The tools in this category can be used in a variety of ways to fulfil a variety of functions. Some produce a 2D comic book, others help you to create your own 3d comic films.The one thing they have in common is a high quality graphical output. I will give suggestions as to how each tool may be used in each review.

1. Ipopetz.tv - I read somewhere that this tool could be used to give a book report from a different perspective or just a different voice. Perhaps in the future, but at the moment you are restricted to a 20 second video. You must also download a small programme (10 seconds) to allow the 3D characters to work which will cause problems if you don't have easy access to your network. Nevertheless, this is a good example of the power of Web 2.0. To create a short cartoon of this quality which lipsyncs to your voice would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. Now, it's here albeit with some limitations. I have included a link here to view an example I created but I suspect it cannot be viewed without first downloading the browser add on.




2. Comeeko - This is one of my favourites and I have used it for a number of years to produce cartoons of Martin Luther King's life. You can choose the number of cells and adjust the layout fairly easily. Your own photos can be added and there are some tools to add to them. Occassionally students have found it a bit fiddly when adding text or speech balloons, but usually the issues can be overcome by changing font size etc. You must make sure you have saved the cartoon at the end of a lesson (even if not complete) as it will be lost if you don't. There is nothing more frustrating than coming in for a second day and having to start from scratch. Saved Comeekos can be re-edited if they can be found. This is simple if you know where to look and it is worth noting that you do not click on the Gallery Tab to find your saved Comeeko but rather on the 'My Gallery' link just above it. You should see a thumbnail of your comeeko and this can be edited by clicking on it. Note that sometimes when I have used it the thumbnail did not appear although when I ran my mouse over, it did register there was something here. This seemed to be a problem with not having the most up to date flash downloaded. Worth learning this tool as it does give an excellent end product that can be viewed online or printed.




3. Fix8 - This is a downloadable tool so I will not spend too much time reviewing it. However, it's groundbreaking technology means it is worth a mention. Using a simple webcam you can bring life to a variety of avatars who mimic your movements and lipsync with your voice. You can also take a photo of yourself to create a digital persona. The creative uses in the classroom are endless and while I found the software did not run perfectly on my computer it worked well enough to show its potential. ( I even gave myself some hair!) I would suggest a high end computer, camera and a well lit room for best results. Below is a screen shot and the You tube video will give you an idea of what you might be able to achieve with this free tool. While some of the humour is a bit adult, as a downloadable tool you will have complete control over acccess.



4. Go Animate. A brilliant tool which I would recommend wholeheartedly. Works really well and no reason why a primary class could not learn to use this tool it is so simple to use. A few of the cartoons are a bit more adult themed and I have been in touch with the company who are currently talking about developing a safe/secure site for education only. This could be used to simply create a cartoon, for example, you could do a cartoon version of The Good Samartian, Alternatively, you could use it to explain a concept or an idea such as I have done in the example below to explain Web 2.0. I used a computer generated voice although there is also the option to use your own voice recording. (UPDATE - There is a new children's version which is moderated- visit
http://domo.goanimate.com/studio




5. Animasher - You can create the cartoon without authenticating your password. On one level quite easy to use, however, I got a bit confused by the multiple timelines. These are the key to editing your movie. Playing the movie to get to the end of your scence is the easiest wat I found to add to it. Once you have added something such as a speech bubble you can change its place in the movie by dragging its individual timeline. I found it a little buggy and it crashed once before I had saved. The obvious answer is to save regularly, however, unfortunately it appears at first glance that once saved it cannot be edited. This would mean that you need to work and save in the same session which can be problematic in the classroom setting. The answer is the clone button which gives you a working copy which can be edited! Click Here to view an example I created.

6. Pikikids - Very similar in idea and working to Comeeko only with children in mind.




7. Comix - This is a very basic programme which allows you to put in several characters with dialogue. There are no backgrounds and no way to save although you can e-mail the finished version or print. Each character comes with a number of different emotions expressed so I think the best use of this tool would be for teaching emotional literacy.

8. Pixton - This is a fairly advanced cartoon maker but remarkably easy to use. You can start from a template or from scratch. You can create your own cartoon characters or use ready made ones. You can publish your cartoon for others to edit and vote and post comments on others work. There is even an automatic language translator to view cartoons made in different langauges. Jesus, satan and Osama Bin Laden appear among the characters which some of you may have concerns about.

9. Voki - In text to speech you can only record a short 10-20 second message. In recorder mode you can record up to 60 seconds. You could make a recording of your view on a topic or record a book report for something different. Langauge teachers have used Voki to record their students speaking in Spanish/French etc. and then added to an avatar fro some fun. Very easy to use and you can upload your own backgrounds.



10. Toondoo - You can begin without authenticating your e-mail. There is a huge range of scenery and characters to choose from which makes uploading your own seem a bit superfluous. That said, Toondoo not only allows you to upload your own pictures, it also allows you to create your own characters and to add elements to your pictures to jazz them up. All in all, as much creativity as you could want and your pupils will love it. Note that if you want to insert your own characters into your own 'Toon' then you need to make them first using the 'ImageR' and 'TraitR' tools. There is a toolbar along the bottom of the screen which you may not be able to see if your screen resolution is not set properly. (1280X768 worked best) Superb and works really well. Published toons can be locked or left open for others to edit. I didn't see any print button but you can always use your PrintScreen button. ***Toondoo now has a secure sitefor schools called Toondoospaces,reasonably priced and is secure.(Oct09)




11. Mashface - Simple enough idea. Upload a photo of a famous individual, then use your webcam to add your voice and lips to that person. This could be perfect for getting into the mind of a famous individual. For example, what would Karl Marx have said about the Credit Cruch? Enjoy. This site requires Internet Explorer 7. Click Here for an example.



