Photo by Mike Licht on Flickr.
I have a new story up at PBS MediaShift on kids’ magazines making the move to the iPad — or, in some cases, growing up solely for the iPad.
My favorite aspect of this piece is what I learned about how apps might enable kids to read socially — discussing stories with one another in a safe environment, contributing their own thoughts and ideas to the publication, developing their critical reading skills in entirely new ways:
“Children’s magazines are wonderful for creating a sense of community,” Letvin said. She anticipates a time when “digital magazines are able to do some of these things, including some social connections, particularly if it involves international contexts with other schools.”
Timbuktu includes a section called “Ask Auntie Rita” that uses letters from children. Favilli says they hope to open the section to readers’ letters in the next issue, which could be written by Timbuktu’s worldwide audience and submitted within the magazine app.
I love to think about the ways that these digital magazines might make kids better readers and also more globally conscious, connected citizens. There’s amazing potential here if publishers and educators can find the right ways to develop it.
