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C:\Documents and Settings\Phil\Desktop\TECHDIS\TechDis Comic Life Report.doc 1 | Page Just For Laughs? Is it possible to use comic strip creation software to produce pedagogically effective materials? Philip Wane, Nottingham Trent University. Abstract This report details a research project undertaken at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in conjunction with the Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP) Subject Centre of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). The focus of the project was an evaluation of a computer program called Comic Life, which facilitates the creation of comic strips by people without artistic abilities. During the course of the evaluation it emerged that many users of the software found it to be easy to use, entertaining but potentially effective in delivering educational benefits. The common consensus that emerged was that the software showed great potential as both a general tool of educationalists and as way of overcoming some accessibility issues. Project Overview The overall aim of the project was to evaluate some award winning software called Comic Life, which is available for both Mac and PC platforms (obtainable from numerous sources including the developers website at http://plasq.com ). It is not free but it is inexpensive and a fully functional trial version is available to download. Another purpose of the project was to ascertain whether staff or students could use the software (with the minimum of training) to produce pedagogically valid comic strips. That is to say comic strips that contributed something to the processes of learning and teaching, or had value in communicating information or the production of instructional guides. The use of comic strips offers great potential for the production of both general teaching materials and targeted training materials such as “How To” guides (see the bibliography at the end of this report). While the use of graphical guides, including comic strips, is not new the project aimed to overcome a major barrier to the production of such comics strip the lack of artistic ability. The software offers the potential for people without the usual technical training in graphic design or natural artistic abilities to produce high quality comic strips. Whilst technology may never be a perfect substitute for innate artistic ability or traditional graphic design

Comic Life - Educational Possibilities

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Report I produced as output from a TechDis funded HEAT project on possible applications of Comic Life software.

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Just For Laughs? Is it possible to use comic strip creation

software to produce pedagogically effective materials?

Philip Wane, Nottingham Trent University.

Abstract

This report details a research project undertaken at Nottingham Trent

University (NTU) in conjunction with the Social Policy and Social Work

(SWAP) Subject Centre of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). The

focus of the project was an evaluation of a computer program called

Comic Life, which facilitates the creation of comic strips by people without

artistic abilities. During the course of the evaluation it emerged that many

users of the software found it to be easy to use, entertaining but

potentially effective in delivering educational benefits. The common

consensus that emerged was that the software showed great potential as

both a general tool of educationalists and as way of overcoming some

accessibility issues.

Project Overview

The overall aim of the project was to evaluate some award winning

software called Comic Life, which is available for both Mac and PC

platforms (obtainable from numerous sources including the developer’s

website at http://plasq.com). It is not free but it is inexpensive and a fully

functional trial version is available to download. Another purpose of the

project was to ascertain whether staff or students could use the software

(with the minimum of training) to produce pedagogically valid comic

strips. That is to say comic strips that contributed something to the

processes of learning and teaching, or had value in communicating

information or the production of instructional guides.

The use of comic strips offers great potential for the production of both

general teaching materials and targeted training materials such as “How

To” guides (see the bibliography at the end of this report). While the use

of graphical guides, including comic strips, is not new the project aimed to

overcome a major barrier to the production of such comics strip – the lack

of artistic ability. The software offers the potential for people without the

usual technical training in graphic design or natural artistic abilities to

produce high quality comic strips. Whilst technology may never be a

perfect substitute for innate artistic ability or traditional graphic design

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courses it offers the possibility of providing these people who do not have

the benefits of either the opportunity to produce comic strips.

It may be worth noting that, just as Microsoft PowerPoint makes it easy to

produce poor presentations when people ignore good practice, this

software might easily be used to produce poor comic strips with little

educational value, or that are poor at communicating key information.

The program is not a panacea but the project indicates that users only

need a minimal amount of guidance before being able to produce effective

materials, and it is a great tool for people wanting to produce their first e-

learning or blended materials. The software offers a number of export

options so that the comic strips can be made into image files (ready for

inclusion in web pages, word processed documents – for example

Microsoft Word, and slideshow software – for example Microsoft

PowerPoint. Comic strips can also be exported as Adobe portable

document format (PDF) files and QuickTime movie files; so it is very

flexible and offers a great way to begin creating e-learning materials.

