Comic Maker

I am on the hunt for an online tool that will allow students to make comics.  Also, the teacher wants the text and or audio to be in Hebrew.  So far this is my assessment of the cartoon/comic creation tools I looked at.   More work to do, but this is a start.

www.goanimate.com - This one is my favorite so far!

• Pros: you can use their starters or start from scratch; you can add your voice or type text (that they will voiceover for you); creates a video (visual & audio)
• Cons: requires sign-up with an email; the free version is a bit limited and the school version is more than I can afford right now.

a href="http://goanimate.com/videos/05Kj8I0S6eJY?utm_source=embed&uid=0WgntBFIIKlU" target="_blank">knock, knock joke by dagallitz on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.
www.toondoo.com -

• Pros:  can use their characters or create your own; HEBREW is available (but haven't gotten it to work yet)
• Cons:  requires sign-up with an email + some racy characters for school; no sound
• My creation:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/comic/index.html

• Pros: no need to sign-up with an email
• Cons: overly simplistic; not many choices; not able to type or cut-past Hebrew into dialog boxes; no sound; cannot save, but can email or print creation.

http://garfield.com/fungames/comiccreator.html

• Pros: it's Garfield; simple and easy to use
• Cons: not able to type or cut-paste Hebrew into dialog boxes; no sound; cannot save, but can print creation.
  IDEA: you could insert text boxes and have students write the Hebrew in.
  
  
• My creation: 

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

• Pros: intuitive, many characters, easy to use, no sign-up required
• 
  

  Cons: cannot save, but can print or email creation.
• 
  

  My creation:

  

Wikispaces

A short while ago I had looked at wikispaces for a class that I was taking.  I recently revisted this tool as our school was looking for ways to collaborate with peers electronically and the wiki seemed like a good option.  The wiki provides a way to allow everyone to participate at their own pace.  Several teachers are ready to read what others have found and posted, while others are ready, willing and able to post and discuss all the great resources that they have found and use.

We are starting small and I'll be happy if I can get all of the teachers to 'join' the wiki.  I plan to work 1:1 with some of the teachers that struggle with technology.  My hope is to show them what is available on the wiki and get them hooked!  Those that are comfortable adding will also help to drive interest and make sure that teachers check back often.

Wikispaces is easy to use and allows you to embed video, documents and images easily.  The overall design is very simplistic.  We'll give it the old college try and see where it goes!