Cartoons and Comics

In this post I am reviewing three apps for making comics and cartoons.  Comics have long been a favorite of children but have only recently become viewed as a valuable educational tool by adults.  Graphic novels are on the rise with many notable authors becoming engaged in this genre, both in fiction and nonfiction.  Both YALSA and the ALSC have created yearly lists of recommended graphic novels for children and young adults.  Because comics generate high interest and are more engaging for reluctant readers, it is a good idea to be familiar with ways to incorporate comics into the classroom environment.  The apps below are a good place to start.

Fotojet

This site was so easy to use.  I used the free version to create a comic photo collage with one of the templates provided.  No kidding, I had the photo collage put together in less than five minutes and it was the very first time I had used the app.  The dashboard is easy to see and use with the icons well marked.  There are a lot of features for customizing your project so you can make it as fancy or as plain as you want.  There are a number of templates available with the free version as well as a lot of options for backgrounds, clipart, and text features.  You can upload your own photos, which is what I did, or you can choose from stock photos online.  Sharing is easy with this app as all it requires is a simple download and save.  I believe that this app is easy enough for elementary school age children to create basic comics and that they would have a lot fun with it. 

Pixton

When I tried this app out, the first thing I noticed right away is the option to change the language from English to Spanish or French.  It is right there at the very top of the page and easy to see.  While this option may have been available with Fotoject, it was not easily visible.  The second thing I noticed is that the introduction video focuses on how teachers and students are using this app in the classroom setting so I knew right away that it is designed for students.  As far as creating the comic, while this app is not difficult to use, the free version is VERY limited in the selection of backgrounds, characters, and actions you are able to choose.  I found this a little frustrating but more disappointing as I felt that my creativity was somewhat stifled.  I also had to play with the app a little to figure out how to edit but it was not difficult to figure out.  I believe that this app would be very appealing to students and the ELL students would really benefit from it.

Make Beliefs Comix

This app feels like it was designed especially for teachers and students.  It provides teachers and parents with examples of how the comics can be used to support learning with all students including ELL and those with special needs.  There are also thirteen different language options that can be selected with just one click of the mouse. Because there are prompts to spark ideas for writing, it seems like a good site for creative writing projects.  With that said, I found this app difficult to use.  Creating the comic requires a lot of clicking back and forth from characters to backgrounds and speech bubbles.  I prefer the drag and drop feature of some of the other apps.  Also, the app does not allow for customization of characters and the poses for the characters provided are limited.  Saving the comic is not difficult, select the “save to a disk” option and it downloads the image.  Login is required to save the comic if you want to download it or return to it later.  All in all, I think elementary and middle school students would have fun with this app but it was not my favorite in terms of ease of use.

Sharing With Teachers

Because providing professional development opportunities is one of the many responsibilities of the librarian or media specialist, I would share comics and cartoons with the teachers at my school by hosting a hands-on mini-workshop where I can introduce the apps above and they can spend time trying them out.  Creating tutorial screencasts would be another way to share this information with teachers, as well as students.