Release Students' Creativity with Pixton

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 Hello! Technology use is spreading like wildfire in today's world. Even young learners deal with computers or cell phones better than we can. For these students, simply writing topics on the board is not enough. They need teachers applying innovative activities in the classroom. Under these circumstances, today I will inform you about one of the web-based tool, Pixton which my friends Seçil and Yağmur gave a presentation about.
  Pixton is a tool which enables you create comics or characters by adding speech bubbles, props and backgrounds. This website offers you three options to work with: for personal use, Pixton for fun, for teacher & student use in the class, Pixton for school and for other all uses which require payment, Pixton for business.

  Once you choose your using option, you can sign up or log in with your facebook or google+ account.

  Then, in order to create comics click on my comics tab from main menu and decide whether you will create a comic or a character. ( I chose to create a comic to show you) As you can see, you have many options about choosing a layout, again. I will create a comic strip.

 Firstly you should add a character into your comic. You can make your own character, choose among community which includes comics other people created or add preset characters. But, the last one requires payment.
  I recommend you to create your own character to explore this tool in details and make your comic special. Here, everything you need is divided into tabs: you can edit expression, looks, proportions or color of your character easily. By dragging or clicking on the part you want to move, you can change the position of the head, body, hands etc. By clicking and hold, you can also change hair style, costumes, shoes and add some accessories. Do not forget to give a name to your character!

 You can add speech bubbles, write your message here and add props, insert background where your comic takes place, or upload an image (for this, you should pay). Insert a panel whenever you need and finally write a title to your comic and save it. Downloading and printing are reserved for only paying members. So, you should pay for it.

  As for Pixton for schools, it enables students share their comic strips on Edmodo. For example, they can turn in their assignments from here and teachers can grade it and also comment on it. By the way I should say that it is more suitable for adults since young learners will probably be confused while trying to create a comic.

How this tool can be used in language teaching?

• You can create a comic that includes full of grammatical errors and ask your students to correct them.
• Students can create comics about the places they have been to so far or want to visit. 
• Students can create a comic based on the theme of the book they've read or of the movie they've watched most recently.
• After covering a health unit, you can assign them to create a comic about healthy foods and some tips for a healthy life. 
• They can create comics about their dreams, future plans or barely about themselves (their hobbies, personal characteristics etc.)
• Once you teach a specific grammar topic ( i.e. modals) or vocabularies, you can ask them to create a comic using modals or that vocabularies etc.

  Pixton shows them a totally new way to tell stories, practice their writing or grammatical skills, express their opinions and work collaboratively. I think, after experience this tool, they will participate English lessons more eagerly and effectively. Enhance your students' creativity and your lessons' quality with Pixton. I embedded an example below. See you!