Welcome to the Creativity in School Resources page, a list of specially selected tools, methods, and supplies that I recommend for sparking the creative power in the classroom.
Choosing the right creative technology can be a challenging task.
On the one hand, you want to choose a tool that leaves a lot of room for different creative paths without locking students into using pre-defined templates that limit creativity.
On the other hand, if you choose a powerful but difficult tool, students lose interest as it proves simply too difficult to build something meaningful.
You want to have just the right mix of ease of use and creative freedom for your student’s age and level of skill.
Except otherwise noted, I have personally tested every tool recommended here. Many of the tools listed here have been part of my professional life and are key to developing my education-focused projects.
Tools for Sketching Ideas
The good old pencil
Mastering presenting one’s ideas is an extremely important life skill. And for that, nothing beats the simplicity and speed of the good old pencil and plain paper sketch. This is the most important resource you can give to your students. Have lots of them ready, always.
Paper from FiftyThree
Paper is a digital sketchbook for creating drawings and illustrations on an iPad or iPhone. The reason I like it is its simple but very well-designed user interface and amazing drawing accuracy. It’s perfect for brainstorming, organizing, and drawing out ideas.
TRY PAPER
Visual Design Software
Inkpad
Inkpad is a very intuitive visual design iPad app that is perfect for anyone starting to create their own digital graphics and images. With Inkpad, you and your students will be able to create and edit graphic illustrations and export them in different file formats including .SVG files are used in many Makerspace tools. This little app has all the essential elements of a scalable vector graphics editing tool in a friendly and easy-to-understand interface.
TRY INKPAD
Graphic
Graphic is a more feature-rich option than the previous application, making it more suitable for the creation of complex illustrations. Graphics stands out, in my opinion, because of its array of pre-made tools for representing technical illustrations like dimension lines and symbols. With Graphic for iPad Air for the Mac, you and your students can create visual design elements for artistic creations like logos and illustrations as well as technical ones like Blueprints and technical drawings of inventions.
TRY GRAPHIC
Affinity Designer
Affinity is a professional graphic design application that has an easy-to-use interface and has versions for iPad, Mac, and Windows Desktops. This is a full-fledged tool that is capable of handling both vector-based graphics and pixel-based in the same file structure. This means a full degree of creative freedom is given by the application, which makes it an excellent choice of software to have ready for those students who want to go the extra mile to create their visions of the future.
TRY AFFINITY DESIGNER
Engineering Design Software
TinkerCAD
TinkerCAD is an engineering design software that lets you and your students develop computer-aided tridimensional models for various inventions. Students can use the mouse to build geometries, test electronic simulations, and even design with code blocks. TinkerCAD is a fun and essential app for for any teacher who wants to bring the amazing engineering world to their students.
TRY TINKERCAD
SketchUp
With all the new digital fabrication tools like Laser Cutters and 3D Printers comes the necessity to model designs in 2D and 3D. For that, SketchUp is my tool of choice because of its ability to be both very precise and intuitive to work with. With SketchUp, you can create computer-aided design (CAD) models of creations that can be exported to a variety of digital fabrication tools and even virtual worlds.
Best of all, SketchUp runs inside your web browser and it is Free!
TRY SKETCHUP
Programming and Coding
Scratch
Scratch is not only good for teaching basic concepts of programming but a creative storytelling tool that offers numerous opportunities for personal expression. The people behind the development of Scratch are committed to the study of creativity and how technologies can help augment it. Scratch with its “programming-by-dragging-blocks” approach is amazing for the development of games, interactive stories, creating mock-ups of apps and for the creation of interactive installations when connected to microcontrollers like Makey Makey and Microbit.
TRY SCRATCH
Microsoft MakeCode
Microsoft Makecode is a free browser based programming application that is ideal for programming hardware inventions. If you want to program lights and motors so to create robotic applications you and your students will love Makecode. It’s simple enough for non-technical people to learn and has an expanding library of compatible systems like Lego, Adafruit, Microbit among others and has even possibility of creating Minecraft programs.
TRY MAKECODE
MIT App Inventor
MIT App Inventor is a cloud-based service that is free to use an let’s you and your students develop applications for Android phones using a block-based program interface like Scratch and Makecode. See your app on your phone as you build. The prospect of creating their own smartphone app is one that excites many students especially when they start to get older and MIT App Inventor makes it possible for teachers to provide their students with this experience because its friendly do-it-yourself approach to programming apps.
TRY MIT APP INVENTOR
Digital Fabrication Machines
Dremel 3D40 3D Printer
The Dremel 3D40 3D printer brings the excitement of 3D printing and the support capacity of a big tool manufacturer to the school setting. 3D printers are fascinating machines but their operation and maintenance are hard. My 3D printer is a Makerspace Replicator 2 and I haven’t tested this machine yet. But the Dremel 3D40 3D printer seems like a good choice for schools in that it features easy to use controls and a wide network of service points when you need help maintaining and troubleshooting it.
