Canva: A true canvas for
education.
For
my last cool tool review, I will be reviewing Canva. Canva is a free tool available online with
only a few “pay to play” features.
Broken down, this tool is a presentation application that contains many
avenues for creativity. Probably the
most interesting part of this tool is it contains Google Doc like features that
allow the user to have as many editors and contributors as they want which I will
explain through my use. Canva allows
users to create a social graphic, logo, poster, flyer, resume, web banner,
presentation, invitation, card, photo collage, and a few more design types (see
picture 1).
Picture 1
For my review, I
chose to create a presentation and before you jump on me and say “well, that’s boring”
let me explain my choice. When I chose my
list of cool tools to review I had a master plan. I am a big lecture guy and I enjoy a teacher
centered learning experience so many of the tools I chose to review were
presentation tools. I then used a
similar lesson through out all the cool tools, so I could then analyze which
tool I enjoyed the most and saw most beneficial. What I also looked at was the different ways
to use these tools to provided new and creative way to present a lesson and engage
my students.
Once I chose to
create a presentation, Canva offers many different styles of presentations to choose
from (see picture 2). I selected an
education presentation to create an American history lesson.
Picture 2
Once
the style of presentation is selected, the user is then taken to the editing stage. For each slide, a background or format may be
selected to coincide with the slide’s purpose.
Canva offers a variety of slide layouts which each contain specific
elements to present information in the most beneficial way.
Picture 4
As
the creation process continues, the user can select illustrations and photos
that are provided in the Canva database to add to the presentation. This is the one feature that contains the “pay
to play” aspect.
Picture 5
Once
the creation is completed, the user can decide to share their work with
specific people through email, through social media, or through the link feature. The link share option is what contains
similar features to Google Docs. I
selected to share my short lesson in this blog, with the option for any viewer
to be able to edit it. This feature has
endless applications in the classroom as we have seen with Google Docs.
Picture 6
You
can check out my creation here: Road
to Revolution and you are welcome to try the editing feature right there in
my lesson. Since my cool tool reviews
will now be coming to an end, I wanted to share with you what my favorite tool
was so far. My answer: all of them. Each contained a feature that I could see
myself using in my future classrooms.
Emaze, for a new version of PowerPoint.
Haiku Deck, for its innovative way to create presentations from Wiki,
which I would use to speed up the creation process and allow students to focus
on then learning the information to present.
Storybird, to use as a possible online classroom. Simplemind, for its simplicity to capture
thinking and finally Canva, for its ability to create many materials beyond a
simple presentation.
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