Comics are what I am into right now. The last several posts have been about comics, so today I spent some time playing with several different comic creators. I was surprised at how many there were out there that were free. As with any app, some of these may be blocked due to their social networking nature. However, I think that at least a few of these will be usable in most schools.
I only found out about Bitstrips a few days ago, but I like it. It is easy to pick up, and I think that it has a lot of options especially since it is a free program. Most other apps I have looked at are fairly limited when it comes to facial expressions and choice of clothing for characters. Bitstrips has tons of options. Of course, this site works as a social network, and because of this, there is a bunch of content that is not moderated. For those that want control, there is Bitstrips for Schools. The school version has some nice features such as total teacher control over content, but it does come with a fee. Here’s a quick comic I made this morning using the free version of Bitstrips.
Pixton is another great comic authoring tool. Pixton does not have all the options of Bitstrips, and there is a cost involved for some of the advanced features. It is also a little harder (in my opinion) than Bitsrips. I do like Pixton’s characters. If anything, Pixton is a good backup plan or choice for students to use on an assignment. It never hurts to have another tool in the bag in case one breaks (just yesterday, Bitstrips was down for maintenance).
Make Beliefs Comix is not near as flashy as some of the other comic apps, but it makes up for this in simple use. This is definitely the tool I would consider using with lower grades. It still makes nice looking comics, and there is no risk in students running across other comics that may have inappropriate material. After comics are created, they can be either emailed or printed.
Myths and Legends is a cool site. I haven’t done much on it except mess around. This site looks like it would work great for longer stories and projects. There are numerous options for characters and backgrounds including some that are animated. There is also a means for writing text at the bottom of the page or recording and uploading sounds. I think that this would be a fun one to use, but it might take a little more time for students to complete a project. Having said this, I think that the project will be stellar when completed.
I looked at several other apps that are out there, and I am sure that I missed a few. If you have run across a good app for making comics with students or used any of the above, let us know.
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