Creating Comics with Pixton.com
I want to present another tool to you which is very useful when you either want to create a comic for school, for example for worksheets or when you want your students to create a comic. That can be the case when you want them to present a certain piece of literature as a comic for example. These are only a few examples where it is possible to include working with comics in your lessons. In general it is to say that it is always a good opportunity to get your students motivated, because they are laughing and have fun while reading comics. If you let them create a comic in group work, it is also a very good idea because they can be creative, have to read through the original text and have to communicate with other group members.
A very good tool for this purpose is the webpage www.pixton.com . Students have a lot of possibilities with Pixton. First of all, they can create characters. They have total freedom in the choice of how many characters they want to have, how they should look like, what they should wear or which facial expressions they should have. After that they can choose any surrounding out of the existing database. There are so many possibilities so that I am sure that they will find a fitting one for their individual comic. The next step is the creation of speech bubbles. The students can decide whether they want to have some or not, how they should look like and what they want to write into it, in which size and color. This program really offers a lot of freedom so that the students are not forced to take people or sentences which already exist. I think that is a big advantage of Pixton, because it is important that the young people are not restricted in their decisions. At the end of the creation it is also possible to include a fitting sound for the background.
This whole process is very talkative, because the students have to communicate a lot to include the ideas of all group members so that everyone is happy with the result at the end. It is a very good possibility to get your students into the process of speaking because there are so many small matters which has to be discussed. Furthermore, it is very helpful that you have a lot of opportunities to save a created comic. It is possible to just save it on the computer as a file, but it can also be printed or published on students’ website or other platforms in the internet. Furthermore, it is possible to have it on an interactive whiteboard. This offers a lot of more opportunities because then the whole class can change or add some things in the comic on the Smartboard.
The biggest advantage in my point of view is the fact that the teacher can control all processes of the students. It is possible that the teacher creates an account and can build groups and invite certain pupils to each group. He or she has total control and can see the products of the students at every time and can intervene if it is needed. The students have no chance to just surf through the internet or to do something else with the help of this possibility in this program. The teacher has also the ability to correct comics after they are submitted to him or her and he or she can send it back to the students so that they can again work on it and correct the mistakes. This method prevents published incorrect comics. With this method, only corrected comics can be published in the so called students’ gallery. All pupils have then access to all other comics and can comment on them. It is very good that they learn at an early age to give themselves constructive feedback. The teacher has also the ability to give feedback via the so called “innovative comic rubrics”. There are given different rubrics and the teacher has to grade every rubric. It is visible for the students so that they know how their grade developed.
A very good tool for this purpose is the webpage www.pixton.com . Students have a lot of possibilities with Pixton. First of all, they can create characters. They have total freedom in the choice of how many characters they want to have, how they should look like, what they should wear or which facial expressions they should have. After that they can choose any surrounding out of the existing database. There are so many possibilities so that I am sure that they will find a fitting one for their individual comic. The next step is the creation of speech bubbles. The students can decide whether they want to have some or not, how they should look like and what they want to write into it, in which size and color. This program really offers a lot of freedom so that the students are not forced to take people or sentences which already exist. I think that is a big advantage of Pixton, because it is important that the young people are not restricted in their decisions. At the end of the creation it is also possible to include a fitting sound for the background.
This whole process is very talkative, because the students have to communicate a lot to include the ideas of all group members so that everyone is happy with the result at the end. It is a very good possibility to get your students into the process of speaking because there are so many small matters which has to be discussed. Furthermore, it is very helpful that you have a lot of opportunities to save a created comic. It is possible to just save it on the computer as a file, but it can also be printed or published on students’ website or other platforms in the internet. Furthermore, it is possible to have it on an interactive whiteboard. This offers a lot of more opportunities because then the whole class can change or add some things in the comic on the Smartboard.
The biggest advantage in my point of view is the fact that the teacher can control all processes of the students. It is possible that the teacher creates an account and can build groups and invite certain pupils to each group. He or she has total control and can see the products of the students at every time and can intervene if it is needed. The students have no chance to just surf through the internet or to do something else with the help of this possibility in this program. The teacher has also the ability to correct comics after they are submitted to him or her and he or she can send it back to the students so that they can again work on it and correct the mistakes. This method prevents published incorrect comics. With this method, only corrected comics can be published in the so called students’ gallery. All pupils have then access to all other comics and can comment on them. It is very good that they learn at an early age to give themselves constructive feedback. The teacher has also the ability to give feedback via the so called “innovative comic rubrics”. There are given different rubrics and the teacher has to grade every rubric. It is visible for the students so that they know how their grade developed.
