Canva is a free graphic design platform that can be utilized in a variety of ways in your classroom.
The graphic to the left was created using Canva. Through ready-made templates, teachers and students can design posters, graphics, presentations, cards, social media posts, and so much more. Using Canva for Education (linked here), users can get all of the premium features for free. Teachers can set up their own classrooms within Canva, which also seamlessly integrates with Google Classroom, to share assignments with their students. Users can collaborate on projects easily using the drag-and-drop interface within Canva, choosing from over 250,000 templates, photos, graphic, and videos. With so many options within Canva, it is a great (and free) tool for education!
Using Canva
After signing up at the Canva for Education link (make sure to sign up for this particular service of Canva to receive all of the premium features for free), begin exploring the different templates and narrow down your options using the search features. The homepage will look like this:
Using the dropdown, you are able to search for various templates. The homepage will also give you the option of filtering through different options, such as social media, education, marketing materials, etc. Your recommended options will change based on what you create. Once you choose a template you would like to use, click on it to open it in the editing dashboard.
On the left side of the screen, you will see the different options to add into your creation. Users can search through templates through this scree, in addition to adding elements, such as various graphics, upload your own photos/graphics, add text, add audio, add charts, upload your own logo, and so much more. Canva will automatically save all of your changes, so there is no need to worry about losing any of your work within the platform.
Ways to Use Canva in the Classroom
The amount of uses of Canva in the classroom is abundant. Below, you will find 8 different ways of incorporating it into your classroom.
#1: Slideshow Presentations
Both students and teachers can create presentations within Canva, adding various elements and graphics easily within the platform, which is a feature that isn't found in many other presentation creation software. View the following video to see more information on creating a Slideshow within Canva.
#2: Infographics
Create visual representations of information, charts, or data in an easy-to-view overview of a topic.
#3: Flyers
Create professional-looking flyers quickly using the templates within Canva. Advertise for upcoming Open Houses, Parent Orientations, school events, and more. Allow students to create flyers for various projects and presentations.
#4: Brochures
Teachers can create brochures to hand out to parents at the beginning providing more information about the classroom, academics, about the teacher section, and more. Students can use Canva to create brochures for various projects, such as a travel brochure.
#5: Videos
Videos can be easily created and edited within Canva. Videos can be created for presentations. Users can also record themselves, add audio voiceovers, and record your screen. If teachers need to create video lessons for their students, this is a great option because it is completely free without time limits. I've included two videos below about creating videos in Canva. The first is demonstrates how to create videos without using the recording feature, while the second demonstrates how to record yourself or a screenshare (or both) within Canva.
#6: Newsletters
Newsletters can easily be created within Canva. Make weekly or monthly newsletters to send home to the parents or allow your students to create newsletters to detail what is happening in your class that week.
#7: Social Media Graphics
Creating graphics for social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) is a huge trend right now. It is actually a very useful skill for students to learn as they enter the world outside of education, as it is such a big part of most businesses.
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