EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

FIRST Global has reviewed the following content and is presenting it for informational purposes only to support continued learning and skill development. Inclusion on this page does not constitute an affiliation, endorsement, sponsorship, or approval by FIRST Global of any of the products, services, or opinions of the corporation or organization.

 

If you would like to share additional resources, please send an email to support@first.global.

3D Modeling, CAD, and Simulation

Enhance your 3D modeling, computer-aided design (CAD), and simulation skills using these different resources, from beginner to expert.

SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS has a desktop product and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform—a cloud-based portfolio of integrated tools and apps.

Autodesk

Autdesk offers free software to students and educators, including Inventor, AutoCad, and Fusion 360, as well as free online courses.

Autodesk Tinkercad

Tinkercad is a free app to create and design in 3D design; program, assemble, and simulate circuits; and design using code.

Onshape

Use Onshape’s free Education Plan to learn 3D CAD.

GrabCAD

Free CAD collaboration tool.

Thingiverse

An online design community for discovering, making, and sharing 3D printable things.

Coding and Programming

These resources will help you improve your coding skills, learn a new programming language, and build your computer science experience.

MIT App Inventor

A blocks-based visual programming environment to build fully functional apps for smart phones and tablets.

Codecademy

Free basic courses in programming, computer science, web development, and data science.

Hour of Code

Coding tutorials in JavaScript, Python, blocks, C++, and more.

Code.org

Courses and activities to build real working apps, games, and websites using blocks, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and more.

Scratch

Program interactive stories, games, and animations using this free blocks-based programming tool developed by MIT.

CS First

Free computer science coding curriculum developed by Google that can be used with Scratch.

Vidcode

Computer science courses that cover web programming, design, JavaScript, and more.

Girls Who Code

Offers free weekly coding activities and lessons on women in technology.

CSAwesome

Learn to program with Java.

Swift Playgrounds

Learn and explore coding in Swift, the programming language for iPad and Mac.

CMU CS Academy

Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Academy offers computer science courses (Python).

UC Berkeley Extension

Collection of free coding resources and tutorials for learning HTML, JavaScript, CSS, SQL, Python, and more.

Elite Data Science

Free courses in machine learning (Python).

Teachable Machine

Use Google’s Teachable Machine to develop machine learning models for your sites and apps and train a computer to recognize your own images and sounds, no experience required.

Kaggle

Data science community where users can find and publish data sets, explore and build models, and solve data science challenges.

Digital Animation

Create your own digital 2D and 3D animations using these resources.

K-3D

Free 3D modeling and animation software that includes a comprehensive set of tools, plugins, and interactive tutorials.

Blender

Free and open source suite of 2D and 3D creation tools, including modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, and video editing.

Pencil2D

Free animation and drawing software to create hand-drawn 2D animations using both bitmap and vector graphics.

Autodesk Maya

Software for 3D animation, modeling, simulation, rendering, and compositing. Free educational license available.

Synfig Studio

Free and open source 2D animation software that includes a community-developed library of documentation and video courses in multiple languages.

OpenToonz

Free open source 2D animation software with functions for scanning, digital painting, and filming.

Clara.io

Free cloud-based 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software tool that runs in a web browser. Includes a library of 3D models to use in your own animations.

Rive

Free browser-based, real-time interactive tool for design, animation, and integration into any platform.

Daz Studio

Free 3D software to create, render, and animate characters and scenes. Includes content library.

Official Guides

Here you can find the links to FIRST Global-specific robot build guides and technical resources.

FIRST Global Robot Guides

Kit summary and introductory videos, building guides, programming and electronics guides, and tool guides.

REV Robotics Technical Resources

Software and hardware guides, manuals, and instructional videos.

Educational Activities and Resources

These links bring you to different online learning platforms to enhance your skills and build your STEM knowledge.

Khan Academy

Free courses in computing (including programming, animation, and webpages) and many other subjects.

EdX

Free online courses from universities around the world.

Duolingo

Free app to learn a new language (36 to choose from).

Space Station Explorers

At-home learning activities using the International Space Station.

NASA STEM Engagement

Educational STEM videos and activities.

AWS Educate

Online workshops and webinars to learn about Amazon Web Services (AWS) and cloud computing.

Udemy

Thousands of online video courses, including web development courses.

EasyUnitConverter.com

Free online calculator and unit conversions.

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