12. Blabberize - similar idea to Mashface

13. Comiqs - You can begin without authenticating your password. Works very well although doesn't have just as many editing features as Comeeko. You can have more than one page and thus create a slideshow effect. Comiqs has also introduced a new tool on their website called chatshow. This could be
an excellent tool for schools. For example, you could interview a famous historical person to show your knowledge of their life. Or go even deeper by predicting what they may say about certain issues. The one flaw is that currently you can insert your own questions. Even so, I was able to use the ones that are currently available to make this short example.




14. SmashMash TV - This allows you to add some movement to your photos such as a moving head. Clever but I couldn't see much educational use.


15. XtraNormal - This tool enables you to make animated films. You cannot add your own characters or background but there is a good range to choose from. Surprisingly the example voices provided by the creators included some bad language which is a shame as it has a child-friendly feel to it. It works really well and is very easy to use. It does take a while for the video to be produced but you can get them to e-mail you when it is ready. If you can make a film about it then you can xtranormal it. As this site is currently in Beta you can make for free but it does seem to be their intention to make this a paid site. Click here to view a sample film. Sample screenshot below.



16. Digital Films - A tool to create short animated movies. Not as sophisticated as some others but worth a look



17. Myths and Legends - This site is worth noting as the images provdided are very much geared towards telling myths and legends which should be of particular interest to RE teachers. You can also import your own images. Submitted stories can also be entered into competition. The story maker does include a few animated gifs to bring your cartoon to life, you can also add sound effects and include a written text of your story as well as an audio file of the story being read. The only thing missing is the potential to animate the characters to move across screen etc. such as can be achieved with go animate. That said, there are a number of examples on the website with moving characters and I presume this was achieved through stop motion and creating multiple scenes in the storyboard.



18. Scratch - This is a downloadable tool rather than web based but worthy of inclusion. In essence it allows you to create animations via a drag and drop menu. The animations can then be hosted on the web.

19. Fuzzwich - A new animation site that I came across recently. It allows you a choice of characters, objects and backgrounds. There is also the option to upload your head photo to some characters. The graphics are a bit more 'edgy' than similar tools like Go Animate but they may well be to the taste of your students. As always you will need to make a judgement on the appropriateness of some of the other animations on the site. You can add speech bubbles and music but didn't seem to have the voice capabilities of Go Animate.



20. Fluxtime - This is an animation tool designed for kids and does have a primary school feel to the graphics. You choose a background, insert your characters and objects and then move them around the screen while recording your movements. Simple to use but a bit limited for more advanced animation such as adding your own images/backgrounds.Comments can also be left on the finished cartoon.



21. Story Top - This is a simple to use story creator. You can add backgrounds, characters and text to tell your story. There is the potential to share with other users although I didn't see any obvious print function. This tool has a limited number of backgrounds etc. and no facility for uploading your own images but it does look well. Overall, this may be of particular interest to primary teachers because of the limitations. Obviously you would need to be careful of the potential social networking aspects of the site and see what user information is published alongside the story.

22. Animata - This would appear to be a slightly more advanced tool and must be downloaded. In essence it allows you to create a virtual puppet that is then controlled by the movement of a person standing in front of a video camera. May be some interesting potential uses for drama students. Click on the video below to see what I mean.



23. Cookit Creator - This tool is part of the E2Bn network. It has a simple drag and drop menu to allow you to create a slide show of your recipe. As well as a range of cokkery related images you can upload your own. Each slide is then accompanied by an audio or text description to give you your final recipe. Looks like it could be great fun but when I tried it the audio record function and the download function were not working. I think this is a new tool so perhaps some glitches.



24. My StoryMaker - This tool is available through the Carnegie Library website. The big advantage of this tool is that it is a secure environment to create your cartoon story, the downside as always with any secure site is the limitation of graphics etc. available on the site. The cartoon can be printed as a PDF but I was a bit frustrated that having created a very nice animated cartoon, it can only be saved in the PDF format. You could perhaps take a screencast of the animated version which is simply viewed by clicking on the page arrows at the bottom of the page. As with any good tool, very easy to use.



25. Scratch - This is a simple programming language aimed at allowing children to create animations and simple games. It is a downloadable tool rather than an online app but seems very popular with those who use it so I thought it would be worth including. This short tutorial will give you an idea of how it works.



26. Creaza - Quite a powerful yet simple to use editor to produce a cartoon slideshow. Worked well when I tried it although I didn't see any easy way to share the cartoon other than a URL. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it may stop students viewing inappropriate material. You can rate and comment on the presentation when viewing.



27. Gizmoz - The studio function of Gizmoz allows you to mix an avatar with a video to create a movie reivew or news report. This could be used in a number of ways, for example, what would a certain celebrity say about a particular news story...just choose the appropriate head and make them speak. You can record up to 60 seconds or text to type 200 characters. The only grumble was that I was unable to make the video play at the same time as the avatar, although I have seen examples in youtube where this was possible. This is a quick example and hopefully gives you the idea. Given the nature of the website I would be surprised if there wasn't any inappropriate material posted, although you do have the option to keep your own show private.



28. Pencil - This is a free downloadable tool to produce traditional hand draw cartoons. There are some impressive examples such as this one on youtube


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29. Professor Garfield's Comics Lab Extreme - Although this tool is packaged with Garfield, the cartoon book doesn't have to include Garfield characters. There is a good range of media to add including audio and video. There is also the option to upload your own media to add to the cartoon. As the example below shows, you can produce some very sophisticated looking work. I would recommend a look at the gallery to see how others have used it.


30. A Dog's Life - This is a very simple story creator based on the life of a stray dog. Scenes and characters are limited but very easy to use and would be suitable for primary...especially if you are doing the story of a stray!