Just in time for back-to-school: New distance learning resources are available on Wide Open School.
TOP PICKS | 55 TOOLS
Best Tech-Creation Tools
Top Picks
RELATED
Print | Save as PDF
Video and Animation
Easy Stop Motion studio: Introduction to animation
Ideal, easy-to-use way to help kids learn basic animation
Bottom line: This introduction to digital animation offers lots of opportunities for creativity for young students.
Grades: K–2
Price: $3.99
Screencast-O-Matic
Create and share high-quality screencasts without breaking the bank
Bottom line: A well-designed screen and video recorder that lets teachers and students focus on creating engaging content from the get-go.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free, Paid Free accounts include recording, trimming, captioning, saving, and sharing features as well as three music tracks and 2GB bandwidth per month on the site. Deluxe and Premier plans cost $1.50 and $4 per month, respectively, and include additional recording and publishing features, video editing tools, and more.
VoiceThread
Easily collaborate and create with voice, video, or image
Bottom line: A powerful tool for kids to create, collaborate, and share all kinds of multimedia.
Grades: K–12
Price: Paid A single educator account runs $15 per month or $79 per year for one teacher and up to 50 students. A school account starts at $450 per year, depending on the number of users and desired services; district packages are also available.
Shadow Puppet Edu
Resource-rich video slideshow maker a gem for a variety of classrooms
Bottom line: Easy-to-use free tool is a must-have for elementary classrooms; just keep an eye on sharing and privacy.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free
Green Screen by Do Ink
Versatile, easy-to-use moviemaker yields great results
Bottom line: High-quality movie maker has numerous uses for students projects.
Grades: 3–8
Price: $2.99
Animaker Class
Design and present animated infographics and video with versatile site
Bottom line: A great media creation tool that could be used all year long for everything from posters to videos, but teachers will need to make learning goals clear.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Free plan covers 25 students and two teachers and includes six DIY tools, 200 MB of storage, and limited groups, tasks, and video length. Premium version supports longer videos and downloads and has HD video quality, more props, dedicated support, and more.
Explain Everything Whiteboard
Powerhouse tool for creating stellar multimedia presentations
Bottom line: Teachers and students can make dynamic presentations that involve different types of media in this innovative, fun app.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free to try, Paid There's a 30-day free trial. The Education Plan is $4.99 per user, per year (minimum of 5 users). Individual plans are $24.99 per year.
Loom
Create, present, and assess with effortless screencasting
Bottom line: This intuitive tool is excellent for recording and responding to screencasts of any length.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Free plans include simple editing tools and unlimited video recordings, though only 25 can be accessed. Paid plans add more video editing options, analytics, and more.
Screencastify
Easy screen-recording tool facilitates outside-the-box instruction
Bottom line: If you have access to Chrome, Screencastify is an easy instructional tool that lets teachers and students communicate in new and creative ways.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Free version offers a maximum length of five minutes per video with trimming and annotation tools; premium version ($49 per year) unlocks more features, including cropping and priority support. Bulk pricing is available for groups of teachers and districts.
Binumi
One-stop shop for creating and assigning beautiful video stories
Bottom line: Set students up for storytelling success with quality content and tools in a safe environment.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free, Paid $1 to $2 per user per month, depending on the feature set; district volume pricing available.
Wick Editor
Design interactive games and animations with creative online platform
Bottom line: A great starting place for aspiring creators to design and share engaging content.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free This is a free open-source tool.
Animoto
Create snazzy video slideshows with simple, flexible features
Bottom line: Slick music videos and slideshows are easy to make, but students need more controls to personalize them.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid 14-day free trial. Special free teacher subscriptions available; three pricing tiers for consumers ($8 to $39 per month).
Clips
Create and share videos with cool effects, tons of language options
Bottom line: This slick video creation app is fun, empowering, and accessible in lots of languages, but be careful with sharing.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free
Adobe Premiere Rush
Create and share professional-looking videos from nearly any device
Bottom line: It's an intuitive platform for video creation that also prepares students for more complex software.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free to try Users can access a seven-day free trial before subscribing. The phone-only app subscription is $4.99 per month. The regular subscription is $9.99 per month.
