TAKING INTERACTIVE LEARNING to the next level, the innovative Fly pentop computer from LeapFrog (www.leapfrog.com) is an affordable, portable, personal learning tool that provides real-time audio feedback to students as they touch, write, or draw on microdotted “Fly” paper. Powered by a single AAA battery, the Fly pentop uses an intuitive optical sensor to read the dot patterns from a variety of media, including paper, trading cards, and stickers; has a phoneme-to-speech engine that supports more than 70,000 words; and comes complete with built-in learning tools such as a calculator and scheduler. Initial Fly application releases allow students to get homework assistance in math or spelling, translate words into Spanish, interactively master key homework concepts from textbooks, compose music, and play interactive games. Pricing: The Fly starts at $99; the applications range from $4.99 to $34.99 each.
This article originally appeared in the 12/01/2005 issue of THE Journal.