For my review and redesign I have chosen the application Toca Kitchen 2. This app has over 210,000 downloads only on the iStore and is aimed for children between 3-8 years-old. With an approximate rating of 4.3 stars, this app seems to be extremely enjoyable.

The usage of the app is simple: users select a character from a choice of three characters and proceed to make plates of food that the character can eat. The left side of the screen has shelves with food and the right shelves with cooking utensils such as frying pans, knives, boiling pots etc. Players can simply drag and drop the food/ cooking utensils to use them.

First, I am going to focus on the positives of the app. The first thing that I noticed and appreciated about this app was the gender, racial and cultural neutrality. The three characters offered by the app are quite cartoonish and don’t seem to come from any particular race and can be interpreted to belong to any race or none. (one of the characters is like a humanoid with teeth sticking out and ears sticking out from the top of his head.) Additionally, the app doesn’t use language but universal cues such as a character sighing, licking his/her lips, smiling etc. to convey messages. Also, the app doesn’t play to any gender norms and is gender neutral.

As far as the design and graphics are concerned, the app is beyond approach. The intuitive usage of the app is what possibly hooks young children and ensures that they pick up the game quickly. The app is manipulated completely by the users and the users are free to do whatever they want to. Hence, it is highly active. The bright, funny and colorful graphics then probably keep children engaged and attentive. The characters tend to have amusing responses to certain foods such as spitting out the food or sticking out their tongue and this, along with the complete freedom to do whatever they want, ensures that kids are engaged.

As far as the meaningful pillar is concerned, the app is effective to a certain extent. Children are using vegetables, fruits, meats (there is a vegetarian option for the game also!) to cook. They can hopefully draw connections between what they eat and what they are feeding the characters. This way they should be able to make meaningful connections. However, other than this usage of everyday food, the app offers no additional route for meaning making.

On the social interaction pillar the app falls short. While it is possible for many kids to be playing and looking at the same screen, the app offers no additional facilities for it. The game is possible only in single player mode and has no reason for interactivity.

So while the app rates well on active and engaging pillars, fairly decently on the meaningful pillar, it rates low on the interactivity pillar.

As far as the learning goals are concerned, there don’t seem to be any. One of the major selling strategies of the application is that it is essentially not a game but a ‘digital toy’. This means that the app allows the kids to freely play with it however they want to with no strategy, covert learning goals or way to win the game. There are no tangible rewards such as points. This approach while interesting, limits the teaching opportunities the app has.

With just a few minor tweaks, this app can potentially be useful for teaching kids about nutrition. The revisions that I am going to suggest will hopefully increase the learning goals of the app while staying somewhat true to its ethos of being a ‘toy’. The revisions lie mainly in four factors-

1)Asking the users for their age and activities they enjoy doing

2) The characters making requests for food.

3) Adding a happiness and health meter. The happiness meter should fluctuate depending on how well the children adhere to character request and the health meter according to the nutrition in the food.

4) One pop-up question about the consequences of the meal the character ate.

First, the app can ask the children for their age and some activities that they enjoy doing (Eg. playing football, dancing, singing) . It should choose its ‘teaching level’ according to the age of the child and store the activities that they are doing. (The purpose for this is simply meaning making so that the child can relate this to their own lives and this feature can be removed)

The characters can make requests for the kinds of meals they want (Eg. I want to eat a vegetable, fruit and some meat so that I am fit while INSERT ACTIVITY  today, OR I want to be unhealthy today. Give me chocolate, bread and fried vegetables!  For older kids- ‘I want a meal rich in proteins, vitamin A and carbohydrates’, ‘I want to grow tall. Feed me food that will help me?’ , ‘Give me a balanced meal today!’) The kids should then try and make those meals. Depending on how well they adhere to the task the happiness meter of the character should fluctuate.

Once the character has been fed, depending on the meal, the character can respond. If the meal is high on the happiness meter characters can lick their lips and smile. Otherwise if the meal is low on the happiness meter, the character can stick out their tongue and show dissatisfaction as they do now. There can then be a pop up menu with all the food options asking children what they think the character would prefer to eat depending on the request. If the child picks the wrong items, the app should show the children an example of a meal that matches the request. (Although this would be a good opportunity to make the child seek an adult, I feel that will limit the app in other ways.)

