Franklin Anybook Reader Review

I just purchased the Franklin Anybook Reader after it was recommended by our Assistive Technology consultant.  It is a very affordable, user-friendly devise that would fall into the mid-tech level for Asssitive Technology.  It is currently priced at $33.50 on Amazon.com. 

With the emphasis on differentiation in today's classrooms this is a very versatile tool that can allow you to have more flexible grouping practices while students are working on independent work.  Small round stickers are activated by the "pen" and then you record.  Once the student presses the pen to the sticker it plays back what was recorded.  Imagine the ability to have a student reading a book that is being read by you on the Anybook Reader and having YOU think-aloud to model what good readers do!  Imagine placing stickers are predesignated spots in text for students to stop and answer a prompt you strategically inserted.  Think about how this can be used for word work: Students are prompted to find the words with a particular sound, or words that belong in a certain category.  The possibilities are endless!

The only con that I have found is that I wish you were able to pause it.  If it were able to pause, you could use it to read to students in smaller chunks and then they could stop it to answer questions or fill in responses.  The other down-side to this one partiular model is that it does not hook up to headphones.  I believe that the 60 hour version has a jack for headphones.  I am not positive though.  The 60-hour version is priced at $50.96:

Here is a brief video from the Franklin company highlighting the product and how it can help students with challenges:Overall, I think it is a great investment! My students love it (I am a special education teacher) and I also shared it with our school Speech Pathologist and she was very impressed.  What ideas do you have for utilizing this in the classroom?  I would love to hear how you could put this to use in your class! Thanks :)