The project also sought to gather information on how effective using this

software might be in providing individuals and social groups who lack the

required level of written literacy with the ability to effectively

communicate ideas. At the proposal stage it was thought that such groups

might include those with learning difficulties, those who lacked the

benefits of traditional education or those who were literate but who chose

not to engage with conventional written materials. This last group was

thought to include teenagers who might not read materials such as help

information leaflets that were purely in written form but who might pay

attention to, and absorb, the same information if presented in a more

accessible graphical form. This view was reinforced following discussions

with a group of service users based in Nottingham who expressed a great

interest in the project. They articulated quite specific ideas about how

comic strip style information posters or leaflets could be used to help

convey information to groups who might have difficulties, or choose not to

engage with, text only leaflets. The service users themselves (who are

part of a successful advocacy group) have already identified groups

including former rough sleepers, those whose first language is not

English, and individuals of Romany descent. One advantage of comic

strips is that they do not contain a lot of text so once a comic strip is

produced it would be much easier (quicker) translating the small amounts

of text into different languages, which would be ideal for health

information, or local authorities, for instance information regarding

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housing benefits or other services that might have to be provided in a

wide range of languages and frequently updated.

Something that emerged during the course of the project was the

potential of the software to produce materials to aid learning and

teaching. This had been recognised from the outset but it emerged as a

key theme during the workshop activities as attendees articulated the

many different ways in which comic strips could be used as an aid to

training or learning and teaching. For example, comic strips might replace

traditional text based documentation in some instances, providing

excellent triggers for group based discussion and reflection. The comic

strips might be complete (in that they had a full set of speech and

thought bubbles) in order to convey possible professional scenarios, for

instance a social worker visiting a client. It was also noted that

incomplete strips might be produced where only some of the speech and

thought bubbles contained text and students would be expected to fill in

the blanks in the story line. Having done this student could then discuss

with their tutors (and peers) their differing responses in order to analyse

and reflect upon the procedures. When working with social workers such

questions might include: Had they remembered to introduce themselves?

How might they link practice to theory? Had they borne in mind their

statement of role and purpose? Other disciplines would doubtless have

their own sets of questions that could be incorporated into comic strips.

So while the focus of this research project was on social work and policy

professionals (along with students from Youth Guidance) there are clearly

transferable generic teaching and learning benefits.

Prior to the submission of the project proposal appropriate research was

undertaken to confirm the existence of an established body of research

that identified the potential benefits of using comic strips to communicate

information. Interestingly some of the literature also identified the

potential difficulties of producing comic strips (the technical and artistic

demands) as a barrier to their wider adoption. It was therefore reasoned

that the use of innovative software to produce comic strips with the

minimum of training would overcome this particular barrier. Furthermore

the software can work with either existing images or from newly captured

digital photographs, which it then processes into a choice of comic strip

styles. Therefore the project bid included funding for two digital cameras

so that people participating in the pilot project could produce their own

photographs. This meant that the photographs would be relevant, that

the people taking them would have a sense of ownership and it simplified

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potential issues around copyright and the digital re-use (and digital

alteration) of the original images. A sense of ownership of their public

image might also be a particular appeal to some groups of service users.

The equipment supplied by TechDis has proven most useful, with the

digital cameras offering a quick and easy way to capture suitable images,

for use with the software. The MacBook has proven itself invaluable and

permitted the option of offering project participants the option to work on

either a Mac platform or the PC platform. A large proportion of the

individuals who worked with the software were based in work places

dominated by PCs but some only had Apple computers at home, or they

worked with service user groups who have Apple computers. Comic Life

was originally developed for the Mac platform and there is now a PC

version available but many of the existing support materials use

instructions and screenshots captured from Mac computers, so being able

to demonstrate the software on a Mac was really helpful (as well as taking

advantage of the built-in iSight web cam). This was also useful in the

early stages of the project since most of the existing user guides

(including the official guide from the developers of the software) used

screenshots from the Mac version of the software, which was originally a

Mac only product . TechDis also provided a portable colour printer which

meant that the MacBook, printer and cameras could be packed into one or

two bags. This made it much easier to transport the equipment and

demonstrate the software at the workshops, and means that it will be

possible to take the project kit into the community when working with

service user groups.

Methodology

Staff and students from within Nottingham Trent University were involved

in the project, as well as individuals from a number of different

institutions who were involved either through a workshop held at the

university or through an event at the University of Birmingham (details

below). Participants were then asked to provide informal feedback on

their perceptions of the ease of use of the software and whether they

thought it had any educational potential in their particular area of work.

