TeachersFirst's Tools to Create Media
Media comes in all shapes and sizes: videos, podcasts, posters, digital stories, and much more. This curated list includes some of our best tools for creating media in the K-12 classroom. Remember our "In the Classroom" suggestions give you ideas about how to use these tools in your classroom. Interested in More? See our complete list of tools related to many types of media: videos, digital design, presentations, and digital storytelling.

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Internet Archive - Brewster Kahle
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): audio books (26), digital storytelling (154), ebooks (42), literature (219), media literacy (108), movies (54)
In the Classroom
Make a digital scavenger hunt by creating a list of questions or tasks that require students to search for answers using the Internet Archive, such as finding a historical document or an old movie clip. Encourage students to find supplementary materials, like old videos, music, or texts, to add depth to a research project or presentation on a historical or cultural topic. Use the Wayback Machine to explore how a popular website looked at different points in history. Discuss how technology and design have changed over time. Assign students to locate and analyze primary source documents, such as speeches, newspapers, or historical books, to support history or social studies lessons.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Online Learning Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): Online Learning (42), remote learning (54)
In the Classroom
Find new tools to try when creating your online learning lessons. Each review includes technology integration ideas. Read the details of each tool and find the ones that will make your online learning more productive.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Slides - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blended learning (36), multimedia (48), Online Learning (42), remote learning (54), slides (42)
In the Classroom
Discover the many features of Google Slides to create presentations, interactive stories, and much more. Create a class poetry presentation by asking students to create individual Slides, then put them together in one slide show as a class poetry book to share on your class website. Deliver blended, flipped, or remote learning lessons using Google Slides by adding links to videos, websites, assessment information, games, and other learning activities. Find many more ideas for classroom use at the archive of a recent OK2Ask webinar: GoogleMania - Student Activities for Google Slides, reviewed here, or the OK2Ask webinar: GoogleMania - Choose Your Own Adventure with Google Slides, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Microsoft PowerPoint Online - Microsoft Office
Grades
K to 12tag(s): Microsoft (80), multimedia (48), slides (42)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free PowerPoint option to incorporate into many different classroom uses. Share this option with students who don't have access to a free Office account. Use PowerPoint to create interactive lessons that include video, images, and links to additional resources. Create and share PowerPoint presentations on your class website with notes and demonstrations from classroom activities. Ask students to create presentations to share learning with peers. Consider creating a class account for students to use when collaborating on projects. Extend learning further by embedding a PowerPoint within a Sway, reviewed here, presentation as part of any multimedia project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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FlexClip - Patrick Ma
Grades
K to 12tag(s): communication (139), editing (92), images (261), video (263)
In the Classroom
Use FlexClip even with young students to create videos for many topics. Ask students to share pictures demonstrating the before and after of a science experiment, then add student voice recordings to explain the experiment. Modify and enhance learning by asking students to use FlexClip to create short videos, then include them with other images and videos as part of a multimedia project or digital portfolio. Seesaw, reviewed here, is an easy to use tool for creating and personalizing digital portfolios. The following tools are great for transforming learning and creating multimedia projects: (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Animatron, Sway, and Presentious.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Adobe Express for Education - Adobe
Grades
K to 12tag(s): communication (139), creative writing (123), multimedia (48), posters (43)
In the Classroom
Use Adobe Express for Education to create posters, flyers, or instagrams stories for student presentations for any subject. Enhance student learning by asking students to create infographics explaining facts and information about states, countries, planets, and more. Have students create interactive posters, book report covers, invitations, and flyers to promote school events. Express for Education offers many possibilities for graphics, redefining student technoolgy use, and extending student learning by having students create multimedia presentations in all classrooms.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kapwing - Eric Lu and Julia Enthoven
Grades
K to 12tag(s): editing (92), images (261), social media (53), video (263)
In the Classroom
Use Kapwing even with young students to add text to any image, create collages, and edit video. Ask students to create a collage with two pictures demonstrating the before and after of a science experiment. Add text to images to create captions when sharing class projects. Ask students to use Kapwing to create short videos, then include them with other images and videos as part of a multimedia project or digital portfolio. Seesaw, reviewed here, is an easy to use tool for creating digital portfolios for younger students. Possibly use about.me, reviewed here, for middle and high school studentsAdd your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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DesignCap Poster Creator - PearlMountain
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free resource to create posters for any topic. Have students design poster book covers to summarize stories read. Include posters with student blogging projects as part of an online portfolio. Replace paper pen by asking students to write blogs sharing information learned using a site like edublogs, reviewed here. edublogs offers tools for creating class and individual blogs. Extend student learning and classroom technology use by asking older students to create posters of different cultures and countries, then include them in a virtual field trip using Google My Maps, reviewed here. With Google My Maps, students can embed images and videos onto their pointers and shapes for any given location. Challenge science and math students to create posters demonstrating an understanding of topics using their own words and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Book Creator - Red Jumper Limited
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): collaboration (94), DAT device agnostic tool (146), digital storytelling (154), ebooks (42), literacy (118), preK (265), reading comprehension (150), writing (323)
In the Classroom
Create books together, as a class, as you move through a unit or topic. Enhance student learning by adding images and ideas your students suggest. Use in a flipped classroom to deliver course information. Assign several student groups a different topic and redefine their learning by having each group create their own multimedia versions as they learn more about the topic. Students can combine their books later as a class book. Make a digital bookshelf of all the versions for all to use. Challenge gifted students to modify the "standard" class text with the additional material they discover, by going deeper and learning about related topics. In lower grades, create teacher-made e-books for your young readers, perhaps adding audio - your own voice reading the text. Find much more information and ideas for using Book Creator in any classroom by exploring the Book Creator Toolkit for Schools and Districts available here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Podcast Generator - Alberto Betella
