Comics

    A resource available to teachers and librarians to connect with students and to create context are application that create cartoons. Cartoons are visually appealing and a fun way to share and communicate information. It is important to look for applications which are user friendly and provide the content the user would like to create. Another look for is value in terms of having a free application or an application that may have a subscription or different levels of service depending on cost. There were several application to choose from, but the main comic application I tried were: ToonDoo, Pixton App, Make Beliefs Comics, and Storyboard That. 

ToonDoo

When going to the ToonDoo sight it states that the sight has been taken down due to a breach of its security and if anyone had an account with usernames or passwords of similarly used websites that they should update their usernames and passwords. 

Pixton App

Signing up for a Pixton app is as easy as using a Google account, Microsoft account, or a Facebook account. The account is free and is ready to use right after you put in your information of the account of your choice. The user can craft their own character or choose from dozens of premade characters. There are dozens of characteristics to choose from; hair style, hair color, body shape, eye color, eye shape, lip size, lip color, and many others. The cartoon is simple to make; first choose a background, second choose a character, and last choose type of text. You can then add more scenes and actions. I'd say this is very user friendly and definitely easy enough for students to use to showcase their learning. Unfortunately with the free version a user does not have the ability to download, print, or share the cartoon they created. I used screenshots of the comic to share. 

Make Beliefs Comix

In order to access using a free account the user needs to sign up with an email address. There are many speech bubbles, characters, objects, and backgrounds to choose from. All of the choices are accessible on a choice bar that you have to scroll through. You are not able to make your own character, so you have to choose cartoon looking characters choices given to you. There are four poses to choose from for each character. While it is not too difficult to build a cartoon, but I did not find this one as easy to use to create a comic. There was an option to save to a disk or even to email to yourself. Again, a screenshot seemed the easiest way to access the comic. This program reminded me of using WordStar in the 1990's when everyone else was using Word Perfect because it is what my dad had me use, much to my dislike. 

Storyboard That

Storyboard That is another free online application to use to create a comic. There are so many different backgrounds and characters to choose from. The menu is at the top of the page and goes through each part of a comic you may need. I was impressed the choices given, like when I chose a character I could choose facial expressions, arm and leg movements, as well and changing any and every color. There were loads of text and thought boxes to choose from the make the comic. Signing up for the service and starting a comic is quick and easy. A free account allows the user to save two free comics a month. Just like the other free applications you may gain access to more content and stronger abilities to create and share content.