Project

The Reflectory

The Reflectory is a storytelling and learning interface for children whose goal is to provide an environment in which children generate their own educational content by sharing personal written stories with a peer. Two children use the Reflectory to write and to exchange letters that together spark the appearance of an historical biography relevant to both children's stories. To create a feeling of privacy and security, the Reflectory's touch-sensitive screen has been encased in a traditional hard-cover volume. Opening this innocuous-looking book reveals a visually rich and engaging screen onto which children write their stories directly, using a stylus. The Reflectory will continue to develop as we work with children to discover how technologies that encourage and enhance collaborative storytelling can be powerful tools for self-expression, personalized learning, and language development.