School Query

Hi Sketchup/Trimble We use your ‘free’ version as a school, but next year, we have more IT lessons and I’d be keen to do more work with students as a result, with your product. Is this product suitable for children 8 years of age - 13 years of age? Is it worth buying the ‘Pro Version’ as a school, or is it aimed at professionals? Can we have some CPD/Training on it? Can we use it with 3D printers?

Hi, just to say that I’m not a SketchUp or Trimble employee. The below is just my opinion as a newish user.

I would say that SketchUp is suitable for children. All depends on the complexity of what you are trying to draw, for what age group it’s appropriate for . To show them the very basics I would say it’s suitable for children aged 8. Kids learn computer stuff so quickly.

There is a SketchUp package for schools. I wouldn’t go for the SketchUp Pro initially. Have fun with the school package first and then see from there.

With regards to training, I watches lots of YouTube videos on how to use it. SketchUp have done a great job on this, if you just search YouTube. There are others as well you could watch.

Thanks for your wisdom.

Any advice is always welcome!

Hi jhambley, thanks for your interest in SketchUp. As someone who started working with SketchUp in 6th grade, I can personally confirm that SketchUp is indeed, suitable for a school environment. Granted, it took me a while to get to the point where I could accurately model something as these were the pre-YouTube days but I kept at it and now I can actually make some pretty great models.

If you are not sure what you will need or are in any way unsure about things, please don’t feel like you need to rush into a purchase. Trimble offers a free version that has the vast majority of the tools for non-commercial use. I highly recommend personally giving it a go and seeing if it is something you would find useful.

If you like what you see, then ask your IT team to get the school version set up. It is also free and has several additional tools included that are designed specifically for a classroom environment, including some 3D printing tools.

Just keep in mind that SketchUp is a professional CAD program. It is not a toy and will have a learning curve that some students may find challenging.