Jack & the Beanstalk: The True Story

I was using this story as a continuation of my “Elements of a Story” unit on my moodle site. My first module in this unit allows students to read stories and understand the parts to make up story (ie. title, characters, conflict, setting, etc.). My second module allows students to take these parts and create their own written story. At some point, I would like to create a third module in which students would be able to explore different forms of story telling. My story, Jack and the Beanstalk: the True Story, takes my students assignment of writing a fractured fairy tale and puts it into a different format: a comic. In particular, my students will be able to create and apply skills while exploring ideas through making these comics online (Driver & Oldham, 1986; in Biggs, 1996). Also, my students will be able to add a third prescribed learning outcome to this unit in which they will” create meaningful visual representations for a variety of purposes and audiences that communicate a personal response, information, and ideas relevant to the topic” (BC IRP, 2006, p. 59).

As explained in my weblog, my choice for this tool was not picking out a hat. After many trial and error sessions (please refer to weblog explanation of xtranormal and animoto), I was able to fall into the luxury of Plixton online. I think this program was very appropriate for the unit and assignment. Not only did this program allow for text and speech from characaters, but much more. For example, my students wouldn’t need to use up time explaining what the giant’s wife or Jack looked like, rather they could display this. I was able to choose every detail from the hair style, to the colour to how bushy or thin the eyebrows were. And once I chose this detail, through the program, I could also choose expressions of the body (ex. running) to expressions on the face (ex. fear or guilt). This precise detail could be an excellent addition to my students’ story and representation of ideas. The amount of services that Pixton (education) provides is incrdible. They say you need “nothing more than a web-browser” and you can be involved in “immmersive interactivity” (Pixton, 2011). In Pixton Education, teachers can have private classes in which their students can sign up with or without email. Additionally the teacher can choose and control what the students see and do. Beyond the amazing details and flexibilty this program allows, I think another important asset is the assessment. Teachers can choose from a simple 5-star rating or even add rubrics. Rubrics allow for teacher, peer and self-evaluation (an important part to reflection and constructivist learning) (Biggs, 1996).

There are some restrictions that lie within this program. Even though much is free, some items cost money. For example, if you wish to create an entire comic book or editing certain proportions costs a monthly, six month or yearly subscription. However this is only for Pixton “For Fun”. Pixton “For Schools” has packages for schools. For example, 50 students for 2 months is only $42. Additionally, there are issues with embedding. You can choose from several formats including horizontal or vertical, but some users may be confused as how to scroll through your comic (please see directions below in order to view my story). Also, the restrictions may not just be the program, but time itself. I find that this program, especially when creating a large story and not just a comic strip of three to four panels, can be quite time consuming. If you are able to change very tiny details, students could spend hours perfecting their stories.

I have expressed my ideas, the accessibility and creativity, as well as the restrictions that this program has through my own thoughts, but I would like to evaluate this program more precisely. In particular, I will use Bates & Poole’s SECTIONS model to assess this tool. In Table 1 below I have used the SECTIONS model to give positive and negative exemplars of the Pixton program.

Table 1: Bates & Poole’s SECTIONS model applied to Pixton

 
As you can see, there are a variety of positive and negative features when using Pixton. Overall, for the purpose of this project and its use in my moodle site, I would highly recommend Pixton. Not only is this British Columbia product free, the features alone that one can create is unrestricting and amazing. In order to understand the amazing product further, please enjoy my digital story below – Jack & The Beanstalk: The True Story (3 Parts). Thank you Pixton!

Resources

Bates A. W. & Poole, G. (2003). A framework for selecting and using technology. In A.W. Bates & G. Poole, Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education, 75-108. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Biggs, J. (1996) Enhancing Teaching through Constructive Alignment. Higher Education, 32(3), 347-365. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3448076.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2006). Grade 7 curriculum package. Retrieved from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/welcome.php
Pixton (2011) Retrieved from http://www.pixton.com/

To view story, you need the following system requirements:

To view use hand-tool to scroll across each Part. Or click on full screen icon in bottom right corner and use hand-tool to scroll down