For older kids, there can be another message after that depending on the food the character ate. (Eg. meal high on chocolate- ‘I was having fun while INSERT ACTIVITY but then my tooth began aching! What do you think I ate that lead to this?’)

This way, simply by allowing the characters to make requests, adding the questions and tweaking the feedback system, the app can potentially teach children about nutrition.

Objective: Duolingo allows users to learn new languages by repetition, dividing lessons in chunks, providing a lesson sequence, and giving immediate feedback.

URL: https://www.duolingo.com/

Age group: 12+

Assessment

Diversity: The content is relevant to users from all racial groups. The main character is an owl, which I see as gender and race neutral. Also the images on the lessons include characters of both genders and different races.

Accessibility: Duolingo targets any individual that wants to learn a foreign language. One can access the platform by downloading the Duolingo app to a mobile device or via the Duolingo website. Duolingo is free and has more than 20+ languages available.

Interactivity: The learners can add friends to their profile so they can compete or hold each other accountable.

Education: The content is very educational, the users learn a new language and the content is divided by relevant levels. Each level is locked and the learner must complete the below level before he or she can move to the next level. If the learner knows one level pretty well, he or she can “test out” and if the learner passes the test he or she can move to the next level faster. The levels are arranged from the basic level of verb conjugation (e.g. present) to more complex conjugations (e.g. subjunctive). Users can always go back and repeat a lesson from a lower level; in fact at the bottom of the profile, Duolingo has a “practice weak skills” button, so learners can practice the words that they are struggling with; this module would include any words that the learners are struggling with from any level. Duolingo uses a lot of repetition to ensure that the users internalize the learning.

Value: Learners can choose the language they wish to learn and choose the amount of time (as a personal goal) that they want to dedicate to it each day. The tool will send them a notification or email reminder every day to help them stay on track. Duolingo sends the learners congratulation messages when they have met their time commitment goal multiple days in a row. Once they complete a lesson, the learners get “lingots” that can be used to buy virtual items in the Duolingo store app such as freezing a day so they can skip a day without feeling bad or to dress up their owl (the Duolingo character).

Artistry: Duolingo is user friendly and very easy to navigate. The art design is high quality and reinforce the learning of the language; learners can connect words to images.

Safety: Although users need to create an account using their Facebook or email account, Duolingo only uses this information to send reminders to the learners. I have been using the tool for over a year and I have not seen links to inappropriate sites.

Top Strengths

• Duolingo is user friendly and very easy to navigate
• Duolingo sends daily reminders to help learners stay on track
• It is easy and convenient to access it
• Learners can practice their pronunciation by repeating back sentences and the app detects whether they pronounced the words right
• Users can add friends so they can hold each other accountable

Main Weaknesses

• If users wanted to learn words (e.g. science words) that are on a higher module, they cannot, they have to complete and pass all the levels that are before this module level
• It is very repetitive, some of the users may get bored by having to repeat a word so many times
• Duolingo mainly focuses on translation and not so much on comprehension

Suggested Improvements

The tool could be improved by adding the following features:

• Allowing the users to learn lessons that they wish to learn regardless of the level the lesson is in, so there is less risk of having bored users
• Connect students with foreign speakers, so they can practice the language in the real world. Sometimes you may think that you speak a language very fluently, but it is not until you have to practice the language in real life that you can find out your fluency level
• More complex reading comprehension. Have the student read more complex paragraphs/passages and then ask them to interpret what they understood instead of just translating sentences

Recommendation: I actually love Duolingo and would recommend it to anyone who wants to start learning a foreign language.

Description: Stardoll functions like an online version of paper dolls, where users can customize outfits, go shopping, and make friends within the message board community.

URL: http://www.stardoll.com/

Objective: It seems as if Stardoll’s sole objective is to entice users to buy its virtual clothing, hair products, accessories, etc.

Target age: 7+

Evaluation:

Diversity

Diversity is a big challenge of Star Dolls, and its flaws are consistent with the findings of Black et al in Barbie Girls. It begins with the default avatar, who is thin and white with long, ombré hair, and dramatic makeup. She’s wearing a colorful, flowy strapless dress, and strappy high-heeled sandals. The “identity kit” is part of the beauty parlor menu, and it opens to a menu of different hairstyles; the menu options are then makeup, jewelry, hands, feet, and finally, face & body. Under face and body, there are icons denoting face shape, eyes, lips, eyebrows, nose, and then the silhouette of a body. It’s under the body silhouette that the user can add weight and change the skin color from very pale to very dark.

