Posts Tagged ‘Digital Storytelling’

Calling All Parents, Teachers, Librarians and more: Reading Tips Wanted

Posted by ruckusholly on February 27th, 2012

Teacher and Parent TipsCalling all parents, childcare providers, teachers, reading specialists and literacy professionals including librarians!

We at Ruckus Media Group, creator of award-winning interactive storybooks for children, are looking for reading tips to stimulate children’s love of reading, both inside and outside the classroom. Who better to write those tips than you, the expert? We know that you work with children day in and day out to find that “just-right” way for each child to develop a love of reading, whether they are your own children or your students.

Please email your creative reading tip and photograph to TeacherTips@RuckusMediaGroup.com (if you are a specialist) or ParentTips@RuckusMediaGroup.com (if you are a parent). If your tip is chosen, we’ll credit the submission with your name and image, and post a link directly to your site or school. And, you’ll also be eligible to receive a $10 iTunes gift card to select your choice of stories from our library.

Here are the rules, terms and conditions (make sure you read the fine print before entering):

  • You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
  • Photos (high-resolution jpegs at a maximum size of 100 KB) must accompany all submissions, and should include your name, title, school (if applicable), city and state. If you would like us to link to your blog or website, please send us your URL.
  • Reading tip minimum word count: 25 words.
  • Only authors of tips selected by Ruckus Media Group will receive a $10 iTunes card.
  • All submitted reading tips will be reviewed by an education adviser appointed by Ruckus Media Group.
  • If selected, you must fill out a consent form (to be provided by Ruckus Media Group) certifying that you are the individual in the photos, that you are the individual identified by the submitted name and contact information, that all submitted information is true and accurate and that you own the copyright interest in all submitted materials and have the right to consent to Ruckus Media’s Group’s use of such materials.  You also agree to indemnify RMG against any and all liability to third-parties arising from RMG’s use of your submission as described below.
  • You grant Ruckus Media Group permission to use the submitted: tip, photo, name, school name and location information for any and all promotional purposes related to Ruckus Media Group.
  • Ruckus Media Group reserves the right to end this campaign at any time and to refuse acceptance of further submissions without notice.

 

We can’t wait to work together to continue our mission to create experiences through mobile devices that educate children and stimulate literacy.

Start sending your tips (you can send as many as you like) today and let’s motivate the world to read!

Halloween Staff Picks (Traditional and Digital)

Posted by ruckusholly on October 31st, 2011

We can’t let Halloween go by without sharing some of our favorite spooky stories, both books and apps.  The following are recommendations from members of the Ruckus Media staff.

APPS

spookley the square pumpkinOne of our staff members with very young children said they watched the film The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin with her young kids last week on Disney and said they now love the the app.

Sammy Squirrel and the Haunted Numbers by Ensenasoft teaches that learning to count doesn’t have to be scary, and we love an app with an educational premise.

For the slightly older set, kids can create their own monsters with the Monsterpieces app by Aerfish and then save their images in a photo gallery.  We discovered in a marvelous round up on Cool Mom Picks.

 

BOOKS

Olivia and the Haunted Hotel features Olivia and her friends in this story, who decide to play “hotel” which just might be haunted, so of course they have to find out.  We love Olivia and her escapades, and so do little kids.

Mouse’s First Halloween is another Simon & Schuster title that’s ideal for pre-schoolers who are finding out about Halloween for the first time.  This was also recommended by another staff members with very young children.

VVampiresBoysampire Boy’s Good Night is published by Harper Collins.  We love the way this book is written, and it’s accompanied by a great web site, downloadables, videos and more. This was recommended by our very knowledgeable publicist who knows children’s books inside out.

We’d love to hear some of your own Halloween finds, or old time spooky favorites, so please let us know what they are in the comment section and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


Five Minutes with Q Beck from Famigo

Posted by ruckusholly on October 25th, 2011

Here at Ruckus, our mission is  to create experiences through mobile devices that entertain toddlers to teens from their fingers to their minds ― and invite their imaginations to grow.  We started this company because we noticed that children were going more and more digital, and we wanted to provide the best digital story-telling experiences possible.  We are always on the look out for other family-friendly companies to team up with, and Famigo is one.

famigoFamigo is a start-up company located in Austin, Texas that is working to make mobile technology family-friendly. They create tools that make it easy for parents to find and manage content for their smartphones and tablets.  The very first tool they have developed is Famigo.com, a resource for parents that curates and reviews kid-friendly Apple and Android apps.  They have reviewed and featured several of our apps on their site including My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day, The Velveteen Rabbit and Spot the Dot.