It was originally hoped that at least one large cohort of undergraduate

students would use the software providing the opportunity for the capture

of quantitative feedback. However timetabling issues meant that this did

not happen during this phase of the research but it is envisaged that

(timetabling permitting) it will happen as part of some follow up research.

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Given the relatively small size of the groups involved in the project it was

felt that quantitative research (the original intention was to use web

based questionnaires) would not have been particularly beneficial.

Feedback has been captured in the form of quotes from participants.

These quotes have been taken from e-mail responses and are largely

verbatim. In a small number of instances minor spelling or typographical

errors have been corrected so as not to distract from the comments

themselves. Such has been the positive (but non-representative)

feedback from the initial project that it is hoped that subsequent research

involving larger groups of students will make use of a wider range of

research tools including quantitative methods (using web based

questionnaires). The author is already in discussion with colleagues about

expanding the use of the software next academic year, such has been the

enthusiasm reported from both staff and students during this project.

Examples of Specific Groups Who Used the Software

During the course of the project three distinct groups worked with, or

were given some training on, the Comic Life comic strip program. These

were: undergraduate students in the School of Social Sciences,

Nottingham Trent University; attendees at a workshop promoted by the

SWAP Subject Centre, which took place in Nottingham; and social work

(and social policy) academics and practitioners attending an e-learning

event in Birmingham (full details of these groups appear below).

Group 1: Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students from the Department of Guidance, Youth Studies

and Youth Justice, which is situated within the School of Social Sciences

at Nottingham Trent University. As part of the process of completing an

assignment the students were required to produce a document that would

convey information appropriate to a youth orientated audience. This

would normally involve producing some kind of poster of leaflet but it was

hoped that the software would allow the students to produce some kind of

interactive poster or an electronic comic strip (these are also printable)

that could be linked to a wiki produced by the students. Consequently a

group of students attended a session where the concept of the software

was explained, examples of the type of output it can create were made

available and the basic features of the software were demonstrated. The

students were then given digital cameras and a short space of time in

which to go and take some images that could be turned into a suitable

document. A number of possible scenarios were outlined to the students

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so that, when combined with the examples of existing outputs that they

were shown and the demonstrations of the software itself, they were

suitable primed as to the requirements of the task. That is to say –

produce a comic strip using the Comic Life software (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Student Produced Comic Strip

The students were offered a choice of Windows based computers (PCs) or

the use of an Apple MacBook. The students elected to work in a group

using the MacBook since one student owned a MacBook and was aware of

the software but had not really used it. The students were also provided

with printed copies of the Comic Life user manual and asked to import the

photographs they has just taken (using the project supplied digital

cameras) in order to create a comic strip. The author of this report

remained with the students to offer advice (should it be needed) and to

observe the process and progress of the task. The MacBook recognised

the digital camera and imported the photographs to a folder. The Comic

Life software offered an intuitive way to locate the photographs once they

had been uploaded to the MacBook. The software proved to be very easy

to use, certainly as far as this group of students were concerned. This was

a group of computer/web literate students but they did not have what

might be regarded as specialist computer skills or aptitudes (although one

was aware of the software). There was some discussion regarding the

mechanics of how to create the frames of the comic strip, import the

individual photographs into the working area and apply the filters, speech

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bubble effects and so on (see Figure 2). However what stuck the observer

was how quickly these discussions were resolved and the observer only

intervened in a couple of instances. The issues prompting interaction were

duly noted and have been included in the subsequent multi-media user

guides created as part of this project (see the Resources section).

Figure 2 Comic Life Comic Strip Elements

A key pedagogic element that was observed was the discussion within the

group about what text to place into the speech bubbles. In this format

such text works best as brief snippets or strings as text and there was

clear evidence of the group formulating the longer version of what thy

wanted to communicate, before working out the best way to shorten the

text whilst retaining the key message (the kernel of the information) that

they wanted to convey. The observer is not a specialist in media studies

but it seemed clear (certainly from the perspective of someone with

general expertise in pedagogy) that the students were articulating a

sophisticated understanding of the importance of the juxtaposition of text

and images, the flow of a story, and the nature of the intended audience.

