Comic life in the classroom

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Written by Suzie Vesper 2010 What is Comic Life? Comic Life (plasq.com) is a publishing program that can be used to create comic strips or arrange photos into a scrapbook. Available for both Windows and Mac OS X, it allows you to easily drag photos, captions, speech bubbles, images from a webcam, and text into a range of readymade page templates. Users can change any aspect of the templates and there are a number of builtin style options for every object added to the page. A range of filters can also be applied to photos. You can create multiple pages within one Comic Life document. When finished working on the document, there are a number of export options including export to PDF, export to html, export to an image, and export as a movie. Why should teachers consider using it? Firstly, it takes a very short time to learn how to use the software, so emphasis can remain on curriculum learning outcomes. Secondly, the software can be used in a variety of ways at any age level and students are able to create professional looking results. Presenting information graphically removes the ‘cut and paste’ option for students and develops thinking skills when they have to reprocess information in order to change it from a text platform to a visual one. Graphical representation of information can be more effective for visual learners for understanding and retention of concepts. Reluctant writers are also more motivated when working in a medium combining images and text. How to use Comic Life When you open Comic Life, a blank page is displayed.

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A guide to Comic Life in the classroom with examples of it in action.

Transcript of Comic life in the classroom

Page 1: Comic life in the classroom

   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

   

What  is  Comic  Life?  Comic  Life  (plasq.com)  is  a  publishing  program  that  can  be  used  to  create  comic  strips  or  arrange  photos  into  a  scrapbook.  Available  for  both  Windows  and  Mac  OS  X,  it  allows  you  to  easily  drag  photos,  captions,  speech  bubbles,  images  from  a  webcam,  and  text  into  a  range  of  ready-­‐made  page  templates.  Users  can  change  any  aspect  of  the  templates  and  there  are  a  number  of  built-­‐in  style  options  for  every  object  added  to  the  page.  A  range  of  filters  can  also  be  applied  to  photos.    You  can  create  multiple  pages  within  one  Comic  Life  document.    When  finished  working  on  the  document,  there  are  a  number  of  export  options  including  export  to  PDF,  export  to  html,  export  to  an  image,  and  export  as  a  movie.    Why  should  teachers  consider  using  it?  Firstly,  it  takes  a  very  short  time  to  learn  how  to  use  the  software,  so  emphasis  can  remain  on  curriculum  learning  outcomes.  Secondly,  the  software  can  be  used  in  a  variety  of  ways  at  any  age  level  and  students  are  able  to  create  professional  looking  results.  Presenting  information  graphically  removes  the  ‘cut  and  paste’  option  for  students  and  develops  thinking  skills  when  they  have  to  reprocess  information  in  order  to  change  it  from  a  text  platform  to  a  visual  one.  Graphical  representation  of  information  can  be  more  effective  for  visual  learners  for  understanding  and  retention  of  concepts.  Reluctant  writers  are  also  more  motivated  when  working  in  a  medium  combining  images  and  text.    How  to  use  Comic  Life  When  you  open  Comic  Life,  a  blank  page  is  displayed.      

 

Page 2: Comic life in the classroom

   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

To  start,  drop  one  of  the  page  templates  onto  it  from  the  ‘Libraries’  tab  on  the  right.  Shapes  of  image  placeholders  on  the  page  can  be  changed  by  clicking  and  dragging  the  corners  of  the  panels.  Unwanted  panels  can  be  deleted.  

 

 After  choosing  a  template,  the  iPhoto  library  (Mac)  or  My  Pictures  folder  (PC)  becomes  available  on  the  right  hand  side  –  simply  drag  and  drop  photos  into  the  panels  on  the  page.  Should  you  want  an  image  from  another  placed  on  your  computer,  either  the  ‘Finder’  button  (Mac)  or  ‘Explorer’  button  (PC)  at  the  bottom  of  the  right  hand  panel  will  provide  access  to  other  folders.  The  ‘Capture’  button  will  turn  on  your  iSight  or  webcam  to  take  a  photo  within  the  application  for  you  to  use.    

                                 You  can  also  drag  on  words,  speech  bubbles  and  text  boxes  from  below  the  page  preview.  Hovering  your  mouse  over  an  object,  will  give  you  blue  corners  to  

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   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

resize  each  point  of  the  object.  Clicking  on  the  object  will  give  you  green  corners  for  resizing  the  entire  object.    

