We are excited to announce that we have fully integrated Canva into Schoology!!!! You might be asking yourself, “Why is Mike so excited about this?” Well, I love Canva, and I use it almost every day when it comes to building graphics and presentation materials. This 2-part blog post will discuss what Canva is and how you can use it at any grade level, and the second will be on how to access it through Schoology. To start with though, we need to answer the first question.

What is Canva?

Canva is a graphic design program that allows users to create a wide range of visual content, from fancy presentation slides and posters, to logos, templates and so much more. Canva provides the users access to a vast library of templates, graphics, photos, and fonts that can be used to create professional-looking designs. Canva is user-friendly and intuitive. When we think about preparing our students for life outside of the district it is important to know that Canva has become a popular tool for businesses, marketers, and individuals who want to create eye-catching designs for their online and offline communications.

Great! How Do I Use it With My Students?

Canva has many uses that teachers can take advantage of. While this list is not exhaustive, I do encourage you to leave us a comment on the ways you have used Canva in the classroom or ways that you think it can be useful. Not to be too repetitious, but the biggest bonus of Canva is that the user can create visually exciting displays, so I am not adding that to each idea.  Here are ten ideas:

1. Create visually appealing presentations: Students & teachers can use Canva to create engaging and visually appealing presentations for their lessons. There are 100’s of templates, graphics, and images to make the presentations more interesting and informative.
2. Design infographics: Infographics can be an excellent way to convey complex information to students. Teachers can use Canva to create visually attractive infographics that can help students better understand and retain information.
3. Create worksheets and handouts: Canva can be used to design worksheets and handouts that can be printed or shared digitally with students.
4. Make posters and banners: Teachers can use Canva to create posters and banners for their classroom. They can use Canva’s templates and design elements to create posters and banners that are informative and visually appealing.
5. Choice Boards: Use Canva to create awesome choice boards for any subject.
6. Newsletters: With the plethora of available graphics and images you can create dynamic newsletters for your class or send them home to parents.
7. Story Time: Students can use Canva to illustrate or animate their story and create a creative way to present their writing.
8. Portfolio Entries: Use Canva to create presentations to load into your portfolio to share with others.
9. Badges: Do you use badges in your classroom? You can use Canva to create badges for your students to get in Schoology.
10. Multimedia Poster: You can use Canva to create an interactive poster. Check out this link to learn how!

Hopefully you are as excited as I am that we all now have access to Canva. Read the next blog post on how to access Canva within Schoology and get your creative juices flowing. Also, if you have any ideas on how you can use Canva in the classroom, let me know in the comments below.