Bitstrips

INTRODUCTION

What Is It?

Bitstrips for Schools was developed and published by Jacob Blackstock and Shahan Panth in 2007. Bitstrips for Schools allows students to express themselves by creating avatars and comics. It allows students to be artistic without having good drawing skills. For example, students have choice over facial expressions, body position, outfits, backgrounds/scenes, props, etc. Students are also able to collaborate with other classmates on comics and activities. Bitstrips for Schools makes the process of learning and completing assignments more fun. I will explain later how this software can be applied to all subjects in an educational setting.

Access

To access Bitstrips for Schools, you will need internet access and an account. The URL for Bitstrips for Schools is www.bitstripsforschools.com. If the school does not already have an account, then the teacher will have to pay for an account to use Bitstrips for Schools; this could be considered a difficulty. When a teacher does this, they are then responsible for all the students who are invited to use the software.

Advantages

There are many advantages with having a Bitstrips for Schools account other than allowing for student creativity. First, there is limited viewing access so using Bitstrips for Schools is private and safe. Second, teachers are able to view and approve student’s comics before they are shared with the class. This allows students to monitor the appropriateness of student’s activities on the software and discard work that is not school appropriate.

Difficulties

There are two main difficulties with using Bitstrips for Schools. First, you would have to ensure the students are mature enough for the software as it could be detrimental to the school environment if it is used for the wrong and/or inappropriate reasons. The students’ use of the software would have to be closely monitored and supervised by a teacher at all times to prevent this from occurring. Second, some students may feel limited by the program's options. Students who are extremely artistic and/or talented may feel that the software does not provide enough options. They may feel that they can express themselves easier and better by using other materials.

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

I would suggest that Bitstrips for Schools would be appropriately used in grades three and up. This is because it takes a good amount of maturity to use the software properly. This is not to say that teachers cannot use Bitstrips for Schools in their lessons; having comic themed lessons may keep the students’ attention and excite them. Bitstrips for Schools can be used by mature students to create avatars, comics, and specific activities decided by the teacher. Bitstrips for Schools can be used and applied to every subject as well as a combination of subjects. This is because Bitstrips for Schools is used to make art so every subject that the software is used for (other than the arts) would be considered a cross-curriculuar approach. Students are able to accomplish many things with this software. I will discuss some ideas on how Bitstrips can be applied for different subjects and grades. There is no specific reason why I decided on these ideas. I actually went to the Ontario curriculum, randomly selected specific subjects within a grade, and then decided on a good use for Bitstrips based on what is covered in the curriculum. All of these are cross-curricular ideas. After, I will provide some examples on the next page on how to use Bitstrips for Schools within lessons as well as some examples for students to complete assignments using Bitstrips for Schools.

Grade Three

1. Health: Students can make a comic discussing substance use and abuse. They can demonstrate their learning on what a drug is and identify different types of drugs. They can also discuss how to make healthy choices with drug use. You could put students into groups and have them research one particular drug that they can make their comic about.
2. Math: Have students represent and describe the relationships within money, specifically between coins and bills. The students could make comics where they are purchasing something and need to figure out how much to purchase an item in three different ways. For example, one loonie = four quarters = ten dimes.

Grade Four

1. Social Studies: Have students research an art piece from a specific culture and have the students describe their findings within Bitstrips for Schools. OR students could describe what life was like for medieval European societies. They could show this simply within their avatars or more in depth by using a comic. For example, in their comics, one character could be from a contemporary Canadian community while the other is from a medieval European society. They could then discuss the differences between their societies and times.
2. Language Arts: Have students find a story in the newspaper that interests them and have them summarize it for other students and express their opinions/issues using Bitstrips for Schools.

Grade Five

1. French: Students can demonstrate their writing skills in French by creating a comic that includes classmates conversing in French about a specific topic. Students can create a script for their comic in pairs or groups and then apply this to their comic.
2. Health: Students can make a comic where they identify strategies to deal positively with stress and pressure that result from different relationships. They can make a comic with a specific stressful situation and how they would remedy the problem.

