Inspires Creativity in Students
Community Review for Canva for Education
My Take
I love using Canva in my classroom and enlightening other teachers to its capabilities. Students find the interface very easy to learn and enjoy formatting their designs in a visually pleasing manner. This is a great tool to incorporate basic graphic design into your classroom. The only issue I have with this tool is the paywall behind some graphics. However, the site lets you upload your own pictures and graphics, so it's not a big deal and you are never truly barred from creativity.
I like this tool also because it reflects my pedagogical values. For example, if we think about the SAMR framework, this tool falls under the reconstruction category, since this tool can significantly redesign an assignment and allow for students to create something completely new. Students can create an infinite number of different things, including posters, presentations, graphics, flyers, and more. The animation features elevate this platform since these features are not possible without technology. In addition to the SAMR framework, this tool reinforces the idea of TPACK in that it enforces the content knowledge, helps students learn technology knowledge and graphic design, and helps students apply their learning to a visual format.
Overall, this is a wonderful tool that both the students and I love!
How I Use It
While there are limitless capabilities of how you can use Canva, in my classroom, we have used it for multiple things, such as creating presentations to share research findings, designing concert posters, and making graphics for different music artists.
Many students love Canva and ask to use it for many projects where a creative element is present. This tool makes it easy to insert pictures, text, elements, and formatting all of those things is even easier. The only difficulty I have found with this service is the paid elements. Sometimes, students cannot find an element they need for their project because all the options are paid options. However, this is not a big deal because they can upload their own pictures/graphics onto the site, so it's more annoying than anything else. Canva is a great service that I love using in my classroom and recommending to other teachers.