Describing the mechanics of the avatar design process is important because it illustrates how many steps the user has to go through in order to make edits to the default avatar, and how certain choices are deprioritized. It is much more straightforward to change hairstyle than skin color. Within each of the design options, there is very little variability of form—or away from stereotype. For example, the default avatar is set to the thinnest body shape. The user can go up to two sizes bigger, but the added weight is in the chest and hips, rendering the avatar more voluptuous, but still thin. Regardless of individual design choices, the resulting avatar is able-bodied, tall and lean, and glamorous. Makeup can be removed, but it’s not easy or intuitive to do.

Accessibility

This technology is accessible to users who can use a mouse or trackpad. There is no typing required, nor are there any wireless capabilities that require movement. Though Stardolls may function differently on an iPad, the computer application is fairly straightforward.

Interactivity & Safety

A unique feature of Stardoll is its community. There are thousands of message boards with hundreds of thousands of users on a wide variety of topics—most of which have nothing to do with Stardoll, like favorite celebrities. There are limitless opportunities for users to share looks with each other, or even set up contests to vote between to designs.

Though these communication platforms within Stardoll seem to facilitate connection between its users, there isn’t much new or challenging content. Featured message boards are about celebrities, animals, and hot-or-not.

In the Stardoll message boards, it is “strictly forbidden to”:

– Use bad words, sexually graphic terms or to make racist remarks.

– Bully other stardolls or in other ways make them feel uncomfortable.

– Share or ask for personal information such as password, phone number, email, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Polyvore, ask.fm, Instagram or similar.

– Post external links or usernames.

Though there are potentially problematic ways in which the users are using these message boards outside of the constraints above, these seem like appropriately rigorous rules, particularly because they ban sharing of any kind of personal information that could lead to contact outside of Stardoll. There doesn’t seem to be a moderator that approves each comment so, theoretically, a user could violate the rules and reveal their identity. Though they’d be kicked out of the community, it wouldn’t prevent the user from making themselves able to be reached.

Education

Save for the addition and subtraction it takes to keep track of coins and buy different fashion and accessory items, there isn’t much to speak to in way of education in this program. The design processes in Stardoll allow for choices—will that shirt be red, and if so, what shade?—but no creation. Users are not inventing outfits or identities as much as they are curating a small range of looks, which entirely undercuts the educational value of the creative process.

Value

The process of designing an avatar is fun, as is the process of playing dress-up with that avatar. Different characters can be created and dressed in an infinite number of combinations. Users can return to the content time and time again, but there doesn’t seem to be much in terms of further exploration—though there are many opportunities to buy more clothes, makeup, and jewelry.

Artistry

The Stardoll interface feels very out-of-date. The side menus are all in unattractive table forms. The pages are crowded and do not navigate intuitively. Even the pixel graphics seem dated.

Redesign:

My redesign would involve four major steps:

• I would design the site for the user to create his or her avatar when they first login, beginning with a wide variety of body shapes and skin tones. Stardoll could easily be a fantastic platform for reflecting diversity, and instead it reinforces the value of a very narrow identity type. It would be very simple to remove and reorder the elements of the avatar design process to be hugely inclusive.

• I would center the clothing design process on the sewing and crafting process, focusing on the applied math and science in the process of creating patterns. Users could walk away with both deeper understanding of the concepts as well as their application. Users would also reap the benefits of the creative process by creating the silhouettes and textiles of their own designs.

• I would facilitate and highlight conversations in the message board communities about crafting and design processes. Though I think it’s beneficial to have young users feel a sense of ownership about how they want to engage in the message board space (within reason), the site would be much stronger if it highlighted learning-centered conversations.

• I would update the interface to be more consistent with best practices in ux design.

PDF: Marc Campasano – Assignment 1 (Sushi Monster)

I looked at the iPhone app Sushi Monster by Scholastic. Sushi Monster is intended to teach addition and multiplication facts according to the FASTT Math learning framework. There are seven levels of addition challenges and five levels of multiplication challenges. Each level consists of several rounds. The game displays a circular table with a hungry cartoon monster in the center. The monster wears a sign around its neck with a number on it. In each level, sushi plates with numbers on them are placed on the table. The player taps the plates to put them in front of the monster. If the plate numbers add (or multiply) to the monster’s number, the monster eats them and a new number appears on the monster’s sign to be solved with the remaining plates for the next round.