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Dremel LC40 Laser Cutter
Laser cutters are one of the most useful machines in the makerspace but their installation usually require lots of careful planning because of energy and fumes it produces. The Dremel Digilab packs the capabilities of a laser cutter machine into a desktop size easy-to-install package. Add to this the benefit of being able to rely on the service power of a spread out company like Dremel and you have a very good option for schools wanting to bring the power of laser to their students. I haven’t had a chance to test this machine yet as it is on pre-order until September but by looking at current video releases and its specs, this machine is one excellent choice for any school.
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Cricut Maker Craft Cutter
Craft cutters, sometimes referred to in the maker community as vinyl cutters, can cut digitally made designs from the most delicate fabric leather to thicker materials like balsa wood. The Cricut Maker is the latest version of the Cricut family and it offers ease of use and great availability of accessories and parts. An excellent choice for any creativity class.
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Carvey CNC Milling Machine
Those who have worked with CNC milling machines know how much work it is to set-up the machine before starting any milling process. The Carvey is the perfect computer numeric controlled or CNC milling machine for school environments because it was built with normal people in mind. It’s intuitive software, easy to use clamping mechanisms and full enclosure makes it a strong option for any school makerspace.
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Microcontrollers for Interactive Projects
Makey Makey
A microcontroller is programmable piece of hardware that lets you create interactive objects by connecting the computer to different things. Makey Makey is the perfect first microcontroller board for your students because it is simple and made to work with Scratch, the creative coding software. It is an excellent choice for opening possibilities of computing for not just the screen but to the whole world of objects that can be controlled by it.
TRY MAKEY MAKEY
Microbit
The microbit is a tiny programmable computer that makes teaching and learning interaction design and computer science super easy. It packs advanced sensors (like an accelerometer, compass, light, temperature) and an array of actuators (buttons and LEDs) that provide an multitude of opportunities for making and learning. Add to it the tiny size, fair price and a growing selection of components that extend its functionality and you have an excellent platform for creativity in the new age.
TRY MICROBIT
Photo Editing Software
Pixlr
Pixlr is an application the runs in iOS Devices and in the Browser for making simple image edits. It’s perfect for those times you just want to help your students quickly add a caption to an image, enhance the look of a photograph with a filter or create a photo collage. Best of all, it’s Free.
TRY PIXLR
Affinity Photo
Affinity is very powerful image editor like photoshop that runs on Mac, Windows and iPad. The reason I like Affinity Photo more than photoshop is that it is easier to use, having less options in it’s interface while being just as powerful. Affinity Photo is the perfect choice for students of 12+ or older ages that want to give their students the full power of image editing capabilities.
TRY AFFINITY PHOTO
Video Editing & Animation Software
WeVideo
WeVideo is a video creation and editing tool that is made with ease of use and with collaboration in mind. Making and editing videos is fun but it managing the storage of large video files can be a daunting challenge, especially in a school setting. WeVideo is a cross platform video editing tool and file storage system that support the creation of videos in every classroom. WeVideo simple to use interface, green screen function and content library makes it an excellent option for school wide video creativity.
TRY WEVIDEO
Green Screen by Do Ink
Bring the power of video effects to the hands of your students.
This iPad app makes composing two videos or images together possible so you and your students can create fun visual effects like those seen on weather TV programs. Want to make a video of you walking on the moon, possible. If you want to go back in time, making you appear as if you were living in the Middle Ages is possible, too. Best of all, it is super easy to use.
TRY GREEN SCREEN
Stop Motion Studio
Stop Motion Studio is an app that runs in way platforms and makes it possible to create stop-motion animations by sticking together different images taken by you or your students. With several helpful features, such as image remote control and automatic image taking, Stop Motion Studio is a key app for sparking the creative power of content creation in your students.
TRY STOP MOTION STUDIO
Audio Editing Software
GarageBand
Garage Band is a simple-to-use but powerful application for creating music and editing audio files. Whether your students are creating music or audio effects for a film or putting together different audio interviews into a podcast, Garageband is your best option. Schools that are not using Apple products can use Audacity or FL Studio but will have to settle for a less intuitive user experience and a different audio-effects library.
TRY GARAGE BAND
Tools to Create Digital Portfolios
Google Sites
Creating a digital portfolio to demonstrate one’s own creative growth and show the learning accumulated in a given project or period is an important skill to be nurtured.
And with digital portfolios rapidly becoming the new curriculum vitae, teachers will find in Google Sites a good set of features for their students.
From the many different tools out there, website builders like Google Sites are to me the most exciting ones for building digital portfolios because of their flexibility and share-with-the-world possibilities.
TRY GOOGLE SITES