Want to combine comics and critical thinking in an engaging way? Then Pixton is for you!
Pixton is an educational tool that allows both educators and students to create their own
comic strips. Pixton can be used for most age groups (recommended for grades 2-12) and
for any subject matter. Pixton is a great way for students to build their literacy skills in all content areas. Educators can create classrooms and input their rosters. Students can join
through Google, Microsoft, or Facebook and get started by creating their own avatars. Once students have set up their accounts, they can commence creating comic strips!
While Pixton has many selling points and provides a unique way to support literacy, creativity, and higher-order thinking, it does have some drawbacks. Pixton's free version is
very limited. The upgraded versions unlock many more features. You get a taste of all the great paid features when you initially sign up. This is the trap I fell into. When I initially made my account, I was blown away by all the great features and options to choose from when making a comic strip. But my research told me otherwise and unfortunately, the upgraded teaser only lasts 7 days.
There are very few directions or instructions on how to use the tool; one could say it is trial by fire. Younger students will need a lot of scaffolded steps to completely get the lay of the land and understand the tool.
Read my complete review here!
Hi Caroline!
R: I have never had a chance to look at Pixton so I learned a lot! I really love the idea behind pixton and see how it has a lot of applications in the classroom. I like that there is a free version and see myself trying it out sometime in the future I: I am curious to see how customizable it is, could I use my own pictures foe backgrounds? create my own character and save them for future pixton creations? S: As much as I like this tool I agree that it would be a lot for students to work with and stay focused so I am not sure If I see it as an in class…
Hi, Caroline. Thanks for sharing your review of Pixton.
Reflect – I learned that Pixton is a tool for creating comic strips. You provided lots of resources for using the platform and included an example comic so that we could see what the end-product looks like.
Inquire – I’ll pose a similar question here that I’ve asked others this week: Do you think the paid version is worth it? Do the added features make that much of a difference over the free version, and if so, are they worth the investment?
Suggest –You mentioned that there are printable versions, so I wonder if that would be one way to make this more accessible and less overwhelming for younger students.
Elevate…
Hi Caroline, thank you for sharing Pixton with us in your thoughtful review! Below is my feedback on your post.
Reflect
I really enjoyed learning about Pixton. It actually reminds me of the tool I reviewed last week, Book Creator. Pixton is definitely cuter with its custom avatar, but like you mentioned, the premium version costs quite a bit. ($25/mo for Pixton and $10/mo for Book Creator.) I love that you mentioned Bloom’s Taxonomy. I am not a trained educator, so I JUST recently learned about Bloom Taxonomy!
Inquire
I see that you are using avatars in the books. Is there any way to not use avatars and just post my own images?
Suggest
Perhaps I missed this, but for…
Hey Caroline!
Too funny...we did the same application! :) I should have done Storyboard That instead.
Cleve
Hi Caroline,
Thank you for introducing us to Pixton!
Reflect: I have never heard or used Pixton before, but I have been looking for a software to create graphics, so your post is so timely and appropriate! I like that there is a free version, but as expected, I understand that it is limited in features/graphics.
Inquire: Are you able to add whatever graphics you wish, or do you have to stick with the templates in the free version?
Suggest: I noticed that the comic strip you created had four boxes, but is it possible to do four boxes so that you read it from the left to right? It was not intuitive to read it in a clockwise fashion.