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blended learning (36), communication (139), podcasts (104), video (263)
In the Classroom
Create regular or special podcasts to share on your class web page or wiki. Create a mini gallery of images taken during a lab or a portfolio of images from photography, art, or any other class. Add music and share as part of a digital portfolio. Looking for even more ideas? Use this tool in your blended or flipped classroom to record class assignments or directions. Record story time or a reading excerpt for younger ones to listen to at a computer center AND from home, adding a touch of blended learning to your classroom! Have readers (perhaps older buddies) build fluency by recording selected passages for your non-readers. Launch a service project for your fifth or sixth graders to record stories for the kindergarten to use in their reading and listening center. Challenge students to create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events. Make a weekly class podcast, with students taking turns writing and sharing the "Class News," encourage students to create radio advertisements for concepts studied in class (Buy Dynamic DNA!). Invite students to write and record their own stories or poetry in dramatic readings. Language students or beginning readers could record their fluency by reading passages. Allow parents to hear their child's progress reading aloud, etc. Compare world language, speech articulation, or reading fluency at two points during the year. Challenge your Shakespeare students to record a soliloquy. Write and record a poem for Father's or Mother's Day (or other special events) and send the URL as a gift to that special person.If you have gifted students who lean toward the dramatic, this tool is simple enough for them to create dramatic mini casts without needing a video camera. Have students upload their own images and write a drama to accompany them, showing what they have learned in independent learning beyond the regular curriculum.
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Genially - Genially
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): artificial intelligence (161), charts and graphs (170), communication (139), digital storytelling (154), gamification (80), images (261), infographics (56), interactive stories (21), multimedia (48), posters (43), video (263)
In the Classroom
Click Create to find a category from which you want your students to work; present several using a projector or on an interactive whiteboard. Show the interactivity to students. Then, create one together as a class to try out the tools (don't forget to name it). Keep it simple or add all the bells and whistles. Preview as you work or return later to complete and publish. Of course, you will want to model and teach appropriate documentation of any sources of images and media you use and to use copyrighted works legally.There are limitless ideas for using Genially in the classroom! Here are just a few: Ask students to create their own Genially as a new way to assess understanding of a concept or unit of study: you could even provide links to images and raw materials they may use (especially if you have students who need extra scaffolding), and they can work with them to sequence, caption, and write about the pieces. After a first project where you possibly suggest "building blocks," the sky is the limit on what they can do. Even the very young can make suggestions as you "create" a whole-class interactive together using a projector or an interactive whiteboard. Consider making a new project for each unit you teach so students can "recap" by visiting the presentation long after the unit ends. Save student projects from year to year as examples, possibly even awarding prizes for "best" examples. Have upper elementary or middle school students create an interactive project to help "little buddies" two or three grades lower to understand a concept.
Comments
This is a wonderful interactive poster replacement for Glogster.Shirley, CA, Grades: 6 - 12
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Wakelet - Jamil Khalil
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bookmarks (44), collaboration (94), communication (139), curation (34), DAT device agnostic tool (146), multimedia (48), news (228), personalized learning (9), playlists (9), social media (53), social networking (64)
In the Classroom
The possibilities for using Wakelet in the classroom are endless! Create collections with tips for writing in different genres, current events, information about specific countries or cities, math games, and much more. Have students set up their own wakes as part of a research project. Put together a wake scavenger hunt to introduce a new unit or as a review at the end of a unit. Share wakes on your class web page for student use at home to review and practice class content. Having the ability to have a cover image and background for your wakes makes them much more interesting and easily identifiable, especially for young or visual students!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Animaker - Srinivasa Raghavan
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animation (64), creativity (92), movies (54), video (263)
In the Classroom
Animaker now allows 2 teachers to share 25 students, 3 groups, and has an in app messenger. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or blended classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have, using the internet and their is no downloading apps. Students will need the basic understanding of how to create using this tool. Work together on your interactive whiteboard to create a class video before assigning to students. Use Animaker to extend student learning and technology use by making commercials, science fair previews, infographics, and animated shorts in any content area. Have students make "advertisements" for an organism or a literary character. Make a travel commercial for a country being studied or for cultural sites in a world language class. Be sure to share the presentations on your projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CoSpaces - Delightex GmbH
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): augmented reality (9), coding (89), creativity (92), DAT device agnostic tool (146), digital storytelling (154)
In the Classroom
Recreate scenes from books or use CoSpaces to retell any story with 3D images. Encourage creativity and ask students to develop virtual exhibitions of artwork, animal habitats, or landforms. Have older students create infographics featuring data collections, for example comparing availability of Internet in different American towns.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Canva Infographic Maker - Canva.com
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): data (150), infographics (56), posters (43)
In the Classroom
Experiment with Canva on a projector or interactive whiteboard (let the students do it!) using different design "themes." Make changes without having to configure the whole Infographic. After creating Infographics as a class, review the other types to show basic design principles. Students can create Infographics of a classroom topic, relationships and definitions of major terms, lab information, and more. Find data and information that connects your content to the outside world, such as the statistics and causes for endangered species. Consider assigning the creation of an Infographic as an assignment to understand any curriculum content and connect it with the real world. For example, show the many ways to use electricity or the impact of slavery on an economy. Have students explain an experiment and report the results with graphical information to provide meaning. Learn about food groups (now displayed as myplate) by dissecting a food diary or a typical school lunch meeting daily requirements (and other nutrition topics).If you use literature circles in your classroom, making an Infographic about a novel the group read would be a great conclusion for the lit circle project, and it might entice others in the class to read the novel. Post the infographics on your web page for all your students and their parents to enjoy.