Curious to find out more about what Famigo does, we sought out their co-founder, Q Beck (Yes, his first name is just the letter Q, and no, it doesn’t stand for anything.) to get the inside scoop on how this company is making mobile work for families.

 

Ruckus: How did Famigo come about?

Beck: Famigo was founded because we saw an opportunity to improve the mobile experience for families. From app discovery to typical daily family use, mobile devices just aren’t made for parents and their kids. We want to make it easy for families to use smartphones and tablets as a family.

 

Ruckus: What is the idea behind Famigo.com?

Beck: Famigo.com was created to solve the problem of app discovery for families. Parents don’t have the time to wade through the Android and Apple marketplaces to find new apps for their kids, and often it’s hard to even know where to begin.  Our site makes it easy to search for apps based on a bunch of different criteria, like the age of your child and whether you’re searching for a game, educational app or book.  We also give you the lowdown on each app by assigning a family star rating and giving the “cool” and “drool” (the good and the bad), as well as providing you with assets from developers. This way parents won’t have to waste time or money downloading apps that won’t work for their family.

 

Ruckus: Have you noticed that family time is on the decline and technology time is on the rise?

Beck: We have and we wondered “Why do family and technology time have to be two separate things?” We think it’s sad when everyone’s immersed in their own separate, digital worlds. There are so many missed opportunities to have shared experiences that make our families that much more awesome.

This is Famigo’s mission, to bring families together through technology.

In order to help as many families as possible, we’ve started our quest for a better world for families with Android and iOS. Smartphones are everywhere, affordable, and easy to use. But, more importantly, they have a huge potential to bring us together through shared experiences. Whether we’re playing Words with Friends, sending emails, or simply talking to one another, smartphones have the capability to keep us connected like never before.

We started the process of making smartphones better suited for families with Famigo Family App Review. It’s a tool that helps you discover family-friendly apps, making them easy to sort through by categorizing based on age and function, and then reviewing them so families know what to expect before they buy and download.

Now we’re going a step farther by making any Android safe for even the youngest members of families through our the Famigo Sandbox, our Kid Safe App famigoLauncher. It’s a win-win for parents and kids. The Famigo Sandbox gives kids their own play space within the phone where they only see the apps they already love and want to be playing. It also helps parents by locking down the phone so their child can’t make calls, send emails, click on ads or get out to the web.

By making smartphones work better for families, we’re hoping that parents and kids will have the tools they need to create awesome shared experiences together. Which will, in turn fulfill our mission of bringing families together through technology. (See how we did that? Pretty smooth, we know.

 

Ruckus: How does the app review process work?

Beck: The number of stars an app receives from Famigo is determined by our team of app reviewers who fill out a lengthy questionnaire on each app that algorithmically determines each app’s family rating.

This questionnaire covers such topics as: Ease of Use, Educational Value, Entertainment and Family Usefulness. Scores from each of these sections are calculated and together they result in the Famigo Family Rating.

These questions and our rating algorithm are based on feedback from our research of how families evaluate apps.  Families reported that they look for apps that are easy to use, educational, entertaining for all ages, and free of violence, nudity or inappropriate content.

 

Ruckus: How do you choose which apps to review?

Beck: All of the apps you see on the site have been hand-picked by our team of trained app reviewers. They select up and coming, brand new apps that have family-friendly content and appear to be great for kids.

 

Ruckus: Beyond Famigo.com, where is Famigo headed?

Beck: We have some big releases coming up very soon that we’re super excited about that we hope will make smartphones and tablets even more useful for parents.  We’ll always ultimately be working towards our goal of making mobile technology family-friendly.

