123D or Sketchup

[Joe Donahue]

Hi Everyone,

I know this topic has been covered in this forum numerous times. But I'm trying to make a decision between using Sketchup or 123D Design for my K-8 students. Most likely I'm really talking about grade 5-8 students. We have a laser cutter and 3d printers and all the other cool stuff. Our school is Mac throughout. I've used and taught Sketchup and am pretty advanced in it. I"m new to 123D, but the learning curve seems pretty short. So if any of you care to respond, would you use 123D or Sketchup? I know there's lots of other stuff out there, so you can also vote for neither also.

Any elaboration is appreciated, but not necessary.

Thanks,

Joe 

[Mark Loundy]

Joe,

You might also consider Tinkercad, which, along with 123D, is an Autodesk service.

Mark Loundy

Instructional Technology Specialist
Google Certified Educator, Level 1
De Vargas Elementary School
Cupertino (Calif.) Union School District

[Ariel Kitch]

Hi Joe,

You might consider using multiple tools, if you feel comfortable.  I taught Tinkercad to my 5th grade class last year and this year in 6th grade they used Sketchup.  Some kids were adamant that they liked Sketchup better, and some kids preferred Tinkercad. 

I found it cool that kids could make a decision about what tool to use based on what they thought would work best.  Because ultimately Sketchup and 123D Design have different advantages depending on your end goal.

Best,

Ariel

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Ariel Kitch

Middle School Technology Integrator

Friends Seminary

222 E. 16th St 

New York, NY 10003

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[Evan Worth]

I agree with Mark and Ariel,
Tinkercad is a great beginner tool, it has self paced tutorials for creating objects and using the camera viewer(one of the toughest things for my kids to master). I think it's true for kids to try multiple softwares to see which ones they like the best. Although if you are going to just compare 123D vs Sketchup, I think 123D wins.

[Julie Spang]

You sound like you are more comfortable with design software than I am...I started with Sketchup but found it to be very difficult for students to learn independently (which is my goal in my MakerSpace club...I do not have the time to do a step-by-step how-to with software due to the controlled-kaos nature of the club).  I found much more success with the web-based program Tinkercad https://www.tinkercad.com/.  I needed to set up accounts in advance and have my students share them (due to the way Tinkercad handles CIPA/COPA/FERPA
 restrictions with students under 13) but it was well worth it and easy to get kids designing right away. 123D was good too, I liked Tinkercad better though.  Easier to save and share files for printing.

Just my 2 cents!

Julie