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Although this article from TechEd refers specifically to Comic Life, the introduction explains why using any comic creator can be beneficial in the classroom. The first hyperlink leads to an interesting article about the history of comics in education written by Gene Yang, the author of the graphic novel "American Born Chinese" which won the Printz award in 2007. A different section of his website points out the strengths of comics in education, some of which are echoed in this cartoon analysis guide.

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• Check out GoAnimate and/or ToonDoo.  GoAnimate and ToonDoo are web-based and accessible after you sign-up for free. You may also be interested in Comic Life which requires a (free) download.

• Watch the demo about GoAnimate. Watch a few of the cartoons on the site. Warning: You may find some cartoons offensive and many are not appropriate for an educational setting. Then, sign up and try it out!

• Until there is a comic creator specifically for education, it may not be practical to use a web-based tool since they contain inapproriate content. Therefore, Comic Life may be a good alternative -- since it is not web-based, students cannot stumble upon inappropriate content.

• Here are some additional educational resources: Teaching Comics and Cartoons for the Classroom.

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• Blog about your experience.