To challenge your gifted students, have them research and create infographics depicting the tough issues or "flipsides" related to your curriculum topic. Some suggestions: Major court cases and issues involving freedom of speech (during your Constitution unit), risks and benefits of nuclear power (in a physics class), or how an author's experience influences what he/she writes. Extend student learning by asking them to create a webpage using Webnode, reviewed here, that includes their infographic. Be sure to point out that many of the same tips shared for creating infographics applies to web page construction.
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Carrd - carrd.co
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): blogs (65), communication (139), multimedia (48)
In the Classroom
Use this site for students to post simple projects such as stories, poems, and art projects. For easy access, collect a master list of links to student pages on your classroom website, wiki, blog, or create an interactive Google doc or form for collecting these. If students are creating pages, be sure to check with your district's policy on publishing student work. Each website created has a private URL. Students can use this tool at home for presentations and email you the URL for their completed work. Compile the presentation URLs on your class blog or wiki, or a Google doc so all students have access. Integrate all subjects into Carrd. The simplicity of this site would make it an easy tool for younger students to create eportfolios with links to and explanations of their various projects located elsewhere on the web.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Printing Press - ReadWriteThink
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): book reports (28), creative writing (123), newspapers (92), posters (43)
In the Classroom
Students can use Printing Press to demonstrate learning of any kind across grade levels and content areas. Instead of writing a boring research report, have your students create a professional looking newspaper or brochure! Math and science students can create posters explaining concepts they learned. Students can photograph experiments and write up labs. Use Printing Press for students to "report" out the important events in a book they read, or make a poster advertising it as a movie. Teachers can use this tool as a jump page to guide a lesson or upload images and write up examples of exemplary work to share with students to set expectations for completed products before beginning any project. The uses for this tool are wide open!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Products can be shared by URL
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Fotojet - PearlMountain Technology Co., Ltd
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collages (17), graphic design (49), images (261), posters (43)
In the Classroom
Create cards, posters, or photo collages for any classroom presentation. Share what you created on your website or blog for students to review or for students who were absent. In the younger grades, teachers would be the ones creating the project. Have students create presentations to "introduce" themselves to the class during the first week of school. Link or embed the introduction presentations on your class wiki and have others guess who they are about. Use this tool with your 1:1 art class for students to practice design principles and techniques. Share student projects with parents and others via URL. Be sure to demonstrate HOW to use this tool on your interactive whiteboard or projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sway - Microsoft
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): communication (139), digital storytelling (154), Microsoft (80), multimedia (48), slides (42), visualizations (11)
In the Classroom
Use Sway as an alternative to Prezi or PowerPoint presentations. Sway is perfect for use in your BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Use during your presentations to increase student engagement and interaction. Check understanding of your ENL/ESL students by having them respond or pose questions throughout the presentation. Enhance student learning and understanding by sharing with students for them to use during their own presentations, inviting other students to comment and answer questions. During Open House night with parents, demonstrate how Sway provides interaction. Use Sway during professional development presentations to invite discussions from colleagues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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StoryMap JS - Northwest University Knight Lab
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): maps (212), stories and storytelling (52), timelines (55)
In the Classroom
Be sure to stress Fair Use and Copyright with students when using online images and crediting sources. Find great resources and information on TeachersFirst. Of course, if possible use your own images. In Science, use this tool to upload a picture of a science experiment from class and retell the story of the "experiment" by connecting with each of the individual parts of the image. In a Technology class, use this tool to create a project of anything that could be considered "mappable." Some examples include a timeline tour of an event, tour routes of a favorite band, the movement of a character in a movie or novel, or various events in a War. Find various shapes in nature and buildings for a Geometry class, showing their locations in a map. This tool would be wonderful for gifted students to showcase an interest or extend learning from a concept learned in class. Use this tool to trace the history of various recipes or ingredients in a Family and Consumer Science class. Trace the history of people, religions, and events. In Science, create a tour of various animals found in specific areas of a given biome or locations of various types of rocks and their information around the world.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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