2019 will be a year that goes down in history for us here at Scanning Pens. Here, our CEO and Co-Founder, Jack Churchill shares his highlights of 2019.

It’s been a terrific year at Scanning Pens - well ok it has been the best in our 16 year history! It is quite satisfying as a co-owner of a business to finally have the resources in place in the company to truly deliver a great customer experience and to raise greater awareness of dyslexia and assistive technology to more young people and adults. We have made good progress at reaching new overseas markets, however there are two standout developments from 2019 I wanted to share.

Firstly the ExamReader pen is now being used in many UK secondary schools for supporting students in both their everyday reading and to decode their exam papers. Students are back in the main exam hall reading exam papers on their own (not with a human reader) scanning over any words they’re not sure of with their pen scanner and headphones.

Secondly the ReaderPen has been proved to be an important accompaniment to Google Chromebooks used in schools, as the pens allow students to scan printed text directly into their Chromebooks. Earlier this year we were honoured to be named a Google Partner

The year got off to a great start with a BETT Award for exporter of the year, this was followed by a nasen award and a Business Leader Award. The Department of International Trade made us an “Export Champ’ which aims to encourage more businesses to export overseas!

Much time and energy this year has been working with educators and students to create our first case study videos of pens being used in US and Canadian schools - checkout Scanning Pens YouTube channel.

4th & 5th Grade Inclusion Classrooms | Learn how schools are using the ReaderPen to make curriculum available to all students while freeing up teacher time! Scanning Pens are used in every single state across America by K12, as well as higher education. Let's empower students to read on their own.

The US, Canadian and Australian businesses have all marched on and taken on extra employees to help meet growing demand. Opening an office in Mumbai India and hiring a team of 10 has been an exciting development. This team brings greater support to the wider business whilst bringing our technology to schools and universities in India.

As the year draws to a close, my business partner Toby & I would like to express our gratitude to the Scanning Pen team for their dedication. However, our main thanks goes to the educators, parents and organisations who buy into the simplicity of how pen scanner technology can change outcomes of individuals who struggle with reading.

Here’s to 2020!

Jack