A few years ago, I made an independent reading project assignment for students to create a poster for their book. In response, I received a good handful of posters that consisted of plain white copy paper, some stick figures, and poorly-drawn speech bubbles. While the content was good, the execution was weak. I knew I needed to retool the assignment to elicit better work from my students. In search of this better assignment, I stumbled upon Canva.
Canva is an online graphic design tool that allows creators to build beautiful designs. I use Canva as a tool for students to present their work in a more engaging way. Students can sign in with their Google accounts and jump right in to creating a design. Canva has several templates to choose from, or students can work on a blank document and build their own. Canva designs can be collaborative, a feature that isn’t true of many design platforms. I use Canva to make better syllabi, more engaging slides, and easy-to-follow infographics.
Canva is free to use, but has quite a few premium features. I find that teaching students to avoid those premium features is an important learning tool, especially because it’s a lesson I’ve had to remind myself of many times. The drag-and-drop style of Canva makes it so easy to use, that every design I’ve made using Canva has looked good.
If you’re trying to find a way to make more engaging and interesting designs for your content, look no further than Canva!