Friday, April 10, 2009

Pixton Comic Creator: Privacy for Educational Platforms

Wow! I just came across a new comic creator called Pixton. (See video trailer embedded in my last post for more details.) Pixton allows you to create comics with the following features:
  • Make comics without having to draw and share them with the world or your private community within Pixton
  • Design and customize your characters according to skin color, hair color, facial expressions, body type, and clothing style
  • Add props, scenery, and backgrounds
  • Remix comics that already exist
  • Animate characters
  • Automatic language translator - 20 different languages currently available

If this isn't enough, Pixton realized the need for a private, educational space where students can post and view comics in a safe environment. As with any web 2.0 tool, there is always the danger of children coming across something inappropriate. Many comic creators that have been released in the past do not currently offer a privacy options to keep kids safe on their site (like Toondoo). Pixton's educational privacy settings is a paid feature, which runs about $1 per student per month and offers:

  • Reinforcement of literacy skills
  • Lesson plan banks where you can share lesson ideas with other educators
  • Private, virtual classroom
  • Password protected
  • Collaborative environment
  • Easy login - students DO NOT need emails to have an account
  • NO software installation
  • Unlimited storage
  • FREE upgrades
  • Customizable to add your school colors or logo
  • Teacher - student messaging
  • Permissions available to set exactly what your students can do
  • Fully customizable comic editor
  • Download comics as PDFs or embed them on sites online
  • Automatic Language Translator

I think Pixton will pave the way for other web 2.0 sites in the future. Check it out!


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