 

Librarians and Digital Storytelling Twitter Party Wrap-Up

Posted by ruckusholly on October 20th, 2011

Libaries and Digital StorytellingHere at Ruckus Media, storytelling is our priority.  We teamed up with our friends at School Library Journal (SLJ), for whom storytelling is also a priority, for a Twitter party.   This twitter party was our first collaboration.  After the results of tonight’s Twitter Party, we can’t be more glad that we got together for this fruitful discussion.  We had many questions about the future of libraries and the digital space.  One-hundred and sixty-two tweeps gathered to talk about Digital Storytelling and Libraries.  We knew it was a hot topic, but who knew that so many librarians and educators were on Twitter?

The conversation went very quickly, and it is clear that 60 minutes may not have been enough to talk about this hot topic.  From what we heard, everyone is on board with bringing digital storytelling into schools and libraries but budget remains a huge issue.  We also heard that there is a dearth of middle grade aged/YA apps and ebooks in the marketplace.

Here are some of the key concepts we discussed and what everyone had to say.  For the full script, check out #RuckusSLJ.

 

Q1: As a librarian, how do you find out about apps? If you’re a teacher or parent, what do you look for in an app?

HuppieMama: I direct a nonprofit for kids w/disabilities. we use apps to help our children communicate.

Aluchies: For apps, I like SLJ reviews, recommendations from other educators. Have no $ in for apps so am limited to free apps.

kathyfs24: I have a similar problem here in GA, district is exploring ebooks but not tablet devices.

ldelia: I look for quality writing and then all the extra features, read alone, have it read to you, word highlights, etc.

nikki2kids: I look for apps that are age appropriate and interesting for my kids.

bookreeader: I look for free apps, since there is no library budget again for 2nd year.

cppotter: My school is purchasing math and literacy apps for K-2. Teachers use the iPads in centers. Gr.3-5 is focusing on productivity.

 

Q2: When choosing apps, what criteria do you consider when reviewing apps?

HuppieMama: Most important to find apps that can be used in multiple ways, so children are not bored quickly.

MamaSarahJane: Functionality is very important!

cppotter: Interactivity is important as long as it doesn’t detract from the story or interfere with reading process.

ForkedPgh: If we’re talking in terms of transmedia series, they can be engaging so long as they require the text as a necessary basis.

YFNLibrarian:  I use my own iPad in the library, I look for apps the kids can use to share/present their learning.

HuppieMama: Music is very effective with children who have disabilities – catches their attention.

MaryAnnScheuer: Operating options are helpful, allowing readers to engage with app in different ways at different times.

HornBook: I always appreciate when I can choose to turn a feature (music, narration, sound effects, etc) on/off!

bookreeader: App controls need to be obvious and present — not in the settings two clicks away.

tathornton: I’d like to see more apps w primary sources for kids, YA, matches common core standards while engaging.

 

Q3: Do the best books make the best apps?

YFNLibrarian: I absolutely think a story app is going to reach readers in a new way and reach others who have struggled with traditional books.

CuteMonsterDad: Best books making best apps. It depends on the subject matter and the creativity of the developers.

leperez1: I’m pretty enthused by apps that allow kids to tell their own stories.

keltom2: Not always, I think you can make a lot of books good apps, but it’s fun to have well known characters.

AurynApps: Many books, not just the best, can make great apps ~ esp if they are visual, educational & good animation.

leperez1: Another cool thing are apps that allow kids to curate content around their interests.

ccassinelli: Apps must be aligned – can’t justify the expense if they are not.

 

Q4: Where do you see the future of libraries and the digital space moving and why?

sljournal: Apps designed for creative uses big hit in schools.

ccassinelli: Libraries MUST embrace digital spaces b/c that’s where our students are!!!

cppotter: Right now I’m using iPad with whole class for research and info. seeking in library.

librariancheryl: I have heard of curating sets of apps on diff devices, e.g., diff. sets of ipads for diff. grade level.

MaryAnnScheuer: For young readers, it won’t be a digital versus print – both will encourage each other. Not an either/or choice.

eBookNoir: Libraries will evolve, they’ll become a repository of digital, on demand content.

mistisikes: A balance between print and digital book formats would be nice.

sljournal: As long as money is tight, some librarians’ hands will be tied. But many are forging ahead, using personal devices at work.

jharaz: I worry about access in the future. Our families cannot afford tablets/ereaders. Books are easier to procure.

MaryAnnScheuer: school and public libraries need to become involved in digital apps, so we can help ensure access.