21st Century Animation

Back in the old days (1930s-1980s) animation was painted on celluloids, sketched out and planned on paper, and took teams of artists months to create just a 3 minute animated cartoon short. Now, students can make animated shorts in a matter of minutes. Anyone can. 

The features below introduce you to a few of the best programs out there that are used in classrooms around the world, by great teachers that don't have a lot of time to learn new technologies. These chosen few are worth the low cost (or limited free use) and have very short learning curves. Try them out. Then take them to your students in your classrooms.

I have used all three with students and personally. Each one has that great "hand tool" where the hand moves things around or writes the words. It is so overused now, but still a favorite of new creators. Each one is online, so they either have an app or simply work on multiple devices. 

BEST

Introduction Video 

1. My personal favorite.  
2. ​Free version is enough to get started. Affordable for schools and for me personally.
3. You do need to keep some local artifacts.
4. Great for students beginning in 4th grade.

​Link:  www.animaker.com 

Still Exciting

Introduction Video 

1. ​Free version is enough to get started. 
2. Paid version knocks this way out of my league and for most schools.
3. You do need to keep some local artifacts.
4. Great for students beginning in 4th grade.

Link:  ​ www.powtoon.com/home/?

Always Great if You Don't Have a Mac

Introduction Video 

1. ​Less animation, more of a video clip tool.
2. Free version is enough to get started. 
3. You do need to keep some local artifacts.
4. Great for students beginning in 4th grade.

Link: ​www.wevideo.com/

Sadly enough...

There have been other successful programs but they have all moved to very limited trial times. VideoScribe, Animoto, and  Moovly were all once accessible to students. Now they have time limits.