Whoa! Don’t leave yet! I know that this post title might look like I’m going to talk about something that takes a lot of time and technical knowledge, but I promise it doesn’t! This is Canva we’re talking about, the company that made desktop publishing easy for everyone! And now it’s gone steps further by adding coding to its tool lineup. Read on to find out why this is going to rock your world!
What is Vibe Coding?
Quite simply, vibe coding is combining natural language (what we speak every day) and AI to write computer code for you. It’s a fairly recent term, but the practice is becoming widespread with AI tools becoming so prevalent and much easier to use. Getting AI like ChatGPT to write code for you has been around awhile, but it still has been used more by techies because you have to know what to do with the code once ChatGPT writes it. That problem has been solved with Canva’s AI Coding tool.
Why Would I Want to Use Vibe Coding?
I can tell you why I would want to use it — because I like to tweak things and make them my own. Usually the generic versions of interactives never applied to my project-based, higher order thinking classroom. Plus, I just like to try new things.
Why would you want to use it? Maybe you’re like me and always wishing you could customize materials more, or maybe you want just want to make things for free for your students sometimes without having to back to school to learn Python or Java. Either way, if you want to make an interactive website for your students that takes only a few minutes to create, here you go.
My Super Creative Vibe Coding with Canva AI Example
If you know me at all, you have probably gathered that I love Hexagonal Thinking activities. The very first one I ever did with students was for Tuck Everlasting. I know I use it as an example a lot, but it has so much depth, Tuck works for a lot of lessons! So, I decided to check out what Canva’s AI knows about Hexagonal Thinking and Tuck by giving it the challenge of creating an interactive drag and drop activity for students that would allow them to move the hexagons around and connect them. Here’s the screen recording of my steps:
I actually tried the same prompt twice, and got slightly different results. If you want to see one of the working websites for Hexagonal Thinking with Tuck Everlasting, here you go. Note that I never specified what terms I wanted included on the hexagons, or even to divide the categories into different themes. Canva AI made those choices.
How You Can Vibe Code Your Own Interactives
You probably saw the steps in my screencast, but if you’re like me, you may want them summarized in text as well. To create your own, here’s the breakdown:
- Open Canva, and navigate to the top where it says, “What will you design today?” Click on “Canva AI button.”
- Click on “Code for Me” at the bottom of the new AI window. Choose one of the examples or just type in your own idea. Hit the arrow pointing right to being the coding.
- Once the coding is complete (and you are satisfied with the results), click on the purple button that says, “Use in a design” on the top right.
- The design will open in a new window. In order to make it an interactive that you can share, click on “Publish Website” on the top right, and then, “Publish.”
Caveats (Because Nothing is Ever Perfect, Especially AI)
Sometimes things don’t work. For example, I tried an interactive history timeline and Canva stated that the portraits of the composers would be included in the timeline. They were not. If that’s important to you, that’s an opportunity to go back and tweak your prompt to make if more specific. Also, as with all AI tools you will want to check facts and references. Never assume the tool is giving you 100% accurate information.
Forget the Flashcards and Unleash Next-Level Classroom Creativity
I know the regular readers of this blog love to be creative, so I don’t have to tell you that you’re wasting your time if you just use this as another tool to design flashcards or games for drill and practice. I want to hear how you take this to the next level, and I bet your students can come up with some ideas, too. I asked ChatGPT to give me some more suggestions, and I think these might really jumpstart your brainstorming sessions. I particularly like the “Dynamic Debates Generator and the Literature Lab: Character Mashup! Please, if you create something I would love for you to share it below!
AI Made Simple Sign-Up
If this activity intrigues you and want to learn more about using AI from someone who can explain it in simple language, I encourage you to sign up for news from new project, AI Made Simple. I’m working on making it into a community, and I’d love for you to be a part of this from the ground floor up. Last week was my first webinar (I’ll be making the recording available online soon for new members) and I plan to do more. With your sign-up, you’ll be the first to find out about new offerings, be able to vote in polls, and learn simple AI tasks you can do each week.