Community reviews for SketchUp

Because of the steep learning curve, SketchUp is best utilized in a standalone class or for projects of quite a long term nature.

Every time I use SketchUp I have to spend a significant amount of time refreshing my memory about how to use it. It also takes several class periods for students to become comfortable with the program, which may not be the best use of instruction time unless you are going to do multiple SketchUp projects. SketchUp is more robust that we generally need and I prefer the simplicity of Tinkercad. However, we use SketchUp because it is installed on the computer (we are a 1:1 laptop school) and students don't need internet access. Tinkercad is web-hosted, requiring student account management, and is often slow or unresponsive during high-volume times. I want to do more 3D design with my students and I am confident that a better product will emerge, but for now I'll continue to struggle through with SketchUp.

I believe this is a powerful and simple tool to use in the classroom whether to recreate structures for history, create designs for 3D print, to visualize an idea or for story-telling . I have come to find that our state university is using this app for interior design, architecture, and graphic design courses which is amazing considering we were able to teach and use this with lower-ed as well successfully! I would like to see a lite version in the future versus the free trial which ends after a certain amount of time for people wanting to test drive this product, or a version for education that is free (again we were fortunate and had our state EDU purchase us a license).