29 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. And today, creating videos goes way beyond the clunky hand-held cameras from days of yore. Instead, students can not only edit live-action sequences, but also include images and animation to augment their directorial debuts. 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. 

Video Editing and Remixing Tools

Loom

Create, present, and assess with effortless interactive screencasts

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

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free

Flip

Pose questions, spark thoughtful video responses with stellar tool

Bottom Line: This accessible, approachable tool offers connection, multiple means of expression, and creativity to apply to almost any topic.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free

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.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Adobe Express

Enjoyable and practical design tool supports creators of all ages

Bottom Line: Beautiful templates and user-friendly tools empower students to turn their creative ideas into professional-looking media.

Grades: 2–12
Price:
Free

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.

Grades: 3–8
Price:
Paid

Twig Create

Teach, learn, and create with all-in-one video platform

Bottom Line: Video-based lessons have more than meets the eye with cool features and thoughtful premade content.

Grades: 3–8
Price:
Free, Paid

Animaker Video Maker & Editor

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

Edpuzzle

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

Bottom Line: This is a valuable tool that teachers can use to flip classrooms or support student-led creation.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free, Paid

iMovie

Basic movie editor makes for skill-focused, student-centered learning

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

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free

Screencastify

Easy screen-recording tool facilitates outside-the-box instruction

Bottom Line: This is an instructional tool that could reinvent classroom workflow, especially for classrooms in the Google ecosystem.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Screencast-O-Matic

Create and edit sophisticated screencasts without breaking the bank

Bottom Line: This is the most flexible screencasting tool, but it requires patience -- and perhaps a subscription -- to unlock all of its possibilities.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free, Paid

VEED

Create and edit high-quality screencasts and videos in record time

Bottom Line: This platform is full of features that blend video creation and screencasting, helping teachers expand and differentiate their lessons.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free, Free to try

WeVideo

Cloud-based multimedia editor elevates brims with possibility

Bottom Line: This is an excellent way to provide multimodal learning experiences to students.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free to try

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

AndroVid - Video Editor

Versatile must-have creation tool for classrooms using Android devices

Bottom Line: Easy-to-use tool enables Android users to create movies or slideshows.

Grades: 5–12
Price:
Free, Paid

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

Piktochart

Create sleek media with cool templates, powerful features

Bottom Line: An easy-to-use tool for producing and sharing great visual content in the classroom.

Grades: 7–12
Price:
Free, Paid

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

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.

Grades: 8–12
Price:
Free, Paid

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:
Paid

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

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

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:
Paid

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

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

Looom

Whimsical animation app is beautiful, tricky to implement

Bottom Line: After jumping through some initial hurdles, teachers will find Looom to be a useful tool for some students.

Grades: 5–12
Price:
Paid

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

Animoto: Video Maker & Editor

Create stylish slideshows and videos with simple, customizable features

Bottom Line: Slick videos and slideshows are easy to make, but it takes a little work to make it fit for classroom use.

Grades: 7–12
Price:
Free to try

Vidcode

Cool coding tool tuned to teens' passions aids creativity

Bottom Line: Women-created platform expands the traditional scope of coding to visual elements students interact with online everyday.

Grades: 7–12
Price:
Free to try

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