Asia Society Texas: Online Learning Platform

Augmenting middle school education with interactive web comics and a educator resource site with content created by subject matter experts and real people.

My Role:

From concept to launch I was the design lead for the project. It was my job to direct the user experience, user interface, and branding of the two sites. I worked closely with a web developer to ensure the user experience and site map would provide a wholistic experience.

Chao Comics of Asia:

We built a web comic site that would offer original authentic stories about Asian American and Asian culture, history, and life. Each comic was written and illustrated in collaboration with artists whose nationalities matched the country being depicted to help create an authentic depiction of each culture. 

Asia In the Classroom:

A sister site to the comics site that educators could use as a resource to augment and expand their lesson plans built on over a decade of classes and work done by Asia Society Texas across lectures, talks, summer programs, afterschool programs, and partnerships with universities now made available in a single location on the web.

Stories that Go Beyond the Frame:

Inspired by Escaping Criticism by Pere Borrell del Caso and the frames of comic book panels, visually show the desire that the learnings and morals of the comics would transcend the frames of the comic and leave with the reader.

User Profile:

Readers can create an account to collect badges, create shareable reading lists, and complete assignments through Google Classroom. Badges can be downloaded and used as stickers in most popular messaging apps.

Shareable Reading Lists:

To reach a wider audience we added the ability for readers to create playlists of stories that could be shared to social media. This is also useful for educators to share assigned reading to their students. Readers can also see their progress through the list.

Interactivity:

Each comic has panels that readers can interact with to learn more about elements within them as well as answer questions based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) assesment tests. Educators can create assignments directly in Google Classroom for their students to complete for a grade as well to unlock badges for each comic.

Asia in the Classroom:

Built as a collection of resources for educators to learn from, use, and adapt in their own courses. Built on over a decade of classes and work done by Asia Society Texas across lectures, talks, summer programs, afterschool programs, and partnerships with universities now made available in a single location on the web.

Partner Teams:

C&G Partners: