Educational Insights Talking Hot Dots Pen

by Educational Insights

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.5 x 1.1 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GZAD24
• Item model number: 2770
• Batteries: 2 A batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 15, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Talks, glows and makes fun sounds with slim line design. Use with other hot dots cards or books and provides immediate feedback.

Product Description

New, improved and better than ever. This amazing pen talks, glows and makes fun sounds that kids love.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why aren't these sold out?!? They're the best thing since sliced bread!, September 18, 2008

By 

H. Sapiens "Amanda" (SF Bay Area, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Educational Insights Talking Hot Dots Pen (Office Product)

Wow! I'm speechless. I purchased 2 hot dots pens made by Educational Insights (from Fat Brain toys - who offer free shipping w/min purchase and Amazon check-out through their website), several of the phonics/reading packs (pre-K, making inferences, using context clues, and main idea) and the multiplication and division math packs. However, telling time, U.S. States, and even make your own flashcards packs are also available.

What's so great about these? Provides instant reinforcement and encouragement through engaging sounds and visual cues (light turns green for right or red for wrong). My pre-K/K and 5th grader are both equally enthralled.

I will quickly go over the cards, since they are relevant to your purchase of the pen:
Notes on the reading comp cards:
For older kids: These can definitely be done solo. Some of the reading passages appeared in last year's annual achievement test. One caveat is that the cards offer a full range of grade levels in 1 pack (e.g. 2.0-6.0). So, they may have limited applicability to say an average sixth grader reader. 3rd grade would be ideal. However, there is a key card in the front that lists the story name and grade level (e.g. 2.1 or say 5.7) - plus they are arranged by grade level in the box. The questions are very appropriate, standard multiple choice type questions (what's the main idea...).

For younger kids: An adult or older reading buddy is needed to facilitate. The pre-reading phonics cards contain letter identification (match the upper case with its lower case letter), color and word identification (shows you a red apple and asks you to find the word "red"), number recognition (count the animals, number is shown below (e.g. 1 giraffe), identify the corresponding word - e.g. one, two...), and rhyming (picture of mouse on left, choices are pictures of a house, rake, car). The instructions are at the top of the cards. After a few rounds, I think the letter identification could be done solo. There are several different card packs, including consonants as well.

Note on the math cards:
There are several (10) answer choices on either side of the problem. So, it is tricky, however be warned that the fact the answer choices are there WILL provide visual cues. So, these cards alone will not teach children to master multiplication/division/addition/subtraction. My son seeing the 64 reminded him the answer to 8x8 correctly and quickly, but take away the card and he answered 65.

Notes about the pen itself: There are several sound settings; mute, low, and loud. In a classroom environment, mute would be preferable, but the child can easily control the volume as there is no lock-out option. There is no on/off button. The battery cap (on the top) itself easily screws on/off (not an actual screw requiring a screwdriver) releasing the batteries. I like this, but a K teacher in the midst of 20 curious 5 y.o. may not.

Notes about the cards: they are thick cardboard, nicely boxed. The smaller cards - pre-K phonics and math cards come in small plastic index cases that can actually hold a pen inside. The reading cards are actually quite large (nearly a half sheet of paper) and fit into a cardboard box, clearly labeled. One worry is that with rigorous/excited usage from multiple children, it is conceivable that the pen could mar the answer bubble thus providing a "hint" as to the correct answer. The cards seem reasonably priced, and since the make your own dots are super cheap, they could even be repaired if this were to occur.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kids don't know they are learning!!!, September 30, 2006

By 

Carey Hudnut "LadyDrgn1" (Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Educational Insights Talking Hot Dots Pen (Office Product)

My son BEGS me to use his multiplication facts and his states and captials thanks to this little device. It's a fun activity for him and he is learning in the process!

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This "pen" does not write, January 17, 2009

By 

Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Educational Insights Talking Hot Dots Pen (Office Product)

For those who care to know: the tip of the "pen" (it's not a writing instrument) is made of two layers of conductive rubber. When you press the tip, an internal switch audibly clicks and turns on the pen's electronic circuitry and simultaneously the conductive rubber tip senses whether it was pressed against conductive surface or not.

And so, if you press the tip against your finger it will buzz "wrong answer", if you press it against bare metal surface it will praise you for correct response.

The black dots on the flash cards are made of plain black paper for the wrong answers and black conductive carbon material for the correct answer. All the dots look very much alike, except that the paper ones are more shiny than the conductive dots, and a smart kid with good eyesight could figure that out pretty fast.

These pens are sturdily built and use two AAA batteries (not included) - which is much more practical than using short-lived and costly button cell batteries. The audio level is set just right - enough for the kids to hear and not enough to annoy their parents. Overall, this is a clever idea put in a nice product, reasonably priced, but may not be for all kids.

Also, I think that the older kids (4th grade +) should take a small Philips screwdriver, a multimeter and take the pen apart to see how it is constructed and what makes the pen "know" which answer is which. This too would be highly educational since kids are surrounded by electronic gadgets of which construction, or principle of operation, they remain too clueless.