Overall impression: the students enjoyed working with the software,

successfully created a comic strip that contributed to the overall

requirements of an assessed assignment, and found the whole experience

invigorating and engaging. All of those involved immediately saw one or

more possibilities for using the software as part of their undergraduate

course and, encouragingly, in their future professional roles working with

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young people (these were Youth Studies students). The full strip produced

during the session can be viewed in Appendix 1.

The following quotes give a useful indication of how useful the students

found the software and the session they received on how to use it.

Student 1 quote

In terms of the session we completed, I found it really useful. It

allowed us to use software and a type of media that we had never

used before. We used the software to design our own comic strips

for a youth work project and will definitely use it again as it can

communicate and initiate discussion through pictures instead of the

normal routes used. The software was also really easy to use, a

couple of hours max and I had the hang of it, well I got the hang of

how to do a fairly decent basic comic strip. Possible uses of this

software could definitely include designing posters for youth work,

as it is fairly easy to use sessions involving young people designing

comic strips could also help.

Student 2 Quote

I really enjoyed using comic life, it is a great way to communicate

to young people in a fun and exciting way encouraging discussion, i am definitely going to use it in the future and it was a great addition

to my wiki web page assignment.

Student 3 Quote

I used to look at comics and be like amazed on how they were put

together. So simple yet also so good at getting the message across and inspiring people. All the famous super heroes started off in

comic form capturing the imagination of millions of people. Comics

are more then good entertainment and with the help of this

software everyone has a chance at doing it. Comic life puts you in the creative seat giving full control over creativity and content. All

you need is a digital camera and the software to make high quality

comics about anything. I found is simple to use once I knew the

basics and was amazed at its simplicity. I can see vast potential for

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comics to convey messages in a simple yet coherent manner. I have

used this software to create varying comics conveying a message

about celebrities. It can be used for many more different projects.

Following the session the students later used the software to create comic

strips in relation to one of their assignments. A sample extract of one of

the assignments can be seen below. In this instance the student used the

software to produce a comic strip that examines the relationship that

young people have with celebrities, images of celebrity, how they

sometimes seem to escape the consequences of actions that others would

not, an the undeniable fascination that some people, especially some

young people have with celebrity culture. Comic Life has proven the ideal

way to assemble collections of celebrity images, processed in the software

to take on the characteristics of cartoons, complete with some useful

observations in the text of the comic strip, text and thought bubbles and

frame text. This can be seen online1 and a sample is shown here (Figure

3).

Figure 3 Celebrity Comic Strip

Overall, based on the quoted feedback and discussions on the day, the

students found it to be an enjoyable, energising and effective approach to

1 http://ntudavelambert.wetpaint.com/page/How+to+treat+a+celebrity+comic

(Last accessed April 30th 2008)

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meeting their assignment requirements; and something they may take

forward into other assignments and their future professional roles.

What did the module leader make of the experience?

Following the Comic Life session with the students the module leader

provided some encouraging feedback on the experience.

Quote from the Module Leader

Just a quick e-mail to say thank you for all your efforts in regard to

working with the Youth Studies Students to introduce them to the Comic Life Software. The students found the software and the

session extremely useful and engaging. The students used the

software to good effect in their assignments. As you are probably

aware the students were required to create their own Wiki to

explore Jeffs and Smiths theory of 'challenging the accepted.' They used the Comic Life software to good effect and this brought an

extra dimension to their work.

One of the objectives of the assignment was for the students to utilise I.T. in a way that would engage young people in the future

when working as Youth Workers. The governments Transforming

Youth Work agenda highlights the importance of Youth Workers

being up-to-date with the latest technology so as to work effectively with young people in the technological age. I feel that the students

fulfilled this objective very well by utilising the Wiki and Comic

Life software.

Since the session with the Youth Studies students the module leader has

expressed an interest in running similar workshops in the next academic

year and more fully integrating the use of Comic Life into the assignment.

They are also considering how it might be possible to introduce the use of

the comic strips on a Careers Guidance course, as they are ideal for those

who will be working with young people in their professional life.

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Group 2: Attendees SWAP-TechDis Comic Life Workshop

A workshop on the use of Comic Life was held in March 2008. This was

organised in conjunction with the Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP)

subject centre and promoted via their website and email newsletters. It

attracted attendees from Nottingham itself (the location of the workshop)

and as far a field as Teeside in the North and Cornwall in the South. It

was aimed at educators and practitioners in the social work and social

policy disciplines; the aim of the workshop was to introduce the software,

provide a basic understanding of how to use it, and to think about how it

might be used as an education or training tool in these discipline areas.

