Final Reflection

I have to say I enjoyed this class.  I feel better for having taken it.  Although it was a lot of work learning about different programs and apps and trying them out and looking into them all, I had to say it was fun.  While using these different tools I began to think of some of the wonderful things I would like to try in my library.


                                                                                                                              
The Winners

                                                                          


It was hard to just pick a few things that excited me, but some of my top favorites were:  QR codes, Animoto, Pixton, Blog readers (Bloglovin'), Thinglink, Tellagami and Screencast-o-matic. They were exciting because of the all of the different things I could do with each one.   While there are several ways you could use each one, I do have definite ideas of how I would like to use them:  QR codes and Animoto for Book trailers, Pixton for advertisements around school as well as blurbs for newsletters.  Bloglovin' to keep me in the know about other people's opinions of books out there as well as the latest technological innovations, Thinglink and Tellagami mash up (at least for now) for library mapping and lastly Screencast-o-matic for teaching others how to use websites.

             


Toughest Part

The hardest assignment was the one on Infographics.  It was hard taking so many intricate facts and matching them to specific icons and then again choosing just the right words to go with it all.  This by far was the toughest assignment.  I think the best way to use this tool is to promote the library with it. Although they are difficult to create they are very powerful, and if used correctly they can impact your library for the better.

The Most Exciting

I can't really say that any one particular program would be the most beneficial to students, but I would say that I would definitely use the ones I mentioned above with them.  I think it's important to expose them to each program because each one is going to have a different effect on each student. One student might get more out of Animoto, whereas another might get more out of Pixton.  I would try to create a balanced approach with the technology that I use in the hopes that one of the forms will strongly resonate with a student.

The Biggest Lesson Learned

I think the biggest change in my thinking has come with the realization that technology is not a separate entity from the library, but a tool to enhance everything in the library.  Plus it's not just for the patrons, but for yourself as well.  There are so many great ideas out there, but if you aren't using that tool to keep you in the know, then it will be passing you by!

Use Twitter, a good blog reader (Bloglovin') so important!!! and follow some great blogs.  Tony Vincent, Kathy Schrock are good to follow because they are tech leaders that know how to apply it to teaching.  At the same time start small and get to the apps listed above.  It is a guarantee that if you do, you're going to reach more people and the more you reach the more useful and relevant your library will be.

A Mash up Thinglink and Tellagami

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/726202719706021889  

I wanted to do this assignment because I wanted to experiment with creating something like this for our library at school.  I thought it would be a great informative piece to add to your school's website.   You can make it as detailed as you want, put up pictures, add the hours, tell about the resources and services and explain how you do things there in the library.  What a great resource to have!  It's informative for everyone (parents, students and staff).  

When I initially looked into Thinglink I honestly didn't take a whole of time to experiment with it, I just jumped right in.  I first uploaded some school library pictures that I had and then went into making a library floor plan.  I used SmartArt in my Word document program.  The plan was very basic.  Once I had the floor plan finished I could only save it as a "pdf" or as a "Word document."  I found out though that if you use the "Snip It," tool it will save it for you in the correct format (sends it to OneNote), which I believe was bpg or jpeg, not sure.  Once saved in this format I was able to upload it directly to my Thinglink site.  

Tagging the photo was a little more complicated.  It's very easy to tag just with words, you simply pick the part of the photo you want to tag and give it a name and it's there.  Using Tellagami was a little tougher.  I had to put Tellagami on my phone (takes a lot of storage space) get my character situated and bring up photos of our library on my computer. I then chose the camera setting and took a photo of it with my Tellagami directly in front of it.  Once I did that I chose the microphone button and recorded her saying what I needed her to say.  After that I had to "finalize," my Tellagami video and then upload it to YouTube in order for it to have a URL code.  You had to have URL code in order to tag your photo on Thinglink.  That is the ONLY way it will upload, unless maybe you upgrade to a version you have to pay for.  Once I figured about the URL code, things went pretty smoothly.  It took maybe two and half hours to get it done.  This was having never used the program before and using it with Tellagami

What I liked most about this project was that it was free.  It was a little tough figuring out the work arounds, but once I did I have to admit I felt pretty good about myself.  I really think this would be something I would do for my library (once I have one) because it's so useful.  You can bring it up on a tablet, or a website and so many questions can be answered right then and there without ever once saying anything to anyone!  It's amazing the great website services out there-Thinglink is definitely a winner and it's made better when mashed with Tellagami.  I will definitely be using the two again.

