Tinkercad

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DESCRIPTION

Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding. Tinkercad can be used to design products that can be printed with our 3D printers.

TOOLS & FEATURES

• User-Friendly Interface: Tinkercad’s intuitive interface is designed for beginners, making it easy to start creating 3D models.
• 3D Design: Allows users to dream and build anything from product models to printable parts.
• Shape Generators: Tools that enable the creation of complex shapes using simple parameters.
• Visual Code Blocks: Block-based code makes it easy to create dynamic, parametric, and adaptive designs.
• Electronics: Users can learn about circuits and power electronics, creating their own electrical needs for projects.
• Educational Alignment: Lesson plans adhere to ISTE, Common Core, and NGSS standards, making it suitable for classroom use.
• Project-Based Learning: Hands-on projects in Tinkercad build confidence, persistence, and problem-solving skills.
• Free and Accessible: Tinkercad is a free web app that requires no downloads and is accessible to anyone with internet access.

COST

Tinkercad is a free resource.

DISTRICT USE: APPROVED

Tinkercad is approved for classroom use in the Surrey School District (with recommendations around student access options)

• As to the issue of consent, the following is recommended:
  1. Where a teacher is using Tinkercad Classroom and adding students using either a class code or class link plus nickname, the district general consent will suffice.
  2. Where teachers are asking students under 13 to set up their own Tinkercad accounts, the child will be required to share personal information. In these instances, the teacher should either seek the express written consent of parents to allow students to establish their own accounts OR provide the Tinkercad Direct Notice that is displayed when teachers establish their accounts and invite parents to opt out of their child’s participation.
  3. Where teachers are asking students 13 and over to create their own accounts, the student will be required to share personal information and will have access to adult users of the app.  In this case, students are old enough to give their own consent and the general district consent will serve as a back-up.

PRIVACY INFO

• As to the issue of consent, the following is recommended:
  1. Where a teacher is using Tinkercad Classroom and adding students using either a class code or class link plus nickname, the district general consent will suffice.
  2. Where teachers are asking students under 13 to set up their own Tinkercad accounts, the child will be required to share personal information. In these instances, the teacher should either seek the express written consent of parents to allow students to establish their own accounts OR provide the Tinkercad Direct Notice that is displayed when teachers establish their accounts and invite parents to opt out of their child’s participation.
  3. Where teachers are asking students 13 and over to create their own accounts, the student will be required to share personal information and will have access to adult users of the app.  In this case, students are old enough to give their own consent and the general district consent will serve as a back-up.
• When a teacher with an educator account sets up a Tinkercad classroom, all students who join that class will be automatically put into Safe Mode, regardless of their method of acces
• In Safe Mode, teachers can limit what students see on the Tinkercad site, what they can share and who they can communicate with. Users in a Tinkercad Classroom are not visible to any non-classroom users, nor are their designs, even if they try to make them public. That control rests in the hands of teachers.
•  If a student sets up their own account, either with or without the teacher’s permission, Tinkercad will collect the following personal information: email address, unique username and password, Date of Birth, country of residence, a parent or guardian’s email address, reactions, location information, uploaded documents, photos and designs, communication between child and teacher or child and parent, and IP address. Note: if a child uses Tinkercad within a Tinkercad Classroom, the teacher can moderate their activity. However, if the child uses their account outside the Tinkercad Classroom, they will be able to publish designs and interact with other non-Classroom users.
• For some activities, Tinkercad does ask permission to access the camera on the mobile device the student or teacher is using. If the user allows access, Tinkercad does not collect or store information viewed via the camera.
• Students should be cautioned against including their personal information, the personal information of others (including photos/video) or the sensitive personal information of themselves or others in any project they upload to Tinkercad. 
• When a teacher’s account is deleted, all of the associated student accounts and data are also deleted.
• Tinkercad is hosted in the United States, but data may also be transferred to other countries for processing and storage.