     Clicking  on  the  ‘Details’  tab  gives  you  options  for  customising  the  object  you  have  selected  on  the  page.  There  are  options  for  every  kind  of  object;  the  page  itself,  the  panels  on  the  page,  photos  within  panels,  and  all  the  objects  you  can  drag  onto  the  page  from  the  beneath  the  page  preview.    

   Export  options  can  be  found  under  ‘File’  and  then  ‘Export’.    Most  of  the  options  are  self-­‐explanatory.  The  QuickTime  option  allows  you  to  create  a  movie  that  plays  through  the  pages  within  your  ComicLife  file.  If  you  have  the  PC  version  of  Comic  Life,  your  export  options  will  look  a  little  different.    

   The  one  I  use  the  most  is  ‘Export  to  Image’.  If  you  want  to  put  Comic  Life  work  onto  a  website,  choose  ‘Export  to  Image’  and  then  select  the  following  options:    

 

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   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

The  image  of  a  single  page  I  created  using  these  settings  was  82  Kb  in  size  and  the  quality  was  good  enough  for  websites.  A  high  quality  jpeg  at  72  dpi  created  a  file  that  was  369  Kb  in  size  and  I  couldn’t  see  much  difference  to  the  average  quality  image.    A  high  quality  image  at  the  highest  setting  of  600  dpi  (for  printing  not  putting  on  websites)  was  12  Mb  in  size.    Note  that  the  name  you  choose  when  exporting  to  an  image  will  actually  be  the  name  of  the  folder  that  Comic  Life  creates  to  house  the  images  for  each  page.  The  page  names  inside  the  folder  will  have  the  format  of  Page_1.jpg.    Remember  to  rename  these  pages  before  uploading  them  to  the  internet.    

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   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

Examples  of  Comic  Life  in  action    Recounts  of  current  or  historical  events  –  For  younger  students,  this  will  involve  being  able  to  sequence  images  correctly  which  is  an  early  literacy  skill.  Older  students  can  show  their  understanding  of  key  events.  

 Image  used  with  permission  from  the  page  of  ‘Other  examples’  on  the  website  http://comiclife.com/education    Biographies  and  Autobiographies  –  At  Point  England  School,  students  made  a  visual  mihi.  By  uploading  this  to  Flickr,  students  were  able  to  add  more  information  about  each  section  of  their  mihi  through  the  use  of  pop  up  notes.  

Image  used  with  permission  from  Point  England  School.    Flickr  link  is  http://www.flickr.com/photos/extpes/2381801530/  

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   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

Science  reports  and  labelled  science  diagrams  –  These  can  easily  be  created  within  Comic  Life.  Students  can  also  photograph  stages  in  a  science  experiment  to  write  up  in  Comic  Life.  

   

     

Images  used  with  permission  from  Debra  Hicks  from  her  wiki  http://debsplace.wikispaces.com/Comic+Life    Illustrating  a  poem  or  story  –  Pupils  can  use  images  to  complement  the  message  of  their  story  or  poem  such  as  this  example  combining  photography  and  poetry  by  a  Year  6  student.  

 Image  used  with  permission  from  Jacqui  Sharp  from  her  wiki  http://writingandpublishing.wikispaces.com/Aanan  

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   Written  by  Suzie  Vesper  2010  

Summarising  key  information  or  identifying  key  events  –  In  this  secondary  example,  Year  12  students  summarised  the  key  information  from  the  Karl  Fisch  video,  ‘Shift  Happens’  using  Comic  Life.  

 Image  used  with  permission  from  Andrew  Churches  at  Kristin  School    Other  uses  –  There  are  many  other  possible  uses,  including:  

o Creating  visual  instructions  such  as  how  to  use  a  software  application  o Collecting  images  of  things  starting  with  the  letter  of  the  week  o Retelling  a  story  in  visual  form  o Creating  posters  of  2D  or  3D  shapes  o Charting  the  journey  of  food  through  the  digestive  system  o Showing  the  life  cycle  of  an  insect  o Illustrating  a  saying,  metaphor  or  new  vocabulary  term  o Creating  a  visual  diary  –  a  day  in  the  life  of…  o Showing  examples  of  cause  and  effect  o Explaining  how  to  solve  a  geometric  maths  puzzle  o Creating  a  travel  guide  for  a  city  or  region  o Showing  solutions  to  problems  that  can  happen  in  the  playground  o Identifying  the  key  events  in  a  narrative  o Labelling  the  parts  of  a  computer  o Storyboarding  a  video  production  o Producing  language  for  different  situations  in  a  second  language  eg  

ordering  food  in  a  cafe  o Sports  reports