13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology

13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology. (2014, July 23). Retrieved November 25, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/07/23/13-things-to-know-about-teens-and-technology/

I liked how this presentation went.  It started off saying that teens are really no different than anyone else, they are just living in a highly digitized world.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard that "teens nowadays....fill in the blank with something negative."  This is the first time I have heard that teens are really no different now than they have ever been.  The only difference is that they are living in a fast-paced, highly connected world.  It may not always demand your attention, but it is definitely in your face most of the time.

The opening statement really made me think, perhaps kids really shouldn't have access to all of these many forms of technology, because they do not have the social/emotional skills to "know," what they are doing.   Of course I cannot speak for every teen, but only my own.  I do think parents should probably ask themselves that question more and seriously think about it.  You could say that we are "pioneers" in this new world.  The affects of living in such a world are unknown, we don't really know where all of this "connectedness," is taking us, but maybe we should think about it more.

Technological Use-A Breakdown

I made a graph illustrating the percentages of technology use among teens.  Every category is high, so I have to say that I agree with the findings.  When I go places I do see lots of people on their phones, so I do not doubt that this is the case.  The only thing that this article lacked was who was surveyed and how many teens.  It would have been interesting to know.    

It was popular in my teen years to say you were living in a "material world," but now apparently it has become a "networked world."   According to the article, technology is pervasive, portable, persistent, personal, participatory, spreadable, linked, editable, replicable, immediate, searchable and timeless."  

It used to be computers were only for the home and school and phones were for only making phone calls, but somehow someway the two merged into one larger entity.  It has now become a way to live. It demands your attention.  I would like to think that you could live without a smartphone or even a computer, but I don't know now if you really could.  There are so many things online and so many places that require you to do things on their "website."  I honestly don't know if it could be done.  It would be an interesting experiment.  

Teens are just a reflection of ourselves

According to the article 76% of teachers say the internet has had a positive effect on research work, but 87% say that it has produced a generation of distracted learners.  I have to say that this now goes for the population at large.  It is not just with teens, it is with everyone!  How many times have phone calls, texting, surfing the internet interrupted your family time, took the place of a conversation you could have had with a person you just met?  or distracted someone at a store or business?  Honestly everytime I go out I see it happen all the time, everyday.    

This article is a reflection of the world at large.  Teens are just part of the picture.  The article also said that 83% of teens agreed that the amount of information available online is overwhelming, but yet 90% said that it encourages them to learn about topics of interest to them.  Again, this tells me that maybe we should become more cognizant of how we are using technology.  Is it more important to stay "connected," than to actually interact with the people physically around us?  

Learning and how we choose to stay connected

According to the presentation the old style of learning was passive.  It was something we accomplished through hard work or excelled at because of our natural abilities.  Now the new way of learning is more about doing, creating and managing our own learning, using technological tools to our advantage.  The ones who are consciously using them to their advantage will lead.  It isn't that the old way is obsolete, it's just that new way of learning can even the playing field a little more.  

Once you've found out that the new way of learning exists, then learning about the many forms of information can be pretty beneficial.  There are six:  stacks, signals, snacks, streams, socials and synthesized spaces.  Stacks deals with the digitized forms of information, same as a book, but in electronic form.  It's more accessible to all.  Signals deals with current, up to the minute information. Snacks has to do with games online, a way to pass the time.  Streams has to do with information as it goes by, usually news or social stuff on people.  It's a way to know what others have been up to.   Socials, deals with friendships and relating with people on a personal level.  Synthesized spaces deals with your personal web footprint.  How much you allow the world to know about you.  

