Pixton

Key Features

• Comic book design platform that is incredibly powerful with numerous options, editing facilities and templates
• Ability to create class collaborations and content sharing
• Students can be invited to join classes and activates and content can be shared and edited.

How much does Pixton cost?

If you are a teacher purchasing the account for just your students then you will have to buy a monthly account. The cost is adjusted for the number of students you have. The cost per student goes down as your number of students goes up. For 100 students, the cost is a little under $20 a month. If a school or district is purchasing the account, they are able to purchase an annual account for $1.75 per student.

Pros

• Promotes creativity and storytelling
• Platform is very intuitive, laid out in a simple manner supported by stunning graphics and colours

Cons

• Pixton Comics is COPPA compliant according to their webpage, however they do still collect information including IP address, browser, and operating system.
• Full headshot option would be ideal
• Full comic display could be shown at the bottom of the platform rather than switching between views

How does it work?

Pixton is very easy to use. Pixton offers a free app for smartphone or tablet use. After signing up to Pixton using a standard email the user is given the option to create their avatar. This could be a teacher wishing to create an avatar for a classroom scenario or an individual student wishing to create an avatar to add to the group. As a teacher, a class name is required. Students can be invited to the class via their Google accounts or by a simple link.

The avatar creation is great fun and several options include; Skin tone, hair colour, hairstyle, eye colour, nose shape, facial details, expressions, height pose, outfits and more. Once the avatar has been created there is an option to download a headshot or a full-body graphic. This could be ideal for printing and displaying characters within a classroom.

The avatar is added to the class photo where you can also see other avatar members of the group. We enjoyed the 'quick start' activity and this is an excellent starting point for all students wishing to familiarise themselves with the platform and technology. The 'quick start' activity asked students to design a 3 panelled comic book storyboard describing three things they love to do (#bucketlist). The video tutorial in this section is really helpful and explains the platform in simple terms to enable users to gain confidence. Students can use the hashtag label to search for other items linked to the activity. 

The main area for the user is called ‘My Dashboard’. Here the user can see ‘My classrooms’ created, ‘My comics’ created and ‘My content packs’ purchased. The ‘Content packs’ can be purchased via the ‘Shop’ icon in the top left along with options to change your avatar and ‘settings’. The ‘Question’ icon provides extensive support for the platform in the ‘Pixton Help Centre’. The ‘My Classroom’ option displays classes already created. Here students can be added via a link or by manual search. You can also leave a message to Pixton via the chat icon in the bottom right.

Once the user enters the ‘New comic book’ platform they are given many options. These include; Backgrounds, characters (these can be characters from a class or a new character), Zoom view, words, faces, poses and effects. The platform is beautifully presented and very easy to navigate. All changes and features can be seen in the comic book window panel on the right. Extra panels can be added via the left-hand option and the full comic can be seen by using the second icon in the bottom left. The developers may consider having the full comic display to be shown at the bottom of the platform rather than switching between views.

All of the above options can be edited, once again, displaying endless options for the user. We particularly like the ‘Famous characters’ that can be added such as batman, Will.i.am, Barack Obama and Beyoncé. This could be ideal for historical references and storyboarding.

We also liked the ‘Words’ option where students can add Speech, thoughts, shout and whisper via text bubbles. Incorrect spelling is underlined here also in this easy to use editing text mode.

The developers have thought of every scenario in terms of design and editing. The ‘Effects’ options allow the user to choose several different colour palettes for their comic. This gives a real ‘retro’ feel to the design. Once the comic has been designed there is an option to print the comic, download, delete and share via social media or a given link. 

Bottom Line

Pixton is an excellent application that offers an excellent platform for teachers and students wishing to create comic style storyboards. The application provides excellent opportunities for students to improve their communication and literacy skills as well as their creativity and digital media skills.

We can see this application being used in a number of subject areas such as storyboards for English and the dramatic arts, creating characters and storyboards based on famous historical events, creating communication and discussion scenarios for Citizenship and much more. This app comes highly recommended by The Educational App Store.