Online Apps for Students

Pixton (Comic Maker)

The following video discusses the online program called Pixton at Pixton.com. The application is for students who want to create comic strips for an assignment or fun. The program has a medium learning curve that can be easily overcome by watching the video below. The design is somewhat busy and will take a little bit of time to get used to. The features let students use their creative skills by creating comic strips with backgrounds and characters as if they were professionally designed. They can create their own graphic novels using story elements for an English class or recreate a historical event for a social studies class. Similarly, they can be used as a background to assignments of any subject to help understand a concept or idea. This is a good product to use if the students need to understand a concept better.

Examples for classroom use:

Social Studies-Recreating historical events or understanding political concepts or ideas.

Math-understanding the use of mathematical formulas in real life.

English-understand concepts or ideas from a story.

Science- how to perform lab processes, step by step.

Popplet (Mind Mapping)

The following video discusses how to use a mind map online program called Popplet at Popplet.com. The application is for students who need to organize a variety of information using mindmaps. It can work for almost any subject, and the learning curve is low. The features are basic for the free version but are well worth it. The design is simple and the buttons available are easily identifiable. It is a good application for visual learners that quickly allows a student to connect and visualize facts. I really enjoyed using this application because of its simplicity and ease of use. It can be used for students from elementary age to college.

Examples for classroom use:

English-identifying story elements.

History-connecting events, leaders, and concepts.

Math-understanding connections to terminology and formulas.

Science-Connection to ideas, concepts, studies, and terminology.

Favorite: (Pixton or Popplet)

My favorite application is Popplet. This is mainly because the user can organize information and build upon that information endlessly. Also, building upon the information creates a scaffolding effect that increases understanding of the concept or idea. Pixton is a good application for reinforcing a concept, but inefficient and time-consuming.