Final Thoughts

So although this was a presentation on teens and technology, it really had a lot to do with everyone and how we choose to utilize technology.  Perhaps we shouldn't mindlessly use technology, or have it take over our lives, but instead use it to enhance our lives. Yes, technology is great, but know that it is only a tool, one that can improve our lives or ruin our lives, depending on how we consciously decide to use it.   

Presentation length:  55 pages

The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing

The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools. (2013, July 16). Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_NWP Writing and Tech.pd

While this article was written in 2013, it is still valid today.  It deals with the use of digital tools in the English/Language Arts classroom.  Let's face it, many people, children included use a wide variety of digital tools.  Every year the usage increases both with the variety of tools, and also with the variety of applications.  How exactly are teachers harnessing these new tools and are they really effective for today's students?  

Effectiveness of tools

96%  of teachers surveyed agreed that digital technologies allow students to share their work with a wider and more varied audience.  76% agree that the tools encourage greater collaboration and 78% agree that digital technologies encourage student creativity and expression.  While most teachers gave high marks to the effectiveness they were concerned with students writing too fast, using poor grammar, poor spelling and generally being more careless.  They were also concerned with issues of fair use, copyright and reading and digesting long or complicated texts.  

While teachers were concerned with these issues, many also said that they were using class time to correct the problem, 88% for citation and plagiarism and 75% for fair use and copyright.  Another way to combat the problem with spelling and grammatical errors was to get them to use pencil and paper over digital forms, at least until they corrected their mistakes.  

The article also brought up that the use of digital tools was blurring the lines between formal and informal writing.  Most students are used to writing informally (frequent abbreviations,  incomplete sentences, misspellings, and informal tone) and were either unknowingly doing these things are didn't care enough to correct it.  Teachers also noted that there was a potential decline for vocabulary and grammatical skills exacerbated by an over-reliance on automated grammar, spellcheck and dictionary tools built into the programs.  Again, practicing without the tools may be needed in order to correct the problem.  

What type of writing is assigned?

I thought this was reasonable and an effective use of technology in the writing class.  I couldn't say I was surprised by the findings.  What I did learn was there is a program to "catch," plagiarism.  It's called Turnitin.com.  A full 71% of the teachers surveyed used this program.  Apparently when you turn it in digitally, it is able to catch copied and pasted bits on paper and therefore is an aide to a teacher who might otherwise never know if something was copied or not.  I also liked the discussion that research papers brought up.  Many teachers are now questioning its value.  Some see tremendous value in longer writing assignments that require students to organize their thoughts and fully develop complex ideas.  They see it juxtaposed to the more informal and truncated styles in which they regularly use for texting and commenting on social media sites.  Others question the idea of "longer makes it better."  Length in some way equated in most teachers’ minds that it was evident of deeper thinking.  I personally think that it is good to assign these sorts of assignments, but only on a limited basis.  Again, I think students need the experience and practice of longer writing.  This is something that they would not normally do on their own.     

The Benefits of the Tools

Perhaps you can't have your cake and eat it to as they say?  Many of the teachers surveyed said that they do not remember writing as much as students are today.  What they excel at nowadays is quantity, but in doing so suffer in quality.  Because students have so many avenues in which to explore and use, students are truncating messages and skimming the surface of many thoughts. Teachers have to now work to get students to slow down, process their thinking, write it down, revise it and edit it.  Students have to be taught the benefits of a well-thought out piece of writing.  Perhaps a stronger, more carefully constructed message can make a deeper impact than several tweets, FB posts and texts combined?   

Because digital technologies offer so many ways to revise and edit, it's important students understand its value.  Many teachers said that online tools give students more time to think through their message and not waste as much time and effort through pen and paper.  Whats more is through some of the tools like, Googledocs other students can upload comments and ideas which you can then take into consideration when writing your final document, plus a teacher can "see," a student's current progress.  This is something that has never been able to be done before.  

Which teachers are using these tools?