Overall, I did not think this was a good game for teaching math. My biggest complaint concerns the game mechanic in which the player must solve for consecutive sums or products using one large batch of plates. This system can create a situation wherein the player feeds the monster an entirely correct batch of numbers, but be penalized because they used a number they were going to need later for a different sum or product. For example, if my sushi numbers in addition mode were 6, 2, 8, and 1, and the monster’s number were 8, I could feed it 6 and 2. But if the monster’s next number is 7, I no longer have the 6 to add to the 1, so I cannot solve the 7. The “correct” thing to do was to use the 8 on the first number, but this requires planning ahead. I do not think that the game designers actually intended this to be a game about mentally planning ahead. This is a much more cognitively demanding task than the rest of the game, and the upcoming numbers are shown on an insignificant area of the screen. I cannot imagine a real-world situation wherein a person might need to “save” numbers like that. Worst of all, I worry that this mechanic might teach children that there are “right” and “wrong” ways to add up to 8, to use the number from my example.

This game also has the “chocolate-covered broccoli” problem, whereby a fun façade masks a tedious task. The narrative does not make sense. The sign on the monster does not mean anything in the game world. It’s not an indicator of how “hungry” the monster is, because if that were the case, it wouldn’t matter in what order the player fed it the sushi. The numbers on the sushi don’t mean anything either, and don’t reflect the amount of sushi on the plate or anything tangible. The whole “match the sign number to feed the monster” conceit is a totally arbitrary justification for doing these exercises.

As far as creative presentation, I don’t think Sushi Monster has many issues. All of the characters are cartoon monsters, so the game somewhat sidesteps diversity questions by not presenting any raced or gendered characters. The game uses a Japanese restaurant aesthetic, but does not indulge in any Japanese stereotypes, as far as I can tell with my knowledge of that culture. The monsters are all mean-looking in a cartoonish way—clearly meant to be “scary” but not actually threatening or disturbing. The art and animations are well done, and the player is rewarded with success by a funny animation of the monster gobbling down the sushi.

I think Sushi Monster may emphasize its game elements to the point of detracting from good teaching. As I mentioned above, the upcoming numbers important for strategizing are confined to a small corner of the screen. These numbers are smaller than the score and the game clock, which are both far less important in terms of content, but are the things I’d expect to be large in a non-educational video game. (This may be less of a problem on an iPad.) The app’s approach to assessment and reward also feels very video-gamey. When the player gets an answer wrong, whether due to math mistakes or input error, they do not have any opportunities to try again, which may not be the wisest design choice for encouraging reflection on these errors. Each level ends with a rating (one to three stars) and a high score comparison. The player can also get “trophies” for accomplishing in-game feats (complete all addition levels, complete all multiplication levels, and earn 30 stars). Perhaps these mechanics encourage some learners to play, but I can also imagine them discouraging some learners with a low rating, or having players lose their interest after unlocking all rewards. I played every level of Sushi Monster, earning all three trophies, and (as a long time video gamer) I feel like I “finished” it. Some learners may not return to games they feel they “finished.”

If I redesigned Sushi Monster, I would adjust the narrative and gameplay to fix the planning problem and the “chocolate-covered broccoli problem,” which I think are big issues. In my version, over the course of one level the player would feed a series of hungry monsters, not just one. Each monster’s number would represent the amount of sushi it wanted to eat. The size of the sushi plates would scale with their number, and in multiplication mode, some of the numbers would be serving-multipliers (“3 plates,” “50 plates”) instead of sushi. With this reimagining, the monster’s number would represent how hungry it was, and the player’s number would represent an amount of sushi, so the task would actually make sense. The monster wants some amount of sushi, and it is your job to feed it that amount. My second major change would be that the plates would not carry over from monster to monster, so the ordering problem would disappear. The player would be able to provide any correct combination of plates possible to satisfy the current monster, without worrying about the subsequent monsters’ numbers.

To discourage players from “finishing” the game, I’d eliminate the “levels” system and present the game as essentially “endless,” adjusting the difficulty depending on performance without ever having the learner reach a “last level.” I might leave the stars in for an extrinsic reward, but would present them as a cumulative score to build up forever as a sign of growth, not as a discrete “You got two stars on level 3” system, which may discourage some weaker users.

