This blog post was written by our Marketing Associate David Liu Zhibo.

We started upgrading our Sleepover stories to digital versions in early 2013. We asked: “How can we make our stories attractive to a wider audience?”

All of us could see the upward trend on digital publishing.  We asked the next question: “Which platform do we want to publish on?” Our partners at WisdomTools started a Google Doc spreadsheet and we poured through the choices.The research still continues but we whittled down answers!

In terms of total users worldwide, Android seemed to be the largest smartphone operating system. However, for our target audience – the children in schools –  we found schools were mainly using iOS (iPad, iPhone, mini-iPad, iPod touch). This was also a smart choice when it came to testing and piloting.

Here is what convinced us:

• 40% of students or teachers use some sort of tablet in their Advanced Placement and National Writing Project classrooms
• Schools in Los Angeles in Feb 2013 allocated $50 million to start buying tablets for every student; the project is expected to cost $500 million by the time it is completed
• Schools in McAllen, Texas, distributed 6,800 Apple tablets last year in 2012 at a cost of $20.5 million
• The Eanes Independent School District in Austin is distributing more than 2,000 iPads to every  student, from kindergarteners to high school seniors.