Grade Six

1. Science: Students can research one Canadian astronaut and discuss their contributions in a comic on Bitstrips for Schools. Students can work in pairs or in groups and collaborate on how their comic is developed.
2. Math: Have students make a comic describing what the order of operations is and how to use BEDMAS. You could even have the students make up an equation that needs to be solved properly in the comic. I completed a presentation using Emaze presentations and Bitstrips for Schools to introduce and explain the concept of this assignment to grade six students: http://app.emaze.com/957157/sample. I will use this presentation as a reminder tutorial (because these students have used this software before) and stop on certain slides in order to explain and ensure all students are still on track. I have also presented an example assignment that the students could refer to:

All Grades

1. An ‘About Me’ assignment. This can be done with both the avatar creation and a comic creation.
2. Stories can be created at every grade level. The complexity of the stories can increase with the grade levels. The Bitstrips for Schools’ comic builder is a great software for students to express themselves on a variety of topics as well as build language skills.
3. An ‘End of the Year’ assignment. Students can discuss their favourite part of the year, what they took away from it, their favourite thing they learned, etc.
4. Teachers can integrate students’ avatars into lessons to engage students more. Teachers can use Bitstrips for Schools to make comics to include in their lessons.
5. Teaching exceptional students. Bitstrips for Schools could be used to help students with learning or behaviour disabilities; it could also be used for students who are shy and do not like expressing themselves in conventional ways.

LESSON EXAMPLE - MULTIPLICATION

 TUTORIAL

Here is a tutorial that I made for a grade six class that would be already familiar with Bitstrips for Schools. This tutorial could be used for students within the junior division and possibly other levels as well depending on the maturity level. I handed out this tutorial in the form of a package so that students could refer back to it if need be. I also found a great tutorial to help teachers with the Bitstrips for Schools programs:

It looks like this:

Then you will come to a page that asks for a classroom code. It looks like this:

LAYOUT: This function allows you to choose the layout for your comic

ART LIBRARY: Here is where you can add your backgrounds, characters, props, etc.

TEXT BUBBLES: This is how you make your characters express themselves. You can then customize the text afterwards

CONTROLS: This function allows you to change the pose and expression of each character. It also allows you to customize other features such as the background, text bubbles, etc.

FILTERS: Here is where you can change specific qualities of characters, scenes, props, etc. You are able to change the saturation, contrast, hue, transparency, etc.

Have fun making comics using Bitstrips for Schools!

REFLECTION

What Have I Learned?

I have learned that technological resources such as the Bitstrips for Schools software can be used within the classroom for a variety of subjects, to make learning more fun and engaging, and to assist specific students. Bitstrips for Schools is able to assist students because it can work off of a student’s strengths. It is able to help student’s who are not very artistic or creative in art. It is also able to help student’s express themselves when they find it hard to do this in front of the class or using other methods.

Bitstrips for Schools does not always have to be about what the students are doing. It can easily engage students by adding it into lesson plans. Refer to my multiplication lesson above within ‘Classroom Connections.’ Students will be interested to see this teaching style. It will grab their attention and they will probably obtain more information from the lesson as a result.

Problems You Encountered & How You Solved Them

I only had one problem with the Bitstrips for Schools software. After working on Bitstrips for Schools for several hours, it started to not listen to my demands anymore. The software then froze and I had to log in again after restarting the program. I am not sure if this was only on my computer or if this happens when there are a lot of people using the software at once. Either way, I would like to investigate these troubles further to see if it is worth implementing into my classroom.

How Will You Apply Your Learning to Future Teaching & Learning?

I would apply Bitstrips for Schools in the classroom for my students because I think it would benefit students who learn differently, have troubles expressing themselves, and/or want to experiment with something new and fun. However, I probably would not implement this software too frequently into my lesson plans because I personally find the software very annoying. I feel limited by the software’s controls and options. I would much rather make my own comic using other resources - even just with paper. This way I would not be limited whatsoever. However, this is just my personal opinion and I know that many students enjoy this software. I would not want to exclude my student’s interests just because I personally do not like to use this software. I would still enjoy seeing my students use their knowledge and creativity to make amazing comics and avatars.