TOP PICKS | 31 TOOLS

Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation

From slideshows and stop-motion animation to short films and remixes, video-making is a tried-and-true way to get kids engaged in building, demonstrating, and sharing knowledge. These video and animation apps and sites offer user-friendly tools and features that make it more fun than ever to get kids' productions created, edited, and polished. There are also a few tools that feature video-based formative assessment, so kids can record and share their video reflections.

If your students are making videos in the classroom, then they're probably also watching videos in the classroom. If so, check out our tips and resources for how to get students thinking critically about video.

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Video Editing and Remixing Tools

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.

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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.

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WeVideo

Solid cloud-based editing site makes video creation simple and social

Bottom line: With two levels of editing tools and an easy-to-use interface, students of all ages should have no trouble creating and editing their video content to demonstrate learning.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Premium personal accounts range from $4.99 to $17.99 per month with a limited free account also available. Education accounts (up to 30 users) are $299 per year and can be scaled for any school system. A free trial is available for teachers.

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Coach's Eye - Video Analysis

Robust video analysis for sports, science, fine arts performances

Bottom line: Cool video-analysis tool is great for the sports field and beyond, but prepare for an onslaught of hidden costs to access all features.

Grades: 2–12 Price: Paid The app is $4.99 each when purchasing one to 19 and $2.49 each for 20 or more.

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PlayPosit

Simple design makes it easy to jump into interactive video

Bottom line: With features that are both basic and useful, it's an easy tool to learn; adding interactivity to video is a snap.

Grades: 2–12 Price: Free, Paid Basic accounts are free. Optional premium features are $96/year and include the ability to copy and edit other teachers' content, the ability to crop video, more question types, student-created content, printable worksheets, grade exporting, and advanced student data.

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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

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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.

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Edpuzzle

Crop, customize, and remix online video content with interactive tool

Bottom line: As a flipped classroom or student creation tool, there are lots of opportunities for use, but teachers will need to be creative if they want students to engage.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free, Paid The basic version is free. The Pro Teacher plan is in development but is slated to cost $6.50 per month. The Pro School plan starts at $55 per month (call for quote).

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Flipgrid

Pose questions, spark thoughtful video responses with stellar tool

Bottom line: A simple way for students and teachers to create online discussion, as long as your classroom culture is mature enough to use it wisely.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free

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Loom

Create, present, and assess with free, effortless screencasting

Bottom line: This intuitive tool is excellent for recording and responding to screencasts of any length.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free

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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 up to 50 watermarked videos per month and a maximum length of 10 minutes per video; premium version ($24 per year) removes the watermark and unlocks more features, including trimming and exporting capabilities. Bulk pricing is available for groups of teachers and districts.

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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.

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Kapwing

Create, tweak, and share videos and images with online editor

Bottom line: With clear learning goals and managed expectations, students and teachers will find this to be a useful and enjoyable media creation tool.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free, Paid The free version adds a Kapwing watermark to images and videos. It's $6 per video or $20 per month to remove watermarks.

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iMovie

Movie editor will satisfy beginner and intermediate creators

Bottom line: Despite some limitations with editing, it’s the perfect tool to get teachers and students started with digital video production.

Grades: 5–12 Price: Free

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Adobe Premiere Clip

Decent on-the-go video editor shines when using other Adobe tools

Bottom line: It's a good tool that gets better when using other Creative Cloud apps, but the limited features make this a hard sell for anything other than introductory editing.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free Additional Adobe Creative Cloud storage available for a fee.

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Adobe Spark

Super-flexible design tool for crafting fab images, videos, and sites

Bottom line: This free, one-stop shop for creating sleek graphics, web stories, and animated videos is incredibly easy to use and challenges students to think critically about visual presentation.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free

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TouchCast Studio

Cool tool takes videos to the next level

Bottom line: It's a creative tool for teachers to make interactive video content and for students to present information, but teachers should monitor use.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free The app is free for those in the public school system.

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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

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MediaBreaker/Studios

Free video-remix tool boosts media literacy, presents some challenges

Bottom line: It's not without its challenges for teachers, but at its core MediaBreaker is an easy-to-use and free tool for teaching critical media-making and literacy.

Grades: 8–12 Price: Free

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Animation and Slideshow Tools

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

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Toontastic 3D

Flexible tool hands kids the reins for creative animated storytelling

Bottom line: Despite some lack of variety and simple drawing tools, Toontastic 3D remains a terrific, versatile storytelling tool.

Grades: K–5 Price: Free

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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

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Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

One-stop animation tool for beginners through experts

Bottom line: Accessible entry into animation for beginning students, but with enough depth to satisfy more advanced artists.

Grades: 3–8 Price: $4.99

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Animatic

Ultra-simple starting point for animation has its uses

Bottom line: This animation app can be a great starting point for learning the essentials of animation (sequencing frames of drawings), but ultimately it has a small feature set compared to others.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free to try There's a free version or a paid Pro version, which is $9.99 per year ($2.99 for three months or $4.99 for six months) and adds additional features like on-screen duration for individual frames and exporting to Adobe Creative Cloud.

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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.

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Plotagon Education

Create animated movies with customized characters and actions

Bottom line: A fun way to show understanding of any subject matter, especially for those who enjoy making movies.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free to try, Paid Plotagon Story (for individual users) is free with in-app purchases. There's a free trial of Plotagon Education, and then pricing ranges from one user ($39 per year) to 1,000 users ($2,990 per year) with multiple options in between.

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GoAnimate for Schools

Make professional-looking animations with easy-to-use tool

Bottom line: This highly engaging animation tool is a fun way for students to experiment with storytelling and digital creation.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free to try Subscriptions start at $79 per year for just a teacher account. For teacher and student accounts, plans vary (e.g., it's $124 per year for one teacher and 30 students).

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Explee

Build slick, engaging whiteboard animations with Web-based tool

Bottom line: A stellar -- if somewhat pricey -- creation tool for the classroom.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid A teacher account costs $30 per year, while $150 a year buys access for a teacher and up to 40 students.

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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).

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Vidcode

Cool coding tool tuned to teen girls' passions aids creativity

Bottom line: Learn-to-code programs for youths often too narrowly define what can be done with code; Vidcode expands the options, helping girls see code's value in culture and express themselves.

Grades: 8–12 Price: Free, Paid Free introductory projects; contact for pricing for intermediate and advanced projects/lessons as well as training and support resources.

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