Comic Creation

Comics are appreciated by both adults and children. The few amount of words included is an excellent way for students to practice succinct writing. Additionally, a comic can be a motivating way to practice the important skill of summarizing, demonstrating understanding, and applying what has been learned. 


Two web 2.0 comic making tools that I have used are Pixton and Toondoo

                                                                          
                                                                  Pixton
  
Pixton is a free website for creating comics.  It has a good variety of backgrounds, objects, and characters to choose from.  If you can't find what you want, you can create your own.  One special feature is the ability to manipulate the bodies of the characters into different positions.  Pixton offers an educator's site where you can sign up your students under one account.  This account is free for 30 days, then you must pay for the service. You need to pay to download your cartoons, but you can embed, link, or take screen shots.  The free version comes with advertisements that are not suitable for students.

Screenshot of Pixton Website

These are two examples of Pixton cartoons I created for a course in my Master of Educational Technology Program at University of British Columbia. The course focused on the theory of technology.

Toondoo

An added bonus of Toondoo is that you can download, embed, email, or print the cartoons all for free. Toondoo offers a secure option called Toondoo Spaces ideal for schools. There is a 15 day free trial. While other people's creations are available on the free site, there does not seem to be any inappropriate advertising.

Screenshot of Toondoo Spaces Website

Toondoo is another easy-to-use cartoon authoring tool. I used this one with my grade 3 students and they were quick to figure out how to use it. I chose to give each student an account of their own. We used this tool because the activity was for Bible class and Toondoo offers characters in ancient Bible type clothing. In this activity, students were to summarize the story of Abram and Lot and then create a second cartoon depicting a positive choice they would make in a modern-day situation. The students were excited to create cartoons on the computer and many of them chose to continue to use this tool on their own at home.

By joypenner | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Mashups: Befunky

The Tool

There are many tools available for creating mashups out of images both online and in an app form. I created this cartoon of a photo for an assignment using Befunky and a photo I took at the Singapore zoo. This type of tool allows students to be creative and design something that is specific to their needs.

Theorizing Smartphones

Review

Befunky is simple to use and does not require registration. Photos upload easily from a variety of locations and there are options for style, speech bubbles, text, goodies, frames, and much more. Each category has some tools that are free and some that require an upgrade (payment). 

Befunky welcome screen

I wasn't able to complete my picture using the site because the goodies available didn't provide a picture of a smartphone which was integral to the meaning of my cartoon. For that I had to save the photo to my desktop, and then create my own phone image by using preview on my mac. The downside to using this site is that you can't save your work as you go. You save the finished product onto your computer or share it through various options such as Facebook.  This means that if you don't have time to finish it in one sitting, you lose your work. I did experiment with downloading it to my computer and then uploading the partially finished work for a later completion, but found that the previous changes I made were permanent and I was unable to change what I had done.

Educational Issues

While I used my own photo for this project, it is common to use someone else's image for a mashup. Copyright is an issue that must be addressed with students. Many students think that because they can easily download images that it is okay to use them and if we are honest as teachers, we often grab images without attribution when creating lessons on the fly. As teachers we need to set the example, as well as explicitly teach students how to choose and cite information correctly. Common Sense Media offers free K-12 curriculum related to the use of technology and covers this issue of copyright at each grade level. 

Resources for Creative Commons Media

Links to creative commons searches
Links to free use media
Four Creative Commons Photo Sites

A sandbox evokes happy childhood images of children experimenting with designs and structures. These creations are easily erased, and new ones built in their places. There is no fear on the part of the child that these designs will be wrong or that they will make a mistake. One rarely hears from the sandbox, "Did I do this correctly?" A sandbox is a free space to work without fear of mistake or reproach.

I am on the verge of finishing my master's of educational technology (MET). During my courses, I have been encouraged to enter the sandbox and play with technology without fear of failure. I have benefitted from watching others play, but at the same time, I have gained confidence in my own play. I have discovered that the best way to learn to use technology is just to jump in and begin designing and building. In the process I have discovered many useful and interesting tools that can be applied to education.

The purpose of this blog is to review various Web 2.0 tools and their educational use. I hope that it will encourage you the reader to come on into the sandbox yourself and gain confidence in your own use of technology.

Happy Playing!