Coding and Game Design
Minecraft: Education Edition
Stellar collaboration tools, controls make Minecraft classroom-ready
Bottom line: An excellent tool to engage students in learning, collaboration, and critical thinking is now more accessible than ever to teachers.
Grades: K–12
Price: Paid $5 per user per year; schools may qualify for volume licensing.
Elementari
Storybook creation tool offers cool blend of ELA, art, and coding
Bottom line: This is a great storytelling tool for younger kids that also offers an entry point into coding and computational thinking.
Grades: 1–5
Price: Free, Paid Free accounts support 30 students; users can read, publish, and remix unlimited stories, but access to illustrations and sounds is limited. Hobby accounts ($8 per month) add more illustrations and sounds for teachers. Educator accounts ($25 per month) support 90 students and offer unlimited sounds and illustrations for teachers and students. School accounts are available for $99 per month.
Scratch
Creative sandbox opens the door to coding in any subject area
Bottom line: Scratch draws students of all types into coding and lays a foundation for future learning.
Grades: 1–12
Price: Free
The Infinite Arcade by Tinybop
Simple game-design app has endless creative potential
Bottom line: Letting students design, play, improve, and share their own games opens up opportunities for learning potential in many subject areas.
Grades: 2–6
Price: Paid $2.99
Gizmos & Gadgets
Top-notch tool empowers kids to invent, build, and control wirelessly
Bottom line: Easy-to-use, versatile electronic invention set that works wirelessly with your hand-held device.
Grades: 2–8
Price: Free, Paid The app is free; the standard Gizmos & Gadgets Kit costs $199.95. Various other classroom kits are available.
SAM Labs
Kids use block code and wireless blocks to program, design, and create
Bottom line: With some perseverance, it's a great fit for PBL and STEAM, helping students learn programming skills and engineering concepts through invention.
Grades: 2–8
Price: Free, Paid The site, including user-submitted lesson plans, activities, and a gallery, is free. SAM Labs accessories and kits, which range in price from $33 for accessories to $1,999 for deluxe classroom kits, include access to a small library of lesson plans and accompanying resources.
Tynker
Cute, colorful coding platform caters to strong independent readers
Bottom line: Students will be empowered by custom-coding creations for a variety of platforms, but may need some reading support to complete lessons.
Grades: 3–8
Price: Free to try, Paid Plans and pricing vary widely. K-8 pay-per-course is $399 for 30 students; K-8 school plans for 400-800 students range from $2,600-$3,800. Quotes for district-wide plans are also available.
MAD-learn
Create mobile apps with extensive help from start to finish
Bottom line: Intuitive platform encourages students to engage in design thinking and coding with loads of support.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Paid Single-use licenses up to site or district licenses are available; the cost for annual licenses ranges from $5 to $75 per student depending on volume. The developer also offers professional development and coaching for teachers.
Google CS First
Middle school CS platform offers stellar resources, organizing tools
Bottom line: If your middle school doesn't have a CS program or club, now you do!
Grades: 4–8
Price: Free
Gamestar Mechanic
Engaging manga-themed quest to become a game designer
Bottom line: Game design quests have everything students want but perhaps not everything teachers need.
Grades: 3–8
Price: Free to try Free for registration and to complete the first game design quest; $19.95 for access to five full game design quests; $2 per student of a classroom or school group license; $249 for a full online course with instructors.
Metaverse
Ambitious augmented-reality tool engages users, promotes coding skills
Bottom line: This dynamic tool allows users to create and experience augmented-reality activities while learning 21st-century skills.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free
Ready Maker
Fun and easy game design yields surprisingly complex creations
Bottom line: With teacher support, a creative introduction to coding and game design.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free, Paid Use of the game design tool is free. Educator accounts are $1.95 per student per month (which includes group administrative features, asset uploading, and unlimited sharing) plus $14.95 monthly hosting.
