I taught SketchUp in my CAD classes going back to the @last days. Now retired, I teach a college class on SU for teachers, as well as offering free online lessons for teachers to use beginning with the pandemic. I can do 95% of what I need to do between the Pro (desktop) and Free (web) versions, but it would be nice to have access to that extra 5% with a SfS account so my lessons use the same interface and tools other teachers and students are using. Is there some way a person like me that is spreading the Gospel of SU can apply for a SfS account?
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Thanks, Dave. I did as you suggested and will report back here with the results.
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Hi Eric, we received your message and I’ll follow up with your question over email.
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Just a bump as it has been a week. Thanks.
Good, question. Because of Covid-19, the gig I’ve had teaching is at least suspended and may not return, yet I could still add to my YouTube lessons and help other teachers. Let me know if you learn something.
You can currently access SketchUp for Schools with your personal Gmail account. We have temporarily lifted the educational account requirement to accommodate students that are working from home due to Covid school closures. Public access to SketchUp for Schools is currently scheduled to last through Sept. 30th so you are welcome to use it until then.
Unfortunately we can’t continue to extend public access to SketchUp for Schools beyond that as it is only intended for K-12 use and we are unable to override this requirement for individual users. After September, you may consider a subscription to SketchUp Shop or our SketchUp Studio educational bundle (which includes SketchUp Pro, LayOut, Shop, Trimble Connect and several other tools)
You folks should know that Steve was great in working with me on this. We swapped emails for a day or so. The decision to grant SUfS access to volunteer educators creating free classroom content who do not have access to an edu email address was not his, but rather a Google/MSFT policy, one they were not willing to change. Thank you, Steve, for trying.
My CAD teaching days go back to 1996 when my high school lab had a room full of 386s running AutoCAD r7. Sometime after that, @last released SketchUp and I began incorporating it into my program. It certainly has a place in a 3D modeling classroom.
Unfortunately, actual support for education beyond free licensing has always been weak for SketchUp. When you look at what Autodesk is doing with its Design Academy program, you have to wonder if Trimble is even trying?
Now, no company is mandated to provide meaningful classroom support for schools as they report to their stockholders, but if the intent is to promote the product in schools, even if it is purely financial, hoping experienced SketchUp students will emerge on the other side, why not do it right? This forum is useful and I enjoy belonging, but the actual SketchUp For Schools topic is mostly desperate cries for help getting kids access. Not much teaching going on there.
I’m retired now, so I really don’t have any skin in the game beyond my 40-year passion, which is teaching. This post is my way of advocating for fellow teachers in a very difficult time where a virus is going to continue to dramatically affect each teacher’s time and budget.
So with that, I’ll again say thank you to Steve, Dave, Aaron, and others on the SU team doing their best to move the ball forward.
Eric
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