StoryBots

StoryBots

Type of site	Education
Available in	English
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Owner	JibJab
Key people	Evan Spiridellis, Founder Gregg Spiridellis, Founder & CEO
Website	http://www.storybots.com
Launched	2012

StoryBots is a multi-platform learning program for children ages 3–8, created by digital entertainment studio JibJab. StoryBots produces a collection of web and mobile apps and content, including educational books, videos, games and classroom activities designed to make foundational learning fun and encourage intellectual curiosity in children.^[1]

Similar to the personalized videos and e-cards produced by its parent company JibJab, StoryBots uses its Starring You feature to put the user’s face and name into many of its videos, books and activities.^[2] Subjects cover a wide range of topics and feature a cast of characters called the StoryBots, who are tiny robots who live within our computers, tablets and phones and help humans answer questions.^[3] StoryBots videos have amassed more than 300 million views online, while its eBooks have been read more than eight million times.^[1]

StoryBots apps are available for free download on IOS platforms and come with some sample content, while subscribers have unlimited access to the entire content library across all platforms.^[4] Credentialed teachers and schools can also gain free access to StoryBots Classroom, an educator resource that includes the StoryBots library as well as additional classroom activities and management tools.^[5]

In 2016, the StoryBots franchise expanded into television with the premieres of two original animated series, Ask the StoryBots and StoryBots Super Songs, both on Netflix.^[6]

History

StoryBots launched to the public in the fall of 2012, and has been featured on CNN,^[7] The New York Times,^[8] CNBC,^[9] and other news outlets.^{[10][11][12][13]} Gregg Spiridellis, co-founder and CEO of StoryBots, told CNBC in 2013 that he and his brother have five young children between them and noticed “a massive shift in how kids are consuming media.”^[9] Spiridellis says that became the inspiration for StoryBots, a collection of apps designed to be akin to Sesame Street but for a device-centric, connected generation of children.^[14]

Library

StoryBots pairs educators and learning experts with JibJab's team of artists, storytellers and technologists to build a robust library of learning content and activities.^[15] The library currently includes:

• Learning Videos,^[16] a collection of 110+ animated musical videos that explore a wide range of topics, including shapes, colors, behaviors, time, eating healthy and outer space
• Starring You Videos,^[17] animated learning music videos that allow the user to add their name and face photo
• Learning Books,^[18] educationally-focused ebooks with page-by-page narration to help kids practice their reading and learn about a range of subjects
• Starring You Books,^[19] ebooks ranging from classic fairytales to modern adventures that also include face and name personalization (making the user the hero of the story)
• Activity Sheets,^[20] 20 printable books on holidays, numbers, letters, seasons and more
• Playground,^[21] brain break-oriented games and activities including the Dance Party game
• Math Games,^[1] Common Core-aligned kindergarten-level math games

Apps

StoryBots currently offers a mobile app available for download for IPad, IPhone and Apple TV. A single member subscription works across all available mobile apps, as well as on the StoryBots website.^[4] StoryBots also offers three specialty holiday-themed apps:

• A StoryBots Halloween - Starring You as a Ghost, Vampire, Frankenstein, Werewolf & Mummy for Kids, Parents, Teachers^[22]
• Christmas: Starring You! by StoryBots^[23]
• Christmas Tap and Sing by StoryBots - Holiday Songs for the Family^[24]

StoryBots Classroom

In 2016, StoryBots launched StoryBots Classroom, a free resource for educators that includes unlimited access to the entire StoryBots library of books, videos and activities, as well as the newly created Common Core State Standards Initiative-aligned Math Games, and a suite of classroom management tools including Group Builder, Lesson Planner, Home Assignment and Class Roster.^[1] The product is designed for use on laptops, tablets and interactive white boards.^[5] When it was released, StoryBots Classroom was by profiled by Education Week^[25] and was named a S'Cool Tool of the Week by EdSurge.^[26]

According to its website, StoryBots is used in more than 10,000 classrooms worldwide.^[27] In an interview, CEO Gregg Spiridellis cited an attempt to bridge the "digital divide" between wealthier school districts and less fortunate schools - as well as the role of teachers as powerful advocates - as the impetus to offer StoryBots to teachers for free.^[15]

TV Series

The StoryBots franchise's inaugural original TV series, Ask the StoryBots, premiered on Netflix on August 12, 2016. The show, which follows the StoryBots characters of Beep, Boop, Bing, Bang and Bo as they go on adventures into the human world to help answer kids' biggest questions, stars Judy Greer and includes guest appearances from Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Kevin Smith, Garfunkel and Oates, Tim Meadows and Chris Parnell. Ask the StoryBots received critical acclaim for its educational quality and entertainment value for both parents and children. The show also spawned a soundtrack available on Spotify, Apple Music, ITunes and Amazon.com.

A companion series, StoryBots Super Songs, premiered on October 7, 2016, also on Netflix. While each episode of Ask the StoryBots featured the lead characters answering a child's single question, StoryBots Super Songs focuses on broader topics, such as outer space, colors, shapes and dinosaurs, through music and live-action vignettes with real children.^[28]

Awards

Since its founding in 2012, StoryBots has won numerous awards, including a Parent’s Choice Award, a Family Choice Award, an Appy Award for a Best Book App,^[29] and an Editor's Choice Award from Children's Technology Review.^[30]

In 2016, StoryBots received the Cynopsis Kids !magination Award for best educational mobile app, while StoryBots Classroom won the Learning Magazine 2017 Teachers’ Choice Award for the Classroom.^[28]

References