In this post, I want to look at some of the “comic” apps that are available. I’ve seen a number shown in sessions that I have been to recently and it reminded me of how useful these apps can be in English language lessons.
Comic apps are an excellent way to address creative writing both in and out of the classroom. They are also a good basis for project-based learning. For example students can work in small groups into plan a story, take photos to create the story and then work together on the text. They also add something extra to photos students may have with them on their mobile devices.
One of the easiest to use is ‘photocomic’ which is available for Apple devices. It costs 69p for the basic app (though is often one of those you can get free in daily giveaways). It is very easy to use and you can make everything from a one photo cartoons fruit to a four-frame strip. As you can see from the photo below everything to be done at the touch of the screen.
Once you’ve done you can save the strip or share it via email and social media. The downside of the app is that without paying extra to unlock more templates you are limited to a strip of four photos. I enjoy using it with students to create cartoon captions over a photo they have taken. Give them a topic, ask them to create a caption and then share and see who came up with the best one.
A step up from that is comic heads. This is available for apple and android. I use the lite version which is free but that means having ads and some limitations. For example, the lite version lets you save but only the paid version allows you to edit once you saved. Comic heads allows you to use photos, draw and use pre-designed characters and animations. While again limited to four frames there is more room for creativity.
The final one I enjoy using is the most expensive but provides the best outlet (of the three) for fuller creative writing opportunities (it also available for a computer). Comic life costs £2.99 and best suits the collaborative writing I mentioned at the beginning of the post. This allows students to produce more than the four frames. In fact they can produce a whole comic, which when viewed on the device reads as a comic. However for readers without the app, the completed work can be sent as a pdf file.
So there you go my three favourite comic apps, enjoy