TOP PICKS | 30 TOOLS
Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation
Top Picks
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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.
VoiceThread
Easily collaborate and create with voice, video, text, or images
Bottom line: A powerful way for teachers and students to collaborate, share, and offer feedback on multimedia presentations.
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.
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.
PlayPosit
Interactive video creator has great question variety
Bottom line: This tool strikes a nice balance, offering teachers an easy intro to interactive video mixed with a large set of features that can lead to increasingly sophisticated lesson design.
Green Screen by Do Ink
Versatile, easy-to-use moviemaker and photo editor yields great results
Bottom line: High-quality moviemaker and photo editor has numerous uses for students' projects.
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.
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.
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.
Loom
Create, present, and assess with effortless screencasting
Bottom line: This intuitive tool is excellent for recording and responding to screencasts of any length.
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.
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.
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.
Adobe Spark
Super-flexible design tool for crafting fab images, videos, and sites
Bottom line: This 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.
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.
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.
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.
InShot Video Editor
Social media-aimed creation app has cool features, some pitfalls
Bottom line: For students, there's a lot of fun to be had and valuable editing skills to be gained, but teachers will need to do all the instruction and deal with the ads.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Explee
Build slick, engaging whiteboard animations with Web-based tool
Bottom line: A stellar -- if somewhat pricey -- creation tool for the classroom.
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.
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.