Description:

URL: http://www.vidcode.io/

Objective: get teen girls excited about coding by creating fun video and graphic effects

Target age: teens

I chose to study Vidcode, an online platform that empowers teen girls to learn to code and unleash their creativity by creating music videos, motion graphics, and fun video effects. Vidcode attracted me attention in the first place because it’s very different from many other coding websites and apps out there: it leverages the popularity of social media and allows kids to create something cool and express themselves, and the educational goal of teaching kids how to code follows naturally. (LEARNING GOAL)

Just by exploring the website, I realized that Vidcode does a great job creating communities of learners. It not only provides educators with resources including curriculum and projects, but also creates an online community for kids to share their projects with others. By involving educators, the kids’ learning experience can take place in formal learning environment in school as well. And by exploring what other people have done, kids are very likely to be inspired and even collaborate with one another. (SOCIAL)

Other than making the learning experience social, Vidcode promotes active, engaging, and meaningful learning. Since kids are working on media that’s interactive and moving rather than static, they are more likely to stay engaged; more importantly, they stay active because they can see the changes of the media based on the modifications of code (ACTIVE, ENGAGING). Since kids can upload their own videos and images to work on, what they’re doing is relevant and meaningful to their own lives (MEANINGFUL). As a result, they are more motivated to learn.

After registering an account as a student, I found that the design of the project screen is intuitive and easy to navigate. Video/image is shown on the right; codes that are generated based on drag and drop are in the middle; lessons are on the left. The lessons are short descriptions of computer science basics with actionable items, keeping kids engaged (ENGAGING).

Vidcode is pretty effective as a learning tool; I would say that it scores high in all 5 criteria: active, engaging, meaningful, social, and learning goal. However, there are three aspects that I’d to add to make it better. First, it does seem to me that it’s tailoring at very beginning users with drag and drop blocks and limited options regarding blocks. I would add more functions, or even guide students to create their own cool functions to keep the momentum of more advanced programmers. Second, the learning goals are currently grouped by what media the kids are working on (i.e., movie, animation, graphics, etc.). It would be great if those learning goals can be connected to the bigger picture, such as Common Core and AP Computer Science, so that kids can find more meaning and relevance in what they’re learning. Third, users cannot collaborate online; I would make the project workspace collaborative so that more collaborations could happen virtually.

Website: ladypopular.com

Focus: Virtual world

Age: Teens

Description: Browser-based fashion game set in a virtual fashion world. As a user, you set up a personalized avatar and explore the fashion career path through various quests.

Megan Faulk – Assignment 1

Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-talking-angela/id909351158?mt=8

Ages: 13+ (but actually most likely played by younger girls)

Description of Application: The app is very similar to the tamagotchi gadget of the 1990s. You have a cat (called Angela) that you need to feed, pet, bathe, etc. The difference is that this app is more interactive and has a bunch of game mechanic elements. These include the ability to earn coins if you “take care” of the cat and the ability to earn stickers as you “level up”.

Assignment 1 – Mohammad Alhaj Hasan

The first set, GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine, tells the story of Goldie who builds a spinning machine to help her dog, Nacho, chase his tail. What ultimately gets built is a simple Rube Goldberg-inspired machine that spins many characters. GoldieBlox is designed for girls aged 4-9 years old. The characters, colors and storylines intentionally appeal to girls. For example, two storybooks involve princesses. GoldieBlox seems to be taking a page out of Lego’s recent Friends Collection playbook, to “earnestly meet girls halfway in an attempt to stoke their interest in engineering” (Orenstein, p.2). Executives at Lego found that “in order to be gender-fair…they have to be gender-specific” (Orenstein, p. 2). However, not everyone feels this way. Many believe these toys targeted towards girls run the risk of reinforcing stereotype (Gray).

Personally, I commend GoldieBlox for creating a toy set that appeals to girls and can break down any stereotypes of girls as builders and engineers. As for the specific set I played with, the book’s storyline and instructions were simple to follow with great drawings. At the end of the book, there were suggestions for other ‘machines’ to build which offers some variety in play. One critique is around the text. Vocabulary varied throughout the book from simple to very complex (‘centrifuge’). I know GoldieBlox is introducing an app and website in addition to the set so these digital offerings might be great opportunities to be more consistent in lexical density and vary by age, allowing different reading levels. The physical set was mostly easy to handle, though I did have some trouble sticking the pegs onto the board. For younger ages, an adult might need to support. One area to consider for future sets is an opportunity to make the set a more social experience – whether a friend or parent to join in the building fun. This might mean different storybooks for social play versus independent play or offering extra prompts through an app experience.