LearnToMod
Effective springboard to coding for dedicated Minecraft fans
Bottom line: For students who already know and love Minecraft, this is a valuable way to hook students into coding.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free, Paid LearnToMod is free for teachers; $29.99 per year for everyone else.
Stencyl
Code-free game development tool helps kids program and publish
Bottom line: It ups the sophistication of building block coding by connecting student work to major publishing platforms.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free, Paid
Unity Learn
Complete game creation curriculum gives students real-world experience
Bottom line: For any computer science or game design/development course, Unity Learn is a fun and effective way to get students building games right away, with plenty of room for depth.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free, Paid Personal and education licenses are free. For companies of size, Plus and Pro subscriptions are available from $25 to $125 per month.
Zulama
Teach a vast number of CS concepts with quality, depth, and choice
Bottom line: Zulama will help any middle or high school implement a comprehensive computer science program.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free to try, Paid Contact for pricing.
ARIS
Create valuable Pokémon Go-style learning games for iOS devices
Bottom line: A teacher who is willing to learn ARIS can create robust mobile experiences that will resonate with students.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Machine Learning for Kids
Authentic AI-powered projects make kids' creations feel like magic
Bottom line: It takes a topic that would be difficult to teach in any practical way and makes it accessible for the classroom.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
micro:bit
Code games or fun displays with mini piece of hardware
Bottom line: This versatile tool for learning how to program with blocks or text is a nice fit for STEM classes and clubs.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid The website and apps are free. A micro:bit is required, which costs around $14.99; accessories are also available for purchase.
Thunkable
Build a working iOS or Android app, even without coding experience
Bottom line: A great way to help motivated students create real apps, though others will need more support.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free Thunkable is free for now, but they note on their site that they may charge for some features in the future.
GameMaker Studio 2
One of the best creation tools available for aspiring game developers
Bottom line: Provides teachers with the best choice for a full unit or class on game design, and gives students a tool to help them realize their game-making dreams.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free to try, Paid A free version has limited features. Educational licenses range from $30 per seat per year for desktop creation to $130 per seat per year for UWP and mobile.
GameSalad
Great interface, flexible publishing options make game-making a snap
Bottom line: Engaging interface and tutorials will empower budding game designers, but the price tag could be a deal-breaker for tight school budgets.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Paid Single Education license (teacher or student) is $149 per year; Classroom license for 30 students and 1 teacher is $1699 per year. Custom quotes are available for schools and districts.
Lightwell
No coding required -- visual app design for the rest of us
Bottom line: Create authentic learning experiences for your students with app design in the classroom.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free to try, Paid Free two-week trial. $60 per year for one seat/computer, $1200 per year for classroom license (30 seats). Contact for additional pricing options.
Art and Design
3DBear AR
3D design and augmented reality merge in creative, interactive app
Bottom line: A great fit for classroom or makerspace settings as long as students have clear direction and compatible devices.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid The Teacher plan ($99 per year) includes access for up to 10 student devices. The One-to-One Classroom plan ($199 per year) includes access for up to 30 student devices. The Library plan covers three teachers and 100 student devices. Pricing for PD, School, and District plans is available by quote.
3D Slash
Minecraft-like 3D modeling (and printing) made super easy for all ages
Bottom line: This may be the fastest, cheapest route from idea to 3D printing out there, if you don't mind low-res, pixelated designs.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free, Paid Premium accounts for schools add teacher-dashboard and class-management functionality for a fee.
Tinkercad
Amazingly simple yet powerful online CAD tool turns kids into makers
Bottom line: A big step forward in making iterative 3D design more accessible and social.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
Adobe Capture CC
Magical design tool extracts colors, patterns, and more from images
Bottom line: The rare combo of "wow" factor and utility, this tool help students recognize and use the designed world around them.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free A free Adobe Creative Cloud account is required to access all features.
