace parent-child shared reading?
Every friend I spoke with emphasized that their children love reading with them. The interaction between them and their children during shared reading is something that an interactive pen will never replicate. I resonate with this sentiment from my own experience reading with my daughter.
My daughter loves reading, especially with me or her father. We encourage her to read by providing access to a variety of books and maintaining a constant reading time before bed. Every day, she selects books from the shelf and asks us to read to her, sometimes the same book multiple times. She remains focused and engaged during reading. She enjoys reading with us despite the imperfections in our accents. She is so relaxed when she leans on the pillow and listens to our reading. She also loves to ask questions and repeat our answers. By doing this, she has learned many new Mandarin words too. This is one of the few times she can have the undivided attention from us without worrying about sharing space with her younger sister.
Sometimes I introduce books related to her daily life, expanding the reading time into an opportunity to chat, easing her mood, and strengthening our bond. We observe her reactions closely during reading and give appropriate guidance. While reading is a thinking process, learning is often a social process. It would be a great encouragement for children to keep reading with the knowledge that someone is there to answer their questions, care about them, and enjoy the time spent together. The interactive pen can train reading as a technical skill, but reading together as a family is what gives meaning to our lives. Some parents may disagree and say: I can still read with my kids even if I have the pen. This may be true. However, are the reading experiences really the same with a pen in hand? Will reading together still be cherished by children? Will they expect me to read more like a machine?
My journey in searching for the perfect educational tool continues. From a technoskeptical perspective, I doubt there is one. Technology may serve certain purposes, but it can never replace the sharing moments of learning and bonding between parents and children. As parents, we should be skeptical of any claims that introducing technology to our children will solve all our problems.
References
Carr, N. (2008). Is Google making us stupid? The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/
Tao, L., & Taft, M. (2017). Effects of early home language environment on perception and production of speech. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20(5), 1030–1044. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000730
Thrall, A., & Arnell, P. (2024, May 12). Teaching a feminist technology history with More Work for Mother: A unit guide. Civics of Technology [blog].