Half of the teachers surveyed said that today's technologies have made their jobs easier, while 18% have said that it has become more difficult.  Younger teachers are more likely to say it's easier.  The only striking difference is in the subjects being taught.  English/LA teachers are more likely than other teachers to say that it has made teaching easier (64%), while 32% for math, 38% for science and 45% for history have said so.  A full 94% of teachers still encourage their students to write by hand.  The reasons vary, but most comes down to having to do it for standardized tests.  Most teachers agreed that when they write by hand they are able to do more active thinking, synthesizing and editing when writing by hand.  It also helps eliminate the temptation to copy and paste and use some of those online tools.  Some teachers said that there are some students who do better with pencil and paper and are more effective. 

While it makes sense to use online tools as much as possible, it is also important to consider that the teachers surveyed were from well-equipped districts whose students were the higher achievers. Teachers from lower income neighborhoods report that their students do not have access to these things at home and so come unprepared.  They have to do some basic training to ensure that all students are on the same page.  They must do this before they can even begin to do some of the more innovative lessons.  

There are many unsurveyed teachers out there and nobody can be quite sure how much of the education system is using and to what degree digital tools.  Many teachers from this survey agree that there needs to be structured guidelines to go by.  They want a comprehensive approach to the use of digital technologies.  Expense to purchase the hardware, experienced personnel to train others all requires money.  Unfortunately there are those that think technology is only widening the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged, and in this case I would have to agree with them.  Until guidelines are established there are going to be schools that are not keeping up with the technological pace of the world. In addition to that without guidelines how do we know that we are using digital tools to the best of our ability?   

Final Thoughts

I added a piktochart to illustrate some of the highs and lows of digital tools and writing.  Teachers said that students did best on organizing and structuring and considering multiple points of view (which they do do through digital tools), but did the worst on citing sources and reading/digesting longer texts (which most people do not do through digital tools).  The use of proper tone was also poor with students.  

I think it's also important to note that digital tools are great resources, but must be considered carefully before used in the classroom.  How is this going to help students, what are the pitfalls, can my students use these resources, can they use them responsibly, what am I aiming for in this assignment, and last but not least do I have the resources I need?  

Using technology for the sake of using technology is not what it should be about, it should be about using it effectively.  Start small, beef up your skills through trainings and practice and most importantly don't give up.  These resources have proven to be beneficial and will certainly prepare students for the real world.  If you lack the resources check out Donors Choose (a free grant writing website) or other grants through your district.

article length:  63 pages

Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview

Teens, Social Media &Technology Overview 2015: Smartphones facilitate shifts in communication landscape for teens. (2015, April 9).



Reading research can be tough because the numbers can go all ways but I found this article made a lot of sense while giving out numbers.  The article reviewed social interaction of teens with social media apps, internet sites, gaming consoles and through smartphones.

According to this article girls are more likely than boys to use social media.  In every survey done, girls, especially older teen girls used social media at a higher rate than boys.  38% of girls used Pinboards over boys at just 11%.  Video chat, more than half, Instagram, 64% of girls, Snapchat, 56% of girls versus 31% of boys.  Twitter, 49% of girls use it, Vine 27% of girls versus 20% of boys. Tumblr, 23% of girls versus 5% of boys.  The only social site equally used by both boys and girls was Facebook (76% of all teens).

This actually shocked me.  I've heard from many teens and friends with teens that Facebook is no longer popular, "it's for old people."  However with looking into it, it was found that it was an equalizing site that appealed to most people.  Snapchat offers a snapshot of your life, which some teens may not want to share if they are not well-off.  You can better allude to a better life through pictures taken in other places, which can be shared on Facebook and Instagram than you can on Snapchat.

Snapchat was actually most popular with wealthier teens than with poorer.  Twitter was also more popular with wealthier teens than with poorer, again, Twitter is a great platform for speaking your mind and it does seem wealthier people have a higher tendency to speak their mind than than poorer people.  Maybe they feel entitled to it more so than others?