Finally, the GoldieBlox website offers a way for girls to upload videos of their own creation. It’s a fun sharing experience but I wonder how realistic it is for girls aged 4-9 to make/upload videos. Current videos are all very professional so serves only as inspiration. One feature I really like for the website is the warning prompt when you click to the iTunes store or YouTube. It’s not perfect but serves to draw kids attention and hopefully prevent them from leaving the page. As GoldieBlox moves towards more digital offerings, there will be more challenges in terms of matching digital ability, privacy and security concerns. Instead, I would recommend making these digital offerings geared towards parents or teachers on how best to leverage the physical toy sets and engage their tiny learners.

I chose to redesign My Password Journal by Mattel. This product offers a small note pad encased within a pink and purple plastic electronic case that locks upon closure. It’s aimed at girls ages 6-12. It can only be opened by the owner’s voice and chosen password. The journal will record the voice of anyone who tries to break in, or “intrude,” upon your journal, at which point a loud alarm sounds. There are 25 thought provoking prompts for writing that come pre-programed into the diary, such as, “write about something silly” or “write about a dream!” with an option to create up to ten more prompts of your own. The final twist is a black light and invisible ink pen to write secret notes on the journal inside, as well as a secret stash compartment behind the journal.

After reviewing the Wartella and Jennings New Media Content Criteria prompt sheet, I would say this product has low marks overall for new media. The diversity is low, as all marketing I’ve found directs this product towards girls of a particular age (6-12) and cultural group. It only exists in English, and the adult woman who speaks appears to have a slight British accent which could alienate some learners who aren’t attuned to that accent. There are no alternative language models available. The pink and purple flowered design makes it difficult for boys or children who don’t identify with stereotypical representations of femininity to adopt the toy. The one redeeming quality in regards to diversity is that it essentially advocates girls’ rights to privacy and property. There is an empowering message at play there.

In terms of accessibility, I would say this toy is also low. The hand tools, notebook, and buttons are small. The voice control asks you state your password in the same tone as when it was set, which could be hard for some kids to do. There are lots of small snags in this toy that could easily prevent a child with certain sensory, motor, or learning disabilities to engage or enjoy the toy.

The interactivity of this toy is average. From the Amazon reviews (see below), it appears that children love playing with this toy, and siblings live to torture each other with it. With a bigger notebook and some pages that were unlined, there is wide potential for far more interaction with the toy in terms of its pretend purpose of writing. While it does not engage a community of young people or give them access to information, ideas, or people, it might allow children greater access to their own thoughts and ideas. The secrecy and protection of the journal gives the children theirown opportunity to create and control something, which is great. With an increased focus on writing, I believe children could gather together and engage over writing inspired by the toy.

In terms of education, this toy again clocks in at a low rating. In the free writing and reflection sense, it enables kids to think and get some thoughts to paper. The prompts are unthoughtful and could engage kids with more meaningful content.

The value of this toy is average. It’s clearly fun, but the journal is too small. The artistry is low and the design quality is poor, however, there are design elements that support the play value (like the invisible ink and secret stash compartment). Finally, in terms of safety, there is no violent or sexual content referenced in the small bit of content in this toy.

In the Hirsh and Pasek (et al.) four pillars and app pedigree table, we can look to see if it is active, engaging, meaningful, and social. I would it accomplishes all of those pillars except social. It could equate with deeper learning if it was brought into the school environment and engaged with using learning content. Students studying a new language could use the journal to keep track of new words and phrases in a surreptitious way that protects their self-esteem while being fun. Likewise, it could just be a great way for kids to feel more safe in the school setting through offering thema space that only they have access to. If a student had a writing disability, or issue with comprehension of text, this toy could also be helpful if it offered voice recording techniques to help students generate writing ideas or collect scattered thoughts. If the journals could speak to each other, elements of interactive storytelling could come into play between peers, siblings, or parent and child that could be very rich and fun for developing writers of any age.