Genially
Create professional-looking media with an abundant library of templates
Bottom line: It's a treasure trove of well-designed templates and features that encourage creativity and collaboration, but expect some growing pains.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid Free plans include unlimited creations and views as well as access to free graphic resources and templates. Student plans are priced at $15/year and add offline viewing, PDF and JPEG downloads, and 10 premium templates per year. Edu Pro plans are $59.90/year and add PowerPoint imports, unlimited premium templates, folders, privacy controls, and more. Master plans are $249.90/year and add training as well as personalization, monitoring, and transfers of creations.
Photoshop Express Photo Editor
Top-notch photo editor helps perfect pics for creative projects
Bottom line: This is a powerful, free creation tool from the industry leader in photo editing.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Sway
Create dynamic visual presentations on flexible storytelling platform
Bottom line: A seamless transition from design to presentation makes Sway a great fit for presenting carefully curated content.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free Sway is free with an Office 365 account.
SketchUp
Make learning meaningful through 3D design
Bottom line: SketchUp is a fantastic, subject-agnostic tool that does take time to learn but helps students gain truly useful, transferable skills.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid SketchUp Make is free. SketchUp Pro is paid, but teachers can get a free license. Students have to pay $49 for SketchUp Pro.
Autodesk Sketchbook
Impressive creation tool for teens serious about art
Bottom line: Gives students easy access to professional tools for creating digital art.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free to try While the app is free to try, the full Pro version is $4.99. This version adds a host of creative options from brush types to colors to more layers. There's also a $29.99 per year Sketchbook subscription that unlocks the Pro version across all platforms.
Snapseed
Extremely powerful photo editor will equally delight pros, amateurs
Bottom line: It successfully walks the fine line of photo-editing features, offering satisfying experiences for those making quick edits and those crafting perfect images.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Music and Recording
GarageBand
Amazingly powerful audio workstation unleashes creativity
Bottom line: There's exceptional functionality in this solid, all-inclusive audio workstation that's fantastic for high-quality, anytime, and anywhere audio recording and sharing.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free 32 GB or larger iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 10 or later, or recently purchased Mac laptops/desktops, already have installed installed.
Auxy Studio - Music & Beat Maker
Loop beats like a pro with stellar music-maker
Bottom line: A stellar, approachable tool for constructing your very own digital beats and tracks.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free
Flat
Terrific composition tool empowers budding musicians to create, share
Bottom line: An excellent tool for writing and sharing musical creations.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free to try, Paid The regular version is $4.90 per month, but educators can buy licenses for $1.50 each (whether the license is for a student or teacher). License packs begin at 10 for $15.
Storytelling
Storybird
Social storytelling site helps kids create, publish storybooks
Bottom line: A great fit for teachers looking to develop students' writing and digital citizenship skills through storybook creation.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free, Paid Teachers create accounts for free with unlimited classes and students. Finished stories are available for purchase. Curriculum and some premium extras are available for $4.99 per student.
Pixton Edu
Popular comic creation tool well-tuned to classrooms
Bottom line: Students will be motivated to share subject knowledge using the fun language of comics.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free to try, Paid Free 15-day trial. Pricing varies, starting at $8.99/month for 25 students and increasing from there. School or district pricing available.
Sutori
A slick way to share knowledge via interactive timelines and stories
Bottom line: With a super simple design, interactive features, and an imaginative personal approach, it's an easy and flexible tool for all kinds of classrooms.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid While basic accounts are free, they're limited to 200 student stories. Sutori's Premium accounts, which cost $49/year for educators, allow unlimited story creation, student collaboration (in pairs), and exporting stories to PDF. The $99/year Unlimited account adds the ability to upload custom videos and expands collaboration to larger groups.
Anchor
Podcasting app is super easy to use, if you can do it all in one take
Bottom line: There are few easier ways to publish a podcast, but that ease of use comes at the cost of one-take creation and few tools for post-production.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free