Because boys are not using social media sites as much it is because they are spending more time on gaming than they are anywhere else.  Boys prefer gaming than other form of social media.  81% of teens report having a gaming console, 91% of boys report having one, while only 70% of girls do.

Again, I am not surprised by this data.  Having two daughters, they are on their phones with friends more so than through gaming.  We had a Halloween party here last year and my teen daughter had a mixture of girls and boys at the party (more boys than girls).  The party did evolve into a gaming night of MarioKart.  The winner of each round got to wear a "crown," which they passed around. They had a loud, raucous time celebrating wins.

As far as smart phone usage goes, African-American teens are more likely to have smartphones, more than any other group.  91% of all teens have a mobile device.  Because they have a mobile device there is also a high percentage of online usage (91% occasionally, 92% go online daily, 24% report almost constantly).  A typical teen sends 30 texts a day, again girls send more texts than boys, 40 to 50 a day.  

I was surprised to find out that African-American teens were more likely to have smartphones, more than any other group.  I couldn't find any explanation for it as to why.  The most surprising fact was that so many teens use Facebook, a whopping 76%, and why slightly more boys than girls, I don't know?  Perhaps it's a good way to snoop around on others you might be interested in?  I  don't know. It's just a guess.

When it comes to technology, teens love it are well-versed in it and will use it as much as they can get their hands on it.

Article length:  40 pages.

Using Instagram and Vine in Education

There are so many apps to stay connected with others.  One of them, Instagram has been around for a while and is pretty popular with teens and young adults.  Another, Vine is fairly new and has been around for only about three years.  Instagram used to be a way to see only uploaded photos of people and friends from around the world, but now you can also upload videos as well.  Vine is similar to Instagram, but instead of doing photos, it only does videos.  It allows you to upload six second videos for the world to see. 


Instagram

I have been on Instagram for about seven years now.  I have to admit I have never been that interested in the site.  I prefer Facebook because you can add a lot of text as well as pictures.  I do have a few followers in the application, most of them are teachers I used to work with at my school.  I found through playing with the app that you can add some text to the picture, just not a whole lot.  You can even "tag," it with hashtags and it will mark it for Twitter searches.  What I like most about the site is you can edit your photo with different effects, giving it a different and unique look.

I can foresee this probably being a better site to involve parents and colleagues than Facebook.  Instagram is all about photos, which of course can spark ideas for others and quickly show parents what lessons are being learned. 

Instagram pix

Vine

Vine was a new app I had never used before.  I really didn't know much about it.  When I looked into it I found that you could only upload six second videos.  Because of that fact most postings were silly things people were doing for fun.  I really didn't see a whole lot of valuable posts.  The one type of posting I thought would be good to share with a class, is a snapshot of what it's like to be in a certain part of the world.  I saw fascinating posts of people on islands near Mexico, in public squares in Europe, markets around the world, forested areas and landmarks.  I found that to be particularly interesting.  Because of these types of posts, I thought this would be great to show a class.  I felt it would show them that these places are indeed real and would give them a chance to "see," it for themselves. 

As far as postings, I posted two short videos both of them "How To," videos.  The first one was "How to Create A Personal Narrative."  It was alright, however I found it really difficult to keep my hand perfectly still and get a good shot, as well as pressing the stop/go button.  Once you start recording it only records a small bit.  You have to keep pressing to keep the video running, so you get this "start/stop," effect which makes the video look like it's jumping around. 

I also posted a "How to," about "How to regroup ones using a 10-frame."  Again, it was very difficult controlling the video button, but it did give me some good experience with it.  I was thinking it would be good to maybe do a Vine post for the Literacy Night coming up on Thursday.  I could open up Vine on my work computer, project it from our Elmo and have it loop.  We are doing "Monster Book Reviews," and it would be interesting to do a short video on book suggestions. 

https://vine.co/u/1277825390035066880?mode=list

Google+

In conclusion I had a pretty difficult time uploading my Instagram pictures and my Vine videos.  I had to upload it as a web link, so I went ahead and did a screenshot of some of the things I did in each application with Skitch to show a visual of what I did in each one.