Figure 4 Sample of SWAP-TechDis Workshop Output

The workshop was lead by the author of this report and sought to cover

the mechanics of Comic Life, why want might want to use comic strips,

and the production of a sample comic strip as a means of addressing

these points. One of the interesting aspects of the workshop was how

quickly the participants were able to see possibilities for using the

software in their professional practice. Whilst the workshop leader was

able to offer specific technical advice, pedagogic guidance and some

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suggestions for the implementation of comic strips in practice; the

attendees were quick to seize on new possibilities or could see how to

adapt existing suggestions to their own very specific requirements.

Feedback from the people attending the Nottingham workshop, and the

experience of running it, proved most useful in helping the workshop

leader better meet the needs of people being introduced to Comic Life at

the subsequent event in Birmingham. Partly because it provided further

examples of how it might be used by similar professionals and in part

because it better prepared the workshop leader for likely questions.

Overall it was a useful workshop that helped those in attendance and

provided additional inputs to the continued development of the project.

One can gain some indication of the positive way in which it was received

from the following quotes:

Attendee Quote 1

"… useful exploration of another way of teaching. It was good to

network and share ideas with other social work teaching staff about

how to raise ideas of identity and to approach this in a non text base way.

I had misunderstood the idea of comic life before I got to the

workshop because I thought it would also help me with graphic images I want to use in teaching. Finding time to find appropriate

generic photo images puts me off a bit, but the workshop has given

me another tool to think about in planning next years work. Phillip

was helpful enthusiastic and interested in responding to individual

ideas about using the software. Backup has been exceptional"

Attendee Quote 2

I found the session informal and informative. There was plenty of

time to work with Comic Life and to consider the possibilities for my

own teaching. In the small group we were able to listen to each

other’s ideas and therefore to develop a wider understanding of the potential applications of Comic Life. I left the session enthused with

practical thoughts of how to use Comic Life as a teaching tool, as an

enjoyable aid to communication and as a visibly striking way of

conveying information.

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Attendee Quote 3

I really enjoyed the day we spent on Comic Life, though I'm still

thinking about how I can use it in post-qualifying social work

training. The best use for it I think at the moment would be in

service user involvement/participation, which I'm now taking the lead on in the programme. We had a session from a service user

group locally called Advocacy in Action, and they used a lot of

pictorial media because of literacy/communication constraints in

their group, and I'm looking at getting them involved with the programme's Diversity Advisory Group - so I think I could use

Comic Life to illustrate the work we and our candidates do on the

programme. I could possibly use it in the induction sessions for

candidates as well - I liked your example of 'how to use the library' as an idea. Not developed it yet though.

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Group 3: TechTrain Event at University of Birmingham

Figure 5 Sample of TechTrain Comic Life Output

TechTrain was an intensive e-learning event held at the Centre of

Excellence in Interdisciplinary Mental Health, which is located at the

University of Birmingham. Over a period of two days individuals, and

teams, worked with e-learning experts (referred to as coaches for the

event) in order to develop their expertise in some aspect of technology

that would offer benefits in their working roles as educators, social

workers or practitioners of some kind. The author of this report was one

of the coaches at the event and worked with a number of groups but

spent most of the time working on two specific tools, one being video

technology, the other being the use of the Comic Life software.

This lead to a very productive relationship with a team from the London

South Bank University (LSBU) who embraced the use of Comic Life as a

great way to overcome some of the issues they encounter when

communicating key information to students, service users and other

groups. Since the TechTrain event they have been exploring the

possibilities of using Comic Life in their respective professional capacities

and have already used it on a project for service users. One of the things

that came across from the TechTrain experience was a strong sense of

the immediacy of progress and gratification. The software allows for the

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rapid construction of comic strips and the application of the effects filters

to photographs of the group (where people see themselves become comic

strip characters) is very rewarding. At the end of the event all the teams

who had taken part gave a short presentation and the LSBU team were

able to talk about their perception of using Comic Life to produce comic

strips whilst displaying a sample comic strip on a number of large

monitors (Figure 6). This was very well received and generated further

interest in the project.

Figure 6 TechTrain Comic Life Presentation

TechTrain Attendee Quote 1

We were so excited by the Comic Life that we have nearly all had a

go - either buying or finding a version on our Macs… I have used it

for one of our service user projects which we may use as a poster

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session and I will send it SWAP as a case study. So you can see you

really enthused us!

