Great for students of all ages
Community Review for Toontastic
My Take
The interface is a little childish for middle/high school students but the basics of plot are shown. I like how students are given the plot diagram and use each part as a "scene." Students are able to add more "scenes" if needed. My students really enjoyed creating their own characters. If this is an app that you will use frequently, you may wish to invest in styluses for the students to use as they do make it easier to draw. This is an app that you can make as simple or complex as needed to tailor to your classroom needs. Making the cartoons will almost certainly take more than one class period.
How I Use It
I used Toontastic to use as a summary tool after reading myths. Students created cartoons of their myths and then presented them to the class. As a teacher, you can create a username and password for all of your students to use so their videos are all in the same place to share via the website. I used a computer and projector to show the videos to the class. Students were able to draw their own characters/backgrounds/props/etc. and incorporate them into their cartoons and use their voices to narrate. Students will need to find a quiet place to narrate as the iPad microphone picks up background noise easily. It is a little difficult to narrate and move the characters/props/ect. around while talking. With multiple groups using the same iPads throughout the day, some of the students' work got lost, so it's important for the students to be careful with others' work.