I found out that Google+ is another great application that does the same thing as both Instagram and Vine put-together.  It looks like Instagram on your phone, but looks more like pinterest on your computer.  It  allows you to upload videos (the videos come from Youtube) and pictures.  It also suggests people and groups to follow.  You cannot use the site to directly take pictures with or take videos with.  You have to take pictures with your camera and with your video recorder.  Once it's been taken, you then have to upload it to the site. 

I thought it was interesting to note that it works better with the blogger app in Google drive.  It stands to reason that it would be easier to embed both photos and videos from that site than it would be from Instagram and Vine (which are separate apps) and do not work in conjunction with Google.  It will be interesting to see what Google will do with this new application in the future.   

Using Screencasts to Teach

Screencasts are a great new way to teach others how to exactly do something online or on the computer.  There are a couple of great, free, easy to download programs that will allow you to make screencasts.

Screencastomatic and Jing are just two.  Screenr is mentioned below, but requires Java in order to run correctly.

Screencast-o-matic

I have actually used Screencast-o-matic before.  I used it to present a program I had come up with.  I started off with a flier and then I showed how to find something on the computer and how to use it.  However I recently used it to demonstrate how to use Pixton.  Since using it the first time, they have improved it.  There is a quicker version that they are using.  I found it essentially the same.  Once you download it, you simply just have what you want talk about ready to go.  A small rectangular button appears at the bottom of your screen and you click record.  It gives you a short countdown of about 4 second and then your are "on the air." 

I found it was really easy to use.  There didn't seem to be a time limit to it.  I actually spent seven minutes going into how to use Pixton and I was able to get pretty far into it.  I didn't have any problems with the program.  I am not particularly well versed in teaching using screencasts, so I had to delete and start over a couple of times because I wasn't satisfied with my recording.  But besides this, it was very easy to use. 

 

Jing

I uploaded Jing quite easily.  It took only a matter of seconds to upload, and once uploaded it was very easy to use.  The only problem I had with it, was that it limits your screencast time to five minutes only.  Once you go over that time, you have to upgrade and therefore pay for the longer time.  It was similar to Screencast-o-matic, however it puts a "yellow ball," on the top of your desktop and when you scroll over it, it gives you a choice of doing a video cast or a picture cast.  It also shows you your history and some other options.  You can get rid of the "yellow ball," by going to settings and exiting out. 

Besides there being a five minute time limit on the screencast, the file could only be saved as a "shockwave file."  My computer could not read it and so I was not able to embed the file into my blog.  I found I had to download another program called "screencast.com" so I could put the file on that and then embed it into my blog.  The file took an extremely long time to load into screencast.com.  Once downloaded I could embed the video, I could only embed the link as shown below. 

So Jing versus Screencast-o-matic, I would have to go with Screencast-o-matic because of the longer amount of time it gives you and the ease and speed I had with it. 

http://www.screencast.com/t/wizRW7AjwAiK


Screenr

I tried using Screenr.  As shown above, you have to have Java in order for it to run.  I thought I would go ahead and install it and try it out anyway, however when I got it installed and tried it out, I found Screenr still would not work.  I kept on getting error messages.  Perhaps at one time Screenr was a good program to use, but I found it be incompatible with the computer I had. 

From the three screencasts I looked into, I found Screencast-o-matic to be the easiest to use of all.  It was very reliable, and it had everything I needed in order to make a good screencast.  It was the winner in my book. 

 

Self-Created Cartoons and Comics for the Classroom

What'll they think of next?  It seems technology is always coming up with somthing new and innovative on a daily basis.  The newest thing to come out are cartoons and comics that you can whip up yourself.

There are three:  ToonDoo, Pixton and MakeBeliefsComix.  Some of them are easier to use to than others, and while they are all comics, they all pretty different.

