It has been awhile since I first posted about Canva, but I have been using it for years. Even though I also use Adobe Creative Cloud for many projects, Canva is just as much a part of my everyday creation. It has been satisfying to watch the company grow and provide more resources for teachers throughout its evolution. I thought it might be about time to do a roundup of some materials that I’ve been bookmarking to help out those of you who don’t have time or may not even be aware of the power of this tool.
One of Canva’s more recent upgrades is the ability to import data from a Google Sheet to make a chart. This tweet from Nikki Schermann (@NikkiSchermann) shows you how easy it is:
I’m a huge fan of @Canva – I use it every single day. They have just released an integration that allows you to bring in data from a Google Sheet & use it to create a chart. I’m so excited to be able to get more creative with them in Canva! #TechCoach pic.twitter.com/lwStTRONV1
— Nicki Schermann (@nickischermann) October 27, 2021
A favorite project that my 5th graders did for a few years was to use Canva to make a manifesto. This was paired with a Hyperdoc that I linked in the blog post, and the students even made t-shirts and plaques with their designs.
We also used Canva to make hexagonal reflections.
Katie from Midnight Music has several ideas for ways that students can use Canva, including making infographics. Speaking of infographics, another popular lesson that my students liked was when they created their own User Manuals.
Shake Up Learning just posted 30 ways to use Canva, Part 1 and Part 2.
Richard Byrne of FreeTech4Teachers recently published all 21 of his Canva video tutorials in one post.
Canva is one of many presentation tools I mentioned in this post, but did you know it also has a plethora of game presentations as well? Not all of them are classroom-friendly, but there are quite a few that you can use, including several Two Truths and a Lie game templates, Chess, and Guess this Picture.
Also, don’t forget the amazing Color Wheel tool, which I have bookmarked and use frequently to help me come up with color combinations.
Canva is completely free for educators and students. You can learn more about how to use and Edu account here. Whether you use for efficiency or creativity, it is definitely something you should have in your toolbox.