TechTrain Attendee Quote 2

I really enjoyed the session on comic life and I can see so much

potential for its use. In social work, there are lots of very emotive

issues where comic life offers tools for finding different routes to

addressing these. For example:

in removing ourselves from the subjective to try and be more

objective.

Being able to make images more accessible and express

emotions through the bubbles that do not come so easily in

text.

Using the colours and images and format to use with service

users who do not love the written word as much as academics

like us. Also, it gives them an alternative medium for getting

their message across in a less heavy way.

Summarising key messages in learning and teaching in a

more succinct and powerful way.

Having fun

Making nice attractive flyers which capture people’s interest.

TechTrain Attendee Quote 3

The Comic Life software is a useful medium for story telling by

students or service users

People can be anomymised using the graphic tools

It communicates very directly through the visuals

And regarding some follow up work:

We have produced a Comic Life story showing pictures and

comments from a Gamelan music session we did with students and

service users… We are also going to reproduce it as an A1 laminated

poster. I think it will be a very novel and accessible way of doing

posters at conferences.

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Conclusion

Comic Life overcomes the main barrier to the use of comic strips in

education and training, which is that many people simply do not have

sufficient artistic skills. Whilst it is possible to create a comic book look

with other image editing software the use of pre-set filters and templates

enables users of Comic Life to quickly make comic strip style materials.

The ability to import digital images overcomes many copyright obstacles

that holdback the use of images by higher education lecturers and other

professional groups. The software itself is relatively easy to use,

inexpensive and effective. It allows for the rapid production of a usable

comic strip. Whether used as an aid to communication (posters,

postcards, leaflets or electronic materials such as video clips) or as a tool

to facilitate learning and teaching, for instance as a standalone comic

strip, perhaps integrated into a worksheet or other document, either

stand alone of part of a taught session, it offers numerous possibilities.

Participants in the project have reported that it offers a novel way of

engaging students and service users, especially those who might have

literacy issues. There has been a high adoption rate amongst participants;

that is to say that some participants in the project have already gone on

to use it in practice, which echoes the positive feedback received and the

enthusiastic discussions the workshops generated. The author of the

report is still in contact with the workshop participants and it likely that

further work will be undertaken building upon this project.

Comic Life is widely used in American schools but at the moment it is not

widely used in Higher Education in the UK. Perhaps because comics are

mistakenly seen as simplistic; they can be but do not have to be. If the

software is used whilst bearing in mind good pedagogic practice, for

instance the notion of constructive alignment (Biggs 1999), and

recognising the value to be had from varied and informal assessment

(Ramsden 1992) in encouraging deeper learning, then it offers

possibilities for the production of innovative and engaging resources.

Furthermore there may be a special appeal to those who work with

individuals who have difficulty coping with text rich documentation; but

the potential benefits of this software are not restricted to those groups.

Comic Life may well offer benefits as a communication and educational

tool to the wider learning and teaching community in Higher Education.

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References

BIGGS, J.1999. Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 1st ed.

Buckingham: SRHE.

Ramsden, P. 1992 Learning to teach in higher education, Routledge,

London.

Useful books about comics for educators

Eisner, W. 1985 Comics and The Sequential Art. North Light Books,

Cincinnati.

McCloud, S. 1994 Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,

HarperCollins, New York.

McCloud, S. 1996. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga

and Graphic Novels, HarperCollins, New York.

Note: If you only have the time or budget for one of the above then

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud is written as a

comic book itself and is available for less than ten pounds (April 2008).

Useful Downloads

Comic Life software from Plasq software (available as a free trial)

http://plasq.com/downloads

Comic Life User Manual (52 pages of A4 in size)

http://plasq.com/help/Comic_LIfe_manual.pdf

Useful Websites

Comic Life Gallery

http://plasq.com/comiclife/gallery/

Comic Life materials (linked to this report) including Comic Life guides,

examples of comic strips, multimedia materials and further useful links

http://www.philwane/comiclife/comic1.htm

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Appendix 1: Undergraduate Comic Strip

Page 1 of a 2 Page Comic Strip

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Appendix 1: Undergraduate Comic Strip

Page 2 of a 2 Page Comic Strip

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Appendix 2 Sample of SWAP TechDis Comic Life Workshop

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Appendix 3 TechTrain Event Comic Strip Sample Comic Strip