ToonDoo

When I first used ToonDoo I found it was pretty easy to use.  I went with the free version and found my choices were rather limited.  I could go into the TraitR tool at the bottom of the page and create a profile and some characters.  The characters could be given a name and saved into the gallery, however when I tried to use the characters the site stalled out on me and I was not able to go on.  I also found that I was limited to how I could lay out my cartoon.  I could only use a 3-panel cartoon or variations of it (vertically, horizontally and stacked different ways etc).  For the story I wanted to tell, I found that I needed about 7-8 panels. 

Since I could only use three, I tried the best I could, but the story felt stunted.  In addition to that, I couldn't seem to find or create the characters I wanted.  The TraitR characters that I tried creating looked so much alike (male and female) that I couldn't really get all that excited about it.  I would say Toondoo is easy to use, but difficult to create a good story with.
 
Pixton

This one I really liked.  I went with the free version and created a cartoon fairly easily and rather quickly.  I chose to do one on how we found our dog Sandy.  Two weeks ago in Writer's Workshop I told my class the story of how I found my dog.  I sketched everything out as I told them about it.  I demonstrated how the main points of the story were emphasized on paper.  So I basically demonstrated a plan before we even got to writing.  Afterwards I had them tell me some stories they had about animals and helped them develop a plan.  When I created this cartoon I thought wow what a neat way to tell a story.  I could use it to show as a final product or I could use it to get my plan going for a more detailed story.  Depending on what you want, a teacher could do either with his or her class.

In the future I would have them plan out a story, take a day to experiment with the site, save their work and go back in on a second day, perhaps a third day and finalize it.  The site saves your work for you.  You just have to remember your username and password.  Because it's on the internet, students could finish it at home and bring it back to class when they are done.  Once students are familiar with it, you could use for many other projects as well. 

 

 

What I liked most about the site is I could put in as many characters as I wanted, props, change up the scenery, change facial expressions, positions of characters and whatnot.  It was a lot of fun to do.  Although it was fairly easy, it took me a little while to learn how to use it properly.  I learned that if you want to change facial expressions you have to click on the character's face, if you click on their body it will change their body position.  The text boxes gave me some trouble.  I had a hard time figuring out how to point the line down to the right person.  However, all in all, I think the cartoon came out pretty cute.  

 



 

 



MakeBeliefsComix

 

 

This comic site was the most limited of all.  There were a few characters that you could use, but they were already posed for you, so you had to match your words to their body language.  I found it pretty difficult to use.  I had to make up a situational story to go along with the characters I chose.   I found myself kind of stuck because I could not think of a way to end it because I could not change the character's body position or facial features. I had to end the story panel with the character in a different set of clothes than when she started and it was also out of color. 

 

 

The one plus to this site is that it is completely free.  You don't have to sign up or register.  There were also story prompts and quick lesson ideas to go along with the site.  I would not recommend this site because there is not enough variety here to make a quality comic.  It is also very easy to lose your work so that would be problematic for students. 

 

Tellagami  (Downloadable cartoon app for phones and tablets)

 

 

 

This site was a lot of fun to use.  I actually downloaded this to my android phone for free and got to work on it instantly.  I had only a few choices for hair, clothing and background.  Some of the more interesting choices were "locked," and you had to pay to unlock it.  Even though some of the choices were locked, I found I had plenty to use.  I actually uploaded a picture of the children's book, "Enemy Pie," and had my "tellagami," stand in front of it.  I was only given 30 seconds to talk about the book, so I had to be very succinct.  I didn't try to get my "tellagami," to talk longer, but again I am thinking that  if you want a longer amount of time you have to pay for it.  

 

Despite this small downside to the program, I had a lot of fun with it.  It was super easy to use and I liked how professional it looked when I was done with it.  I could envision my class having a great time creating a "tellagami," and coming up with a great sentence or two about a book or some sort of research for science.  We have tablets at our school and this could be a great app that we could use for one of our science projects

 

The winners of the cartoon sites were:  Pixton and Tellagami.  Easy and fun to use.  I enjoyed how they were reminiscent of graphic novels.  I felt like I was making one of my very own.  I would have to say this is a great